For the second-straight contest, the Canisius College hockey team failed to hold on to a late lead and finished in a tie as the Griffs and RIT played to a 3-3 draw on Friday night. Canisius is now 4-4-3 on the season and 3-2-2 against Atlantic Hockey foes, while the Tigers are 2-6-2 and 1-4-2 in league play.
“We didn’t play our best hockey but we were in a position to win the game,” said Canisius head coach Dave Smith. “We just didn’t close the game out. Now there is a lot of good pressure to come out tomorrow and try to get three points and win the weekend. We talked about playing better defensively in all three zones and that will hopefully be the difference tomorrow.”
Junior Chris Rumble (Seattle, Wash.) led the Canisius offense, matching his career best with three points on a goal and a pair of assists. Seniors Cody Freeman (Toronto, Ontario) and Braeden Rigney (Singhampton, Ontario) also scored for Canisius in the draw.
Senior Keegan Asmundson (Inver Grove Heights, Minn.) recorded a season-best 37 saves to anchor the Canisius defense in net.
The Griffs struck first in the contest when Freeman tallied his fourth goal of the season with 1:30 remaining in the first. Rumble knocked down a clearing pass at the blue line and then skated toward the corner. He found senior Mitch McCrank (Haileybury,Ontario) open in the slot and the senior one-timed the puck toward net, which Freeman tipped in for the early Canisius advantage.
RIT, however, quickly put an end to the Griffs advantage in the second period. After a long possession in its offensive zone, Matt Garbowsky finally scored for the Tigers, finishing from the slot after a centering pass from behind the net. The tally tied the game just 57 seconds into the frame.
Garbowsky and the Tigers didn’t wait long to grab the lead. The senior got behind the Canisius defense and finished 1-on-1 with the goalie for his second goal in a2:31 span.
Canisius pulled even just over three minutes later when Rigney netted his second goal of the season. Rumble ripped a shot from the blue line that deflected off senior Doug Beck (Plymouth, Mich.) before Rigney redirected into the net, tying the contest at two with 13:06 remaining in the second.
Rumble then gave the Griffs the lead with his second goal of the season. The senior fired a shot into the net on the power play from the center blue line – assists to sophomore Shane Conacher (Burlington, Ontario) and senior Cody Freeman (Toronto, Ontario) – giving Canisius a 3-2 lead with 15:40 remaining in regulation.
RIT, however, poured on the pressure looking for the equalizing tally and finally converted with 2:52 remaining when Garbowsky completed his hat trick, connecting on a rebound to square the game at three. The goal proved to be the final tally of the night as neither team was able to convert in the final eight minutes of regulation and overtime in the 3-3 tie.
The Tigers finished the game with a 40-25 advantage in shots, including a 15-6 edge in the third period. Canisius was 1-for-4 on the power play, while killing all four of the Tigers extra-man chances.
Jordan Ruby recorded 22 saves in the tie for RIT.
