Watertown, Mass. – For the third time this season, the Canisius College hockey team lost in overtime, falling at Bentley, 3-2, on Friday night. The Griffs are now 8-10-5 on the season and 7-5-2 against league foes, while the Falcons improve to 9-10-1 and 7-6-1 in Atlantic Hockey play.
“It came down to one bounce late in the game,” said Canisius head coach Dave Smith. “We hit a pipe and the puck squirts through for a 2-on-1 for them and they are able to capitalize. It was a playoff-type hockey game out there that we need to learn from for the future.”
The Griffs are now 0-3-5 in overtime this season with seven of their 10 losses coming by just a single tally.
Junior Kyle Gibbons (Westlake, Ohio) and sophomore Mitch McCrank (Haileybury, Ontario) both scored for the Griffs in the loss.
Junior Tony Capobianco (Mississauga, Ontario) made 31 saves in net for Canisius.
McCrank gave the Griffs the early advantage with his third goal of the season 11:02 into the contest. The sophomore’s shot got past a screen in front and into the back of the net for the 1-0 lead. Freshman Stephen Miller (Boxborough, Mass.) registered the assist on the tally.
The Falcons answered back in the second period and took the lead with two tallies 2:19 apart. Steve Weinstein netted a power-play goal from the slot 8:32 into the frame to tie the game at one before Jared Rickord took advantage of a rebound off the boards for a 2-1 lead at the 10:51 mark.
Gibbons responded for the Griffs to knot the game at two with 3:34 left in the second. While a man down, the junior intercepted a pass along the boards and beat the Bentley goaltender for his team-leading 10th goal of the season.
Canisius had its chances to win the game in regulation but couldn’t quite take advantage of its opportunities. The best chance for the Griffs came on a power play just over midway through the third. Freshman defender Chris Rumble (Chesapeake, Va.) had a couple of his shots get through on net and the Griffs had a number of near misses on the rebound each time. Then with five minutes remaining, sophomore Doug Beck (Plymouth, Mich.) got behind the Bentley defense but his back-handed attempt hit the pipe as the game remained tied at two.
Bentley took advantage of its chance in overtime to earn the victory. The Falcons had a 2-on-1 and after Capobianco made the initial save, Brett Switzer knocked in the rebound to earn the 3-2 win.
The Falcons finished the game with a 34-30 advantage in shots. Bentley was 1-for-4 on the power play, while Canisius went 0-for-2 with the extra man.
Branden Komm recorded 28 saves for Bentley to earn the win in net.
