BUFFALO — The Canisius College hockey team opens a five-game homestand this weekend with a pair of contests against Atlantic Hockey Conference foe American International from KeyBank Rink at HARBORCENTER. The two teams open their weekend slate Friday with a 7:35 p.m. contest before wrapping the series Saturday with a 4:05 p.m. matinee.
The Griffs (4-7-1; 3-2-1 AHC) and Yellow Jackets (2-3-4; 2-2-3 AHC) begin the weekend tied for fourth place in the AHA standings with seven points each. Canisius fell in both of its contests at league-leading Army West Point last weekend while AIC recorded a pair of ties at home against Bentley.
Canisius begins the weekend with a 3-2-1 mark in Atlantic Hockey Conference action and a 4-7-1 overall record. The Griffs currently sit in a tie for fourth place in the AHC standings with seven points. 4 Sophomore Felix Chamberland (3g, 3a) and freshman Matt Stief (1g, 5a) lead the Griffs in scoring with six points each. Freshman Nick Hutchison is tops on the team with four goals scored. Senior goaltender Charles Williams owns a 4-3-1 overall record and is fifth in the nation in save percentage at .937. The Blue and Gold are 2-0-1 at HARBORCENTER this season. All three home contests this season have been against league competition.
The Golden Griffins fell in both games of its Atlantic Hockey series at league-leading Army West Point last weekend. The Black Knights took the opener, 3-0, on Veterans Day before claiming the series finale by a 5-2 margin the following night. Freshman Nick Hutchison scored both of Canisius’ goals during Saturday’s contest to take over the team lead in that category. All four of his goals this season have come on the power play. Fellow newcomer Matt Stief assisted on both of Hutchison’s markers to propel the defenseman into a tie for first place on the team’s scoring chart with six points (1g, 5a). Senior Geoff Fortman and sophomore Jimmy Mazza also recorded assists during the series finale.
American International begins the weekend tied with Canisius for fourth place in the Atlantic Hockey Conference standings with seven points. The Yellow Jackets posted a pair of ties in its home series against league counterpart Bentley last week, recording a 2-2 draw in the series opener Nov. 8 before playing to a 1-1 deadlock two nights later. Freshmen have paced the AIC attack in the early going as three of the team’s top four scorers are rookies. Dominik Florian leads the way with a team-best nine points (5g, 4a) while fellow newcomers Blake Christensen (3g, 5a) and Martin Mellberg (4g, 3a) are second and tied for third, respectively. Junior Alex Murray and freshman Zackarias Skog have split time between the pipes for the Yellow Jackets thus far. Skog has started six of the team’s nine contests to date. He holds a 2.86 GAA and a .916 save percentage in those contests. AIC has been efficient with the man advantage in the early going, ranking second in the nation in power play percentage (31.0). The Yellow Jackets have struggled on the penalty kill, however, ranking 50th in that category (78.3).
from GoGriffs.com via IFTTT
