David Archambeau/For the Gazette Michigan Tech forward Alec Broetzman battles with Clarkson defenseman Connor McCarthy for the puck during a game Saturday at the MacInnes Student Ice Arena in Houghton.

HOUGHTON — For the better part of 37:40 of play, the Michigan Tech Huskies had the No. 4 Clarkson Golden Knights right where they wanted them Saturday night. In a span of 53 seconds, that all changed as the Golden Knights scored three times on a major penalty and then added a fourth power play goal in the third period to earn a 4-2 win at the MacInnes Student Ice Arena.

After a lengthy review, Huskies assistant captain Seamus Donohue was whistled for a hit to the head on Golden Knights captain Devin Brousseau. Harolds Egles, Jere Astren and Connor McCarthy all scored on the advantage to turn a 2-0 Huskies lead into a 3-2 Clarkson advantage.

“Well that was the game, right? It gave us momentum on the first one and then our second unit got one and we came back with their first unit and that they got another one right after that, so a lot of momentum built on the bench,” said Golden Knights coach Casey Jones. “We kind of fed off that. We talk all about all about momentum all the time with swings and making sure it goes in your favor. I thought that was a huge huge point the game.”

While not the original reason for the whistle that stopped play before the penalty was called, Donohue committed the type of penalty that head coach Joe Shawhan had warned his players against taking over the course of the weekend.

“We talked about the exact hit that we took for the five-minute major on the night before,” said Shawhan. “We don’t do that. There’s no absolutely no reason to make that hit in these games. We’re up 2-nothing.

“That kind of deflates the bench because it’s what we talked about. It’s what we said not to do. It’s what occurred a couple of times last night. We addressed it, and then it happened again tonight.”

The less-than-a-minute span was difficult for Huskies fans to swallow considering that in the first period, sophomore winger Alec Broetzman scored twice, first at 5:29 on the power play and later at 17:06 during a 4-on-4 situation to put the hosts ahead.

The Golden Knights (12-3-2 overall) came into the weekend with the fifth-ranked penalty kill in the country, but for the second straight night, the Huskies found success, mainly by moving the puck around and creating space, which is exactly what happened when assistant captain Alex Smith found Broetzman in the slot. Broetzman then beat Clarkson goaltender Frank Marotte with a backhand shot.

“Just puck movement and getting the puck on the right guy’s stick,” said Shawhan when asked what made the power play successful. “They were really doing a good job of taking away (Trenton) Bliss on the one unit. The other unit, we found Broetzman a couple of times, so we had some other good chances.”

Smith, who picked up his second point of the weekend on Broetzman’s first goal of the night, agreed with his coach.

“I think puck movement,” said Smith. “When we’re not stagnant and standing still (but instead) moving our feet. We make lots of good plays and we get throwing (the puck) around a bit, maybe get them out of formation. I think that was key to getting our power play goals this weekend.”

From there, the Huskies (10-8-1 overall) kept the pressure on the Golden Knights until the latter stages of the first when they drew penalty while shorthanded, creating a lengthy 4-on-4. Broetzman picked off a pass across the Huskies’ blue line and drove the length of the rink before beating Marotte with a wrist shot.

It appeared that the Huskies took a 3-0 lead 5:42 into the second period when Broetzman crashed the net and knocked the puck behind Marotte. Upon review, however, it became clear that Broetzman knocked the puck into the net with his gloved hand, which returned the play moot.

The game remained 2-0 in favor of the Huskies through most of the second period until Golden Knights forward Nick Campoli took a penalty for kneeing at 14:27. The kneeing took place after the Donohue hit, which the referees appeared to miss in real time. Upon review, Campoli’s penalty offset the major, and the teams skated 4-on-4 for two minutes before Clarkson had the chance to take advantage of the major.

Egles got the puck in the right circle and he turned while controlling it until he found space to fire a wrist shot that beat Huskies netminder Matt Jurusik at 17:40. Then, just 32 seconds later, Astren, who was playing in just his third game of the season, blasted a one-timer from the blue line that beat Jurusik.

“The kid’s been hurt the whole first half,” said Jones. “He’s been hurt most of his career for us. We knew, coming into the weekend, he was going to get one game, so we’re looking for his energy. We only dressed six (defensemen). He gets a 10-minute misconduct in the first, but we only had six (defensemen) dressed, so we kept playing. It was nice for him because he can shoot the puck.

“That’s the situation we want him in, to add a little bit of something to our second power play unit, and it was real nice when you get that.”

McCarthy took advantage of the Huskies defenders losing him in traffic and beat Jurusik with a rebound at 18:33.

The Golden Knights held onto the 3-2 lead until late in the contest when they earned a two-man advantage. During the power play, Brousseau got a shot and then batted his own rebound past Jurusik for a goal at 18:25.

TOURNAMENT TIME

The Huskies are off this weekend to focus on their schoolwork as they have finals week along with the rest of campus. They will return to action on Dec. 30 when they face Michigan State.

Scoring

Clarkson 0 3 1 – 4

Michigan Tech 2 0 0 – 2

First period

1, MTU, Alec Broetzman (Alex Smith, Keegan Ford), PP, 5:29

2, MTU, Alec Broetzman, 17:06

Second period

3, CU, Harolds Egle (Devin Brousseau, Zack Tsekos), PP, 17:40

4, CU, Jere Astren (Mathieu Gosselin, Anthony Romano), PP, 18:12

5, CU, Connor McCarthy (Josh Dunne, Brousseau), PP, 18:33

Third period

6, CU, Brousseau (Egle), PP, 18:25

Saves

Marotte, CU 7 6 8 – 21

Jurusik, MTU 9 8 5 – 22

Power plays

CU: 4/8; MTU:1/6

Penalties

CU: 10/28; MTU: 8/27