BUFFALO – Canisius begins a three-game road swing this weekend with an Atlantic Hockey series at American International.
The Griffs and Yellow Jackets opens their two-game set Friday with a 2:05 p.m. matinee before wrapping up the weekend Saturday with another 2:05 p.m. matchup. Both games will be played at the MassMutual Center in downtown Springfield.
Riding a five-game unbeaten streak, Canisius (11-10-5, 10-4-4 AHC) heads into its matchup with AIC tied with Air Force for first place in the Atlantic Hockey standings with 24 points. Sophomore Dylan McLaughlin leads the Canisius attack with 17 points (6g, 11a). McLaughlin has found the scoresheet in all five games of the Griffs’ current unbeaten streak, amassing eight points (3g, 5a) in that span. Junior Ryan Schmelzer is second on the team in scoring with 16 points (8g, 8a). Schmelzer has been responsible for the game-winning goal in each of Canisius’ last three contests. Senior Charles Williams continues to shine in goal for the Griffs this season as he enters the weekend leading the nation in save percentage (.945). Williams also ranks amongst the top ten netminders nationally in both goals against average (1.91/7th) and shutouts (3/T-7th) as well. He was named Atlantic Hockey Goalie-of-the-Week for the fifth time this season on Tuesday. The power play has been firing on all cylinders for the Griffs in recent contests, converting 7-of-21 opportunities (.333) over the past five contests. Canisius has found its offensive groove of late as it is averaging 3.28 goals per game over its last seven contests, compared to just 1.84 goals per game average during the Griffs’ first 19 games of the season.
Sophomores Dylan McLaughlin and Matt McLeod each tallied a goal and an assist to guide Canisius to a 4-1 victory over rival Niagara Tuesday at KeyBank Rink in HARBORCENTER. In the first of four regular season meetings between the two programs, the Griffs took a 2-0 lead in the opening 12 minutes of the contest and never looked back as it extended its season-best unbeaten streak to five games. The win also propelled Canisius into a tie for first place in the Atlantic Hockey Conference standings with Air Force. Freshman Casey Jerry and junior Ryan Schmelzer also scored for the Griffs. Schmelzer’s first-period tally proved to be the eventual game-winner, marking the third straight contest that the Buffalo product has authored the game-winning tally for the Giffs. Senior Charles Williams stopped 35 shots between the pipes for Canisius. It marked the 13th time this season that Williams has stopped 30 or more shots in a contest.
AIC (7-13-6, 6-9-5) enters the weekend in eighth place in the Atlantic Hockey standings, one point ahead of ninth-place Bentley and just three points back of fifth-place RIT. The Yellow Jackets are coming off a road sweep of Niagara last weekend. The Yellow Jackets have benefitted from a youth movement this season as freshmen occupy the top four spots on the team’s scoring list. Rookie Blake Christensen leads the squad with 18 points (7g, 11a) while fellow newcomers Dominik Florian (10g, 6a) and Martin Mellberg (5g, 11a) are tied for second with 16 points. In goal, freshman Zackarias Skog and junior Alex Murray have split time this season. Skog leads the team with a 2.89 goals against average and a .911 save percentage in 15 contests while Murray has compiled a 3.23 GAA and a .895 sv% in 13 appearances. The Yellow Jackets are coached by Eric Lang, who is in his first season behind the AIC bench. Lang is in his third stint as a Yellow Jacket after being a four-year member of the hockey team from 1994-98 and returning to serve as a Graduate Assistant from 2006-08.
In a series that dates back to 1992, the Griffs are 34-15-7 all-time against the Yellow Jackets, including a 34-14-7 edge in Division I meetings. Canisius has defeated AIC more than any other school at the Division I level. The Griffs have especially dominated the series as of late. Since the start of the 2008-09 season, Canisius is 17-2-5 in its last 24 games against AIC. Canisius claimed 3-of-4 points from AIC in their first series this season at HARBORCENTER in November. The Griffs claimed the opener, 4-0, thanks to a natural hat trick from freshman Matt Hoover before senior Charles Williams made 39 saves to guide the Griffs to a 1-1 draw in the series finale the following afternoon.
Canisius closes out the month of January with a midweek contest at rival Niagara. Puck drop for the Jan. 31 contest at Dwyer Arena is set for 7:05 p.m. The game will be shown regionally on the Time Warner Cable Sports Network.
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