Third-Period Outburst Sparks Hockey Past Lakers
Canisius tallied five goals in the third period to erase a one-goal deficit and defeat Mercyhurst, 7-3, in Atlantic Hockey Conference action Saturday at the Mercyhurst Ice Center.
Junior Dylan McLaughlin recorded his first career hat trick and added an assist for a four-point night to pace a Golden Griffins attack (4-4-1, 4-4-0 AHC) that established a season high for goals.
Seniors Ryan Schmelzer and Jeff Murray, junior Cameron Heath and sophomore Jesse Pereira also found the back of the net for Canisius.
Nathan Bryer, Johnathan Charbonneau and Joseph Duszak scored for the Lakers (4-4-2, 2-2-2 AHC).
Trailing 3-2 heading into the third, McLaughlin completed his hat trick at the 4:56 mark of the frame with a highlight-reel effort, gathering the puck in the Canisius end and racing through the neutral zone before splitting two Mercyhurst defenders and sliding the puck around Lakers goaltender Brandon Wildung to tie the game at 3-3.
Schmelzer put the Griffs in front, 4-3, at the midway point of the third, tapping home a backdoor feed from McLaughlin during a 5-on-3 situation.
Heath doubled the Canisius cushion less than a minute later, wiring a wrist shot from the top of the slot through traffic and into the upper right-hand corner of the net.
Pereira increased the Griffs cushion to 6-3 at the 14:16 mark before Murray closed out the scoring with an empty-net tally with 91 seconds remaining.
Earlier in the contest, McLaughlin staked Canisius to a 1-0 lead just 17 seconds in when his wrist shot from the top of the Mercyhurst zone found its way through traffic and past Wildung.
Bryer tied the game at 1-1 a little more than three minutes later, jamming home a loose puck for his first collegiate tally and Charbonneau gave the Lakers a 2-1 lead at the 12:12 mark of the first, capitalizing on a turnover deep in the Canisius zone.
McLaughlin brought the Griffs level a little more than two minutes later with his second of the period, beating Wildung with a one-timer from the right faceoff circle during 4-on-4 action.
The teams remain deadlocked until Duszak put Mercyhurst in front in the final minute of the second period, capping an end-to-end rush with a wrist shot from the middle of the slot to make it a 3-2 contest and set up Canisius’ third-period outburst.
Sophomore Daniel Urbani made 37 saves in goal for Canisius. Wildung turned aside 14 shots for Mercyhurst.
Head Coach Trevor Large Postgame Comments
“Our focus tonight was on the saying ‘it doesn’t matter, get better.’ So, when we scored, it doesn’t matter, we need to get better. When we got scored on, it doesn’t matter, we need to get better.
“There were a lot of great individual efforts tonight. Our power play got it done. The play by Dylan McLaughlin on his third goal was a highlight-reel effort. We had those efforts and we had a great focus on the bench to go over the boards and get better each shift.
“Dylan (McLaughlin) is great when decides that he wants to beat the opponent. His skating is elite, his skillset is elite, his vision is elite and when he makes the decision that he’s going to have a night and he’s going to beat the opponent, it’s not that he does it by himself, but he has elite abilities that allow him to dominate games and tonight was one of those nights for him.”
Game Notes
Canisius improved to 4-0-1 this season when scoring the first goal of the contest.
The seven goals scored by Canisius were the most asince tallying seven in a 7-4 victory at Mercyhust on Jan. 25, 2014.
The Griffs recorded two power play goals in a game for third time this season as Canisius was 2-for-6 with the man advantage on Saturday.
Junior Dylan McLaughlin recorded his fifth multiple point game of the season and the 19th of his career with his four-point effort Saturday.
McLaughlin also matched his career high in points with the four-point effort, equaling his total against Bentley on Feb. 13, 2016.
McLaughlin became just the 20th player in program history to record a hat trick in a division I contest and the first since teammate Matt Hoover scored three times in a 4-0 victory over AIC on Nov. 18, 2016.
Senior Ryan Schmelzer tallied a goal and two assists to match his career high with three points. Schmelzer has recorded three points on five occasions during his career.
Junior Jimmy Mazza established a new career high for both assists and points with three helpers on Saturday.
Sophomore Matt Hoover tallied multiple points in a game for the first time this season and the fourth time in his career with two assists in the third period.
Up Next
Canisius is back on home ice next weekend when it entertains Bentley in a two-game Atlantic Hockey Conference series at KeyBank Rink at HARBORCENTER.
Tickets for the game are available by calling 716-888-TIXX or by visiting Ticketmaster.com.
