It was Prior Lake's fourth straight win and Burnsville's third straight defeat. The Lakers (4-1-1 overall) improved to 2-0-1 in the SSC, while the Blaze (2-4) fell to 1-2, scoring just three goals in its last three games.

The two teams will meet again Jan. 24 on the Lakers' home ice.

Clemons' two goals give him a team-best eight on the season. He scored 7:41 into the first period and tallied an empty-netter with 1:42 to seal the win.

Burnsville junior Jake Thomas scored with 6:29 left to play to cut the Lakers' lead to 2-0. Juniors Eric Otto and Ryan Killmer had the assists.

Prior Lake took a 2-0 lead, scoring on the power play 5:43 into the third period. Senior Hayden Maxfield banged home a rebound with seniors Derek Daugaard and Tyler Bump getting the assists. The Blaze was serving a five-minute major penalty.

The Blaze put a lot of pressure on in the third period, but junior goalie Drew Scites stood his ground, finishing with 32 saves, including 11 in the final period. Burnsville senior Dyllan Lubbesmyer had 23 saves.

Sophomore Kevin Fellows had two assists for the Lakers, while senior Lincoln Eiter and junior Curtis Hansen both had one.

The Lakers are back on the SSC ice Dec. 18 at home versus Eastview, while the Blaze is at Apple Valley the same day. Both games start at 7 p.m.

Second-ranked Edina is the clear-cut favorite in Section 2AA. The Hornets have won the section eight years in a row, winning the last two Class 2A state titles.

So Edina is the team Burnsville and Prior Lake have to catch in an otherwise weak section depth-wise. So it would take a huge collapse by either team to fall out of the second and third seeds for the section tournament, so a semifinal meeting is also likely coming in late February.

Burnsville ended Prior Lake's season in the section semifinals in 2013 and 2012. Last year, Burnsville lost to Bloomington Jefferson in semifinal play, while the Lakers lost to Edina.

Burnsville plays at Edina on the road Dec. 27, while the Lakers avoided the Hornets on the regular season schedule this year.

To see more photos of the Blaze-Lakers game go to Scoreboard's Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.922490367776314.1073742318.197190936972931&type=3.