Buffalo, N.Y.—The Niagara hockey team traveled to Downtown Buffalo on Friday night to face Battle of the Bridge rival Canisius, the Purple Eagles downed the Griffs 4-2 on the road.
First Period
The first period was a back and forth period as Niagara had six shots on goal while the Griffs had eight.
At the 14:59 mark of the first period Niagara went on the power play for the first time. Just 33 seconds into the man advantage Josef Mysak kept the puck in at the blue line. He fed the pass down to the right faceoff circle to Jay Ahearn, Ahearn then found Tyler Wallace below the goal line. Wallace fed a one touch pass to Carter Randklev who slid into the slot uncover, Randklev fired the puck into the empty net for his seventh of the season. Ahearn picked up his team leading 11th assist of the season while Wallace notched his seventh.
Niagara blocked six shots in the opening period as they went to the locker room with a 1-0 lead. Glebs Prohorenkovs blocked two shots in the period to lead Niagara.
Niagara won 12 of 20 faceoffs in the period with Jack Richard and Prohorenkovs each winning four.
Second Period
The Purple Eagles made it a two-goal game early in the second period. At the 1:28 mark the Purple Eagles broke into the Canisius zone as Wallace found Shane Ott on the opposite wall. Cole Mickel joined the rush and took a pass from Ott, he picked up his rebound and netted his first career goal. Ott picked up his sixth assist of the season while it was Wallace’s eighth.
At the 7:46 mark of the period Canisius cut the Purple Eagle lead in half as they scored their first goal of the game.
Niagara answered back just over four minutes later at the 11:55 mark of the period. Niagara netminder Jarrett Fiske made a blocker save and the puck rebounded to the high slot. Jack Richard picked up the puck and sped through the neutral zone. Once he gained the Canisius line he found Lane Brockhoff joining the rush on the far side. Richard fired a pass to Brockhoff who beat the Canisius netminder for his first collegiate goal. It was Richard’s fourth assist of the season while Fiske earned his second assist in as many games.
The Purple Eagles went to the locker room leading 3-1 despite being outshot 20-12 through two periods.
Third Period
Niagara built their lead to three at the 6:23 mark of the period as they found themselves on the power play once again. Mysak kept the puck in at the point and passed the puck to Richard on the half wall. Richard fired a saucer pass to the left point where Lars Rodne was wide open. With Prohorenkovs screening the Canisius goalie in front of the net, Rodne laced a wrist shot just inside the far post for his fifth goal of the season.
Canisius made it a two goal game just 29 seconds later but that would all they would be able to muster up.
Niagara blocked six shots in the third period while Fiske made 10 saves.
Niagara Notes
- The Purple Eagles went 2-3 on the power play while they scored on their only two shots on the man advantage.
- Fiske made 29 saves in his eighth win of the season. He picked up his fourth career assist and his second of the season.
- 10 different Purple Eagles had points in the win which included five points from freshman.
- Niagara finished the game with 16 blocked shots with Prohorenkovs blocking a game high three shots.
- Prohorenkovs was the top faceoff man for Niagara as he won 12 faceoffs and won 54.5% of his faceoffs.
- Niagara is 7-0-0 this season when they score four or more goals. In the last two seasons they are 15-0-1 when scoring four or more.
- The Purple Eagles are 7-2-0 this season when they score first.
- Niagara is 4-0-0 when leading after the first period and 7-1-1 when leading after two periods.
- Richard notched his second career multi point game and his first career two assist game.
- Wallace tallied two points with two assists, it is his third career multi point game. He has now recorded a point in three straight games.
- Both Brockhoff and Mickel notched their first career goals.
- Ahearn now leads the team in assists and points while being tied for the lead in goals.
- Niagara had just 16 shots on goal, it is the least amount of shots in a win since Feb. 6, 2022 when they defeated Bentley 3-2 at Dwyer Arena.
- Niagara improves to 32-33-6 all-time vs Canisius.
Up Next
Niagara and Canisius close out the home and home series at Dwyer Arena on Saturday with faceoff scheduled for 7 PM.
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