The Canisius College hockey team extended its unbeaten streak to four games, fighting to a 2-2 draw with visiting Bentley on Friday night at HARBORCENTER. The Griffs are now 9-8-6 and 8-4-5 in Atlantic Hockey play, while the Falcons move to 10-9-3 overall and 8-5-3 versus league foes.
Freshman David Bennett led the Griffs with two points on the night, scoring his first collegiate goal to go along with an assist on the game-tying score. Classmate Nolan Sheeran also scored for Canisius in the draw.
Senior Keegan Asmundson played strong between the pipes for the Griffs, stopping 34 shots to anchor the defense.
After a scoreless opening frame, it was Bentley who took advantage of a Canisius power play to light the lamp first. Alex Kubiak finished on a breakaway 6:57 into the second period for the early 1-0 lead.
Canisius, however, answered on its third power play of the evening. Freshman Mike Sabatini redirected a shot on net off a pass from sophomore Josh Kielich. As Bennett battled for the loose puck down low, he knocked it in off a Bentley player and into the net for his first collegiate tally with 9:01 left in the second.
Bentley would take a 2-1 lead into the third period, scoring on a power play of its own with 2:54 remaining in the second. With a two-man advantage, Andrew Gladiuk ripped a shot into the net from the right face-off circle for the team’s second special teams goal of the night.
The game remained 2-1 in favor of the Falcons until a late tally by Sheeran knotted the contest. Bennett found freshman Ryan Schmelzer skating down the center of the ice. The rookie battled past three Bentley defenders and left the puck for Sheeran in the slot. Sheeran then fired the puck into the net for the game-tying tally with 6:59 remaining in regulation.
As the teams moved into overtime, Bentley started the extra session with 1:49 of a power play but it was actually Canisius who had the best chance. The Griffs had an early odd-man rush and senior Logan Roe forced a tough save from the Bentley netminder as the schools played to the tie.
Bentley finished the game with a 36-30 advantage in shots on the night. Both teams converted one power play in five chances for Canisius and four for Bentley.
Jayson Argue recorded 28 saves for the Falcons.
The schools wrap up the series tomorrow night with a 7:35 p.m. start time scheduled at HARBORCENTER. The game can be seen live on Time Warner Sports Channel.
Game Notes: The freshman class accounted for both of the Griffs’ goals on Friday and three of the team’s four assists … Bennett entered the night with one assist in his first 11 career games before his two-point performance on Friday … Canisius leads the country with six ties this season … Five of the Griffs’ six draws have been at HARBORCENTER, where the team moves to 4-3-5 … Canisius has outscored conference opponents, 23-9, in the third period.
