NIAGARA UNIV., N.Y. – The Niagara Purple Eagles hockey team took command with a two-goal lead late in the third period Friday night against the Bentley Falcons at Dwyer Arena. The Falcons were able to claw their way back late, however, with two goals in the final 4:48 to force overtime with the Purple Eagles. Neither team was able to find the back of the net in the extra period, leaving the two teams with one point apiece in a 3-3 tie.
Game Summary
* Final Score: Bentley 3, Niagara 3 (OT)
* Niagara Goal Scorers: Johnny Curran, Tanner Lomsnes, Sean King
* Niagara Assists: Noah Delmas (2), Nick Farmer, Derian Plouffe (2), Sean King
* In Goal: Brian Wilson (2-1-1) – 3 GA, 26 SV
* Power Plays: Niagara – 1-for-4 (3 SOG); Bentley – 2-for-5 (6 SOG)
* Records: Niagara – 4-2-1 (3-0-1 AHC); Bentley – 1-3-3 (1-3-3 AHC)
* Location: Dwyer Arena – Niagara University, NY
* Attendance: 646
Game Recap
* The game got off to a slow start as both defenses limited chances against through the early stages Friday night. Zach Mills had Niagara’s best chance of the first period as Johnny Curran worked the puck inside to the low slot, but Mills’ backhand was padded away by Bentley goaltender Jayson Argue.
* 4:05 into the second period, the Purple Eagles’ offense broke through to open the scoring. Derian Plouffe found Tanner Lomsnes on the back door of the Bentley goal, and Lomsnes hammered his shot home.
* The Niagara lead doubled eight minutes later during a 4-on-3 power play. Curran and Plouffe worked the puck over the blue line into the Bentley zone, with Plouffe setting up the attack along the left wing boards. Curran streaked on goal from the slot and rifled a shot over the glove of Argue, his fourth goal of the season.
* Niagara dominated possession in the second period and ended up with a 15-7 shots on goal advantage. Bentley was able to draw within one, however, on Jonathan Desbiens’ first goal of the night.
* Five minutes into the third period, Niagara re-established its two-goal lead. Delmas had a shot in tight that was turned away by Argue, but Sean King was right on the doorstep to bury the rebound to make a it 3-1 Niagara lead.
* The Falcons were able to force overtime thanks to a pair of goals by Desbiens in the final 4:48 of the game. He capped off his hat trick with the game-tying goal with 6.9 seconds remaining, forcing home a rebound of Tanner Jago’s shot past Niagara netminder Brian Wilson.
* In the overtime period, Derek Brown had the best chance to end the game. Plouffe had a shot from the left of the goal turned away by Argue, but the rebound came right to Brown, who had an open goal right from the top of the crease. Argue was able to spin around quickly and get his blocker on Brown’s shot, preserving the tie with 1:39 to go in overtime.
* The Falcons held on to steal a point from the Purple Eagles, as the game ended in a 3-3 tie.
Coach’s Corner
* Head coach Jason Lammers: “We continue to grow as a team and we’re doing a lot of good stuff. I thought the guys competed hard, but we didn’t get the result we want. For us right now, the Achilles heel seems to be penalties…it creates a lot of stressful minutes for our top guys, and other guys don’t get to play. It’s something we have addressed but need to continue to work on.”
Inside the Numbers
* Noah Delmas and Derian Plouffe tied for the Niagara scoring lead with two assists each, while Sean King tallied one goal and one assist.
* Delmas (1+8) and Plouffe (4+6) now have points in each of Niagara’s seven games this season. Plouffe leads the team in scoring at 10 points, followed closely by Delmas at nine.
* Plouffe’s two-point outing was his third in a row eighth in his college career; Niagara is 4-1-3 in those games.
* Delmas now has at least one assist in each of Niagara’s games. He had two assists against Bentley, his first such game since Feb. 11, 2017 at Army.
* Sean King now has multiple points in back-to-back games, the first two such games of his career; he registered two assists in Niagara’s 6-2 win at Sacred Heart on Oct. 28.
* The Purple Eagles’ 15 shots on goal in the second period tied for the second-most by the team in a single period this season.
* Niagara outshot Bentley 36-29, moving to 3-1-1 on the season in games with 31 or more shots on goal and 3-0-1 when leading in shots on goal.
Up Next
* Niagara and Bentley return to Dwyer Arena Saturday night, Nov. 4, for a 7:05 p.m. matchup.
