North Andover, Mass. – Nationally-ranked Merrimack scored four third-period goals to rally for a 4-1 victory over the Canisius College hockey team on Sunday night. The Griffs finish the first-half of the season with a 5-12-1 record, while the 20th-ranked Warriors improve to 7-4-5.
“It was a great experience for our team to have a lead going to into the third on the road against a big and strong team like Merrimack,” said Canisius head coach Dave Smith. “A couple things went against us in the third but our guys battled hard and just came up a little short against a nationally-ranked school.”
Junior Shane Conacher (Burlington, Ontario) scored his team-leading 11th goal of the season in defeat.
Sophomore Reilly Turner (Temiscaming, Quebec) stopped 38 shots between the pipes for the Griffs.
Canisius took a 1-0 lead into the final frame thanks to a goal from Conacher. Sophomore Ryan Schmelzer (Buffalo, N.Y.) won a puck battle in the corner before knocking it free to Conacher at the top of the right face-off circle. The junior then sent a turn-around shot into the netting for the 1-0 Griffs lead 12:26 into the game.
The one-goal advantage stood for nearly 30 minutes before the Warriors were finally able to break through in the third stanza. Merrimack first struck just as a power play was set to expire when Ludvig Larsson tipped a shot into the net with 17:36 remaining in regulation.
The Warriors then scored twice in a 2:05 span to seize control of the game. Ben Bahe slipped one into the net on a rush with 8:59 remaining in the game before Jace Hennig knocked in a rebound with 6:54 left in regulation.
Merrimack then sealed the victory with an empty-net tally with 1:16 remaining for the 4-1 victory.
The Warriors finished the game with a 42-19 advantage in shots on the day, including a 17-6 edge in the decisive third period. The Griffs were 0-for-4 on the power play, while Merrimack went 1-for-2 with the extra-man advantage.
Drew Vogler stopped 18 shots to earn the win for Merrimack.
Canisius returns from the holiday break with a road contest at Atlantic Hockey foe AIC. The schools open a two-game series on Jan. 2 at 7:05 p.m.
Game Notes: Canisius remains winless against Hockey East foes, going 0-11-2 against the conference … The Griffs lost when holding the lead at the second intermission for the first time since a 4-1 setback versus Robert Morris on Feb 21, 2014 … Canisius was 16-0-1 in its last 17 games when ahead after 40 minutes … The Griffs last allowed four goals in a period in the first frame of a 4-4 tie against AIC on Dec. 6, 2014 … Canisius last allowed four goals in a third period in the 2014 Atlantic Hockey Championship defeat versus Robert Morris … The Griffs remain winless on the season when failing to score a power-play goal (0-11-1).
