Sophomore Nick Hutchison scored at the 1:33 mark of overtime to lift Canisius to a 4-3 victory over Army West Point in Atlantic Hockey Conference action Friday at Tate Rink.
Juniors Alex Jaeckle and Dylan McLaughlin and senior Jack Stander also scored for the Golden Griffins (7-4-1, 7-4-0 AHC), who extended their winning streak to four games with the overtime triumph.
Kevin Dineen, Trevor Fidler and Tyler Pham accounted for the three goals for the Black Knights (6-5-2, 6-5-2 AHC).
Hutchison notched his third game-winning goal of the season just 93 seconds into the extra session, one-timing a feed from junior Matt McLeod past Army West Point keeper Cole Bruns, off the right post, and into the net from the middle of the slot.
Earlier in the contest, Jaeckle staked Canisius to a 1-0 lead at the midway point of the first period when he beat Bruns with a slap shot to the blocker side for his first of the campaign.
Dineen tied the game at 1-1 a little more than four minutes later, recording his first collegiate tally with a rebound effort.
McLaughlin restored the Griffs lead at the 15:07 mark of the first, scoring on a breakaway for his team-leading eighth goal of the season.
Fidler brought Army West Point level a little more than five minutes into the second period, knocking home a goalmouth feed from Conor Andrie to make it 2-2.
Stander put the Griffs back in front, 3-2, with a power-play goal at the 11:38 mark of the middle frame, depositing a Grant Meyer rebound into the back of his second of the season.
The Black Knights responded with a man-advantage tally of their own a little less than four minutes later with Pham wiring a wrist shot past Canisius goaltender Daniel Urbani to tie the game at 3-3.
In the third period, Army West Point appeared to have scored the go-ahead goal with a little more than five minutes to play, but the goal was waved off due to goaltender interference, setting up Hutchison overtime heroics.
Urbani recorded 36 saves in goal for the Griffs. Bruns turned aside 30 shots for the Black Knights.
Head Coach Trevor Large’s Postgame Comments
“Tonight took everything we had. It was a great college hockey game where two teams with high compete and high skill were doing those things; playing with high compete and high skill.
“It was good fortune for us in overtime that we got a big play from Matt McLeod to get wide and find Nick Hutchison in a goal-scoring spot, and Hutch goes post and in for the win. It was a great college game and obviously for our side it feels even better to get the win.
“We needed every line tonight. The structure of our team is very deep with speed and skill. With Jesse Pereira, Nick Hutchison and Matt McLeod, we have a big goal-scorer in the middle of two guys who have blistering speed and can create a lot of offense. We also had a huge shift from our ‘fourth line’ of Nolan Sheeran, Mike Sabatini and Casey Jerry late in the third period that they dominated. Our guys know that part of why we’re great is that we’re deep in lots of areas and forwards is one of them. We needed every player on every line tonight.
“The defensemen are expected to have great compete and defensive awareness when they’re playing and they’re definitely a part of our offense; we want them active and producing offense as well. When you’re able to get three-plus goals in college hockey, you need everybody. You need first line through fourth line. You need all six defensemen chipping in, you need power play getting it done and the penalty kill as well.”
Game Notes
Canisius improved to 23-20-6 against Army West Point in the Division I era of the series.
The Griffs also moved to 5-4-0 versus the Black Knights in their last nine games at Tate Rink.
Canisius improved to 6-0-1 this season then scoring the first goal of the contest.
The Griffs tallied four or more goals in a game for the fourth straight contest and fifth time this season.
Canisius improved to 19-0-0 since the start of the 2016-17 season when tallying four or more goals in a game.
Junior Dylan McLaughin tallied multiple points in a game for the seventh time this season and the 21st time in his career.
Senior Ryan Schmelzer recorded multiple assists in a game for the 10th time in his career with his two-assist effort.
Senior Jack Stander recorded goals in back-to-back games for the first time in his career with his second-period tally. Both goals have come while the Griffs were on the power play.
Sophomore Nick Hutchison recorded his team-leading third game-winning goal of the season with his overtime effort.
Up Next
The teams complete their two-games league series Saturday with a 4:05 p.m. matinee at Tate Rink.
