Watertown, Mass. – The Canisius College hockey team cruised to its first sweep of the season with a 6-3 victory at Bentley on Saturday night. The Griffs improve to 10-15-5 on the season and 10-9-5 in Atlantic Hockey play, while the Falcons drop to 11-16-4 and 9-12-4 versus league foes.
“It was a really good all-around team effort tonight,” said Canisius head coach Dave Smith. “We set the tone early with a really good first period. We were committed right from the start to earn our first sweep of the season against a good team and in a tough building to play.”
Junior Shane Conacher (Burlington, Ontario) and freshman Dylan McLaughlin (Lancaster, N.Y.) led the Griffs with four-point nights. Conacher netted two goals to go along with two assists, while McLaughlin matched the program’s Division I record with four assists.
Sophomore Ryan Schmelzer (Buffalo, N.Y.) and freshmen Felix Chamberland (Quebec City, Quebec), Joshua Gabriel (Lancaster, N.Y.) and Cameron Heath (Troy, Mich.) also scored for the Griffs in the victory.
Freshman Simon Hofley (Ottawa, Ontario) recorded 29 saves to earn the victory in net.
The Griffs didn’t waste much time in grabbing the lead and momentum when Gabriel struck less than five minutes into the contest. In the Griffs zone, Conacher chipped the puck around a Bentley defender on the boards and to McLaughlin. The rookie then skated it into the zone and sent a cross-ice pass to Gabriel, who quickly put the puck into the netting for his second goal of the season just 4:28 into the contest.
Chamberland doubled the Canisius lead just over five minutes later with his second goal in as many games and fifth of the season. Off a face-off win in the Bentley zone, freshman Jimmy Mazza (Kings Park, N.Y.) left the puck for sophomore defender Jack Stander (Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich.) at the blue line. Stander then skated along the boards before finding Chamberland open on the back door, where the rookie deflected the puck into the open net for the 2-0 lead with 9:24 remaining in the first.
Canisius picked up in the second frame where it left off in the first. With 10:49 remaining in the period, Schmelzer added to the Griffs advantage with his sixth goal of the season, connecting on the power play. Mazza fired a shot from the top of the point that was saved but squirted out into the slot. Schmelzer was there to quickly send the puck past the Bentley netminder for the 3-0 lead. Conacher added his second assist of the night on the power-play tally.
The Griffs then added to their advantage with Heath’s fourth score of his rookie campaign. The freshman defender poked in a loose puck in the crease for the 4-0 Canisius lead with assists going to McLaughlin and Chamberland.
Bentley finished the scoring in the second frame when Tyler Deresky scored just 10 seconds following Heath’s goal but it was Canisius who headed into the intermission with a 4-1 lead.
Canisius continued to find the back of the net in the third frame with Conacher adding two tallies. The junior netted his first of the night and 17th of the season at the 4:41 mark of the period. Gabriel chipped the puck ahead on a clearance, which led to a 2-on-1 rush. McLaughlin fed the puck to Conacher and he finished his chance for the 5-1 Canisius lead.
Conacher then added his team-leading 18th goal of the season at the 8:05 mark of the third. On another odd-man rush, McLaughlin found Heath in the center of the ice with the rookie blueliner then feeding the puck to Conacher on his left. Conacher again found an opening to give Canisius a 6-1 advantage.
Bentley added two late tallies but it was too little, too late as Canisius secured the weekend sweep with the 6-3 victory.
The Griffs held a slight advantage in shots on the night, 33-32, while also winning the special-teams battle for the second-straight night. Canisius was 1-for-4 with the extra-man advantage, while killing all three of the Bentley’s power-play chances.
Jayson Argue took the loss for Bentley in net with Gabe Antoni playing in relief. The two combined for 27 saves.
Canisius looks to continue its winning ways with a home series against Sacred Heart next weekend. The schools open the two-game set at HARBORCENTER on Friday at 7:35 p.m.
Game Notes: Canisius entered the weekend as the only school in Atlantic Hockey to not have been swept or sweep an opponent this season … Chamberland, Gabriel, Heath and Mazza all registered multiple points for the first time in their career … The Canisius rookie class combined for 18 points during the weekend sweep, including a season-best 12 points (3g, 9a) on Saturday … Conacher’s four points matched a career high … Conacher is now just one point shy of becoming the 10th Griff at the Division I level with 100 career points … McLaughlin is the eight Griff at the Division I level to record four assists in a game and the first since Conacher did so against Niagara on Jan. 24, 2015 … The Griffs won for the first time this season when outshooting their opponent … The Griffs missed a penalty shot in the third period and have now missed their last four attempts … Current assistant coach Scott Moser remains the last Griff to score via penalty shot, doing so in 2009-10 season … Canisius is unbeaten in its last six games versus Bentley (5-0-1), dating back to the 2014 Atlantic Hockey Quarterfinals.
