These were the 10 most-viewed Clarkson hockey videos on the Knights Tales blog during the 2011-12 season.

No. 10 (tie)

Paul Karpowich pre-season interview

Alex Boak goal against Ottawa

No. 9: Clarkson Takes the Ice

No. 8: Sam Labrecque goal vs. AIC

No. 6 (tie)

Two-part interview, pre-season, with Casey Jones

Julien Cayer pre-season interview

No. 5: Kevin Tansey interview after Sacred Heart opener

No. 4: Karpowich breakaway save in second OT vs. RPI

No. 3: Clarkson ties SLU game at Cheel

No. 2: Labrecque OT game-winner vs. Yale

No. 1: Sexton 3 OT game-winner vs. RPI

A rough third period wound up costing the Clarkson University men’s hockey team as Rensselaer earned a 4-1 win in the deciding game of a best-of-three ECAC Hockey first round series before 1,758 fans at Cheel Arena Sunday night.

The game was tied as the second period ended, but Clarkson’s Allan McPherson was given a major penalty and game misconduct for drilling RPI’s Mike Bergin into the glass behind the Clarkson goal line as time expired.

Bergin made Clarkson (16-17-6 overall) pay by scoring with 47 seconds left in the five-minute advantage, giving RPI the lead for good at the 4 minute, 14 second mark of the final period.

Bergin

Watching Bergin score the game-winner had to be frustrating for Clarkson because he knocked Golden Knight forward Will Frederick out of the series with a hit late in game one which he was given a major penalty for.

Casey Jones

It did not take the Engineers (12-22-3) long after Bergin’s go-ahead goal to expand their lead as Joel Malchuk scored on the rebound of his own shot at 5:47 to make it 3-1.

RPI gave the Golden Knights some hope for a comeback by taking four penalties in the final 10 minutes of the game, giving Clarkson a 53-second, two-man advantage at one point.

Seth Appert

Clarkson could not capitalize, however, and RPI sealed the game when Marty O’Grady scored an empty-net goal with 1:32 remaining.

The Golden Knights actually struck first in Sunday’s game, scoring on a power-play goal from freshman defenseman Sam Labrecque at 8:03 of the second period on a slap shot from just inside the blue line.

But the Clarkson goal seemed to fire up the Engineers, who began to take over the game and at one point kept the puck in the Clarkson zone for several minutes, eventually tying the game on a goal from Ryan Haggerty at 13;02 of the second period.

Sunday’s loss was hard on Clarkson’s seniors, who never managed to get out of the first round of the conference playoffs during their careers.

Goalie Paul Karpowich played the entire series on a bad knee and had to come out of warmups before game two Saturday because of the pain. He managed to play the entire series, however.

Karpowich

Ben Sexton scored a goal with 6 minutes, 12 seconds left in the third overtime period, giving the Clarkson University men's hockey team a 4-3 win over Rensselaer and forcing a deciding game at 7 tonight in a first-round ECAC Hockey playoff series.

It was the longest game in Clarkson history and featured 97 total shots, with RPI taking 53 and Clarkson 44 on Saturday.

Sexton was immediately mobbed by his teammates as soon as the goal went in and the scoreboard at Cheel Arena immediately flashed information to buy tickets for tonight's game.

It was the longest game in the history of both teams and the sixth longest game in NCAA Division I history.

Sexton's goal

Sexton

Clarkson coach Casey Jones

C.J. Lee gave RPI an early lead with a power-play goal at 8:43 of the first period.

Clarkson (16-16-6 overall) started game two with the same problem it had in the opener, taking four penalties in the first 12:02 of the game.

But unlike Friday, when it scored three times on the power play, RPI (11-22-3) was only able to convert on one of its chances Saturday.

The Golden Knights tied the game 1-1 off a power-play goal from Nick Tremblay at 15:56 of the first period.

RPI scored the only goal of the second period on an unassisted goal from Patrick Cullen at 6:47. Cullen's shot deflected off the skate of a Clarkson defenseman and went between the legs of goalie Paul Karpowich.

Clarkson answered again with another power-play goal at 6:25 of the third period, this one coming on a slap shot from just inside the blue line by defenseman Alex Boak. Engineers goalie Bryce Merriam was screened on the play.

RPI took a lead again at 11:00 of the third period when a shot from Bo Dolan bounced off the boards behind the net and went right to Cullen, who put in the rebound.

Clarkson tied the game 3-3 at 15:01 of the third period when another defenseman, Sam Labrecque, scored a strong goal on a wrist shot by the boards.

RPI had a good chance to score in overtime as Clarkson's Patrick Marsh was given a five-minute major with 23.8 seconds left in the third period. But the Engineers were unable to capitalize.

The Engineers best chance to score in the first overtime came on a shot from Nick Bailen near the crease, but Karpowich stuck his leg out and made the save.

RPI had another good chance to score in the second overtime when Jacob Laliberte had a breakaway, but Karpowich stuffed it with 11:23 remaining.

Clarkson suffered a surprising loss Friday night, falling 5-1 to Rensselaer in the opening game of a best-of-three, first round ECAC Hockey series at Cheel Arena.

The Golden Knights (15-16-6) face elimination if they fail to defeat RPI at 7 p.m. Saturday in game two or at 7 p.m. Sunday in game three, if its needed.

Losing to RPI (11-21-3) wasn't the surprise, even though Clarkson is higher seeded. It was the way Clarkson lost that stunned the sparse crowd of 1,918.

RPI had scored only 20 power-play goals in 34 games coming into the game, but struck for three in a span of 3 minutes, 55 seconds in the first period and ended the opening period up 4-1. It was only the third time all season the Engineers had led after the first period of a game.

Clarkson's only highlight would be this power-play goal from Nick Tremblay at 3:25 of the first period, giving Clarkson a short 1-0 lead:

After Tremblay's goal, RPI scored on power-play goals from Matt Tinordi (5:44) and Nick Bailen (6:33 and 9:39).

Bailen

Joel Malchuk added another goal at 12:17 of the first period and Jacob Laliberte closed out the scoring for RPI at 17:32.

Clarkson coach Casey Jones

Clarkson captain Jake Morley

RPI coach Seth Appert

The first round of the ECAC Hockey playoffs begin this weekend and No. 7 seed Clarkson (15-15-6, 9-9-4) will be hosting No. 10 Rensselaer (10-21-3, 7-12-3) in a best-of-three series at Cheel Arena.

The series starts at 7 p.m. Friday and game two is at 7 p.m. Saturday. If a third game is needed it will take place at 7 p.m. on Sunday.

Clarkson beat RPI in both meetings during the regular season, winning 4-1 at Cheel on Nov. 4 and winning 3-2 in Troy on Jan. 28.

The Engineers enter the postseason on a bit of a hot streak, having gone 5-0-1 in their last six road games, including sweeping Colgate and Cornell on the road last weekend.

Clarkson, which is 10-3-2 at Cheel Arena this year, had a chance to get a bye last weekend, but lost games at Dartmouth and Harvard, blowing a 2-0 lead in the Harvard game.

Here are some videos from after practice today:

Casey Jones

Alex Boak

Louke Oakley

Allan McPherson