The Canisius College hockey team returns to conference play with a pair of road games at Sacred Heart. The teams are set to meet on Friday andSaturday at 7:05 p.m.
SCOUTING THE GRIFFS
• Canisius is in second place in the Atlantic Hockey standings with a 3-1-0 conference record. The Griffs are 4-3-1 overall.
• Freshman Nolan Sheeran leads Canisius with eight points and seven assists. Ralph Cuddemi has a team-best four goals.
• Senior Keegan Asmundson owns a 3.14 goals against average and .894 save percentage in six starts this season.
SHEERAN NAMED AHA ROOKIE OF THE MONTH
• Nolan Sheeran wasted no time in getting his career off to a strong start and was rewarded with AHA Rookie of the Month honors.
• In six games during his first month of collegiate action, Sheeran recorded eight points (1g, 7a).
• The freshman ranked fourth nationally with 1.17 assists per game and second in the country among rookies with 1.33 points per game.
POWER OUTAGE
• After a slow start to the season on the penalty kill, Canisius has raised its game.
• In their first four games, the Griffs killed just 66.7 percent of power plays and allowed at least one extra-man tally in each contest.
• The team, however, has rebounded by killing all 14 extra-man chances faced in the last two weekends. The Griffs killed all five against AIC (ranked No. 1 at the time at 40%) and all nine against Ohio State (ranked No. 2 at the time at 33.3%).
• Overall, Canisius now owns a unit that kills 81.2 percent.
POWER PROTECTOR
• The biggest penalty killer the Griffs have is scoring while a man down.
• Canisius ranks third nationally and is one of four teams in the country with three short-handed goals this season.
• In addition, the Griffs scored two man-down goals on Oct. 17 in a win at Army, marking the sixth time in program history with multiple short-handed goals in a game.
CANISIUS – SACRED HEART SERIES HISTORY
• In 47 meetings between the two schools, Canisius holds a 24-18-5 advantage in the series.
• The Griffs won 3-of-4 games against the Pioneers last season, including a first-round Atlantic Hockey series sweep en route to the league title game. Canisius held Sacred Heart without a goal in the two postseason games, outscoring the Pioneers, 8-0.
• Canisius has controlled the series as of late, going 8-1-1 in the last 10 meetings.
ABOUT THE PIONEERS
• Sacred Heart enters the weekend with a 2-5-1 record with a 2-3-1 mark in Atlantic Hockey play.
• The Pioneers are winless in their last four games, claiming a point in a series against Holy Cross last weekend.
• Zach Luczyk leads the team with eight points this season, registering three goals and five assists.
• Alex Vazzano has started 6-of-8 games in net with a 2.84 goals against average and .912 save percentage.
