Niagara and Canisius hockey are set to face off in a Battle of the Bridge matchup at Dwyer Arena on Tuesday night, Jan. 31, at 7:05 p.m. This is the second of four games between the two Western New York rivals this season, and the first game between the two teams at Dwyer Arena in over two years.
Tuesday night’s contest will be regionally televised on Time Warner Cable SportsChannel (Ch. 52/323) with Lars Lewis calling the game alongside color commentator Chris Panek. Jeremy White has the radio play-by-play on 1340 AM WLVL, which can also be heard on the AtlanticHockey.tv live stream.
The Battle of the Bridge is the annual all-sports matchup between Niagara University and Canisius College. Canisius currently holds a 10-5 edge, with Niagara picking up two points in volleyball and men’s basketball along with one point in men’s soccer. The Purple Eagles fell 4-1 on Tuesday, Jan. 24 in the first hockey game of the season against Canisius. Niagara and Canisius face off twice in the month of February. The next meeting between these two teams is Wednesday, Feb. 15 at 7:35 at HARBORCENTER, before the season series wraps up at Dwyer Arena on Friday, Feb. 17 at 7:05 p.m.
The Niagara power play is 20-for-141 (14.2 percent) on the season, including a mark of 11-for-61 (18.0 percent) on home ice. The Purple Eagles had a six-game power-play scoring streak snapped last Saturday in a 4-0 loss to Mercyhurst, the team’s longest such streak this season. Nicolas Carrier has a point on three of Niagara’s five power-play goals in the last five games, scoring twice and adding an assist. Johnny Curran (3+2), Noah Delmas (0+5), Stanislav Dzakhov (2+3), Nick Farmer (1+4), Vinny Muto (2+3), and Kris Spriggs (2+3) are all tied for the Niagara team lead with five power-play points in the 2016-17 campaign. No Niagara player had more than four power-play points in the 2015-16 season. After scoring 12 power-play goals in 37 games last season, Niagara scored 14 in 18 games during the first half of the 2016-17 campaign. Niagara has been held without a power-play goal just eight times in 27 games this season.
Three of Niagara’s five leading scorers this season are freshmen. Kris Spriggs seized the team’s scoring lead last weekend and now has 12 points (6+6) in 22 games. Derek Brown (4+7) and Noah Delmas (0+11) are tied for second along with sophomore Johnny Curran and junior Stanislav Dzakhov with 11 points. Delmas’ 11 assists are a Niagara team-high, while Spriggs is second only to Curran with six goals. Among Atlantic Hockey rookie defensemen, Delmas is tied for third in assists (11) and is tied for fourth in points (11). Brown’s nine points in the first two months of the season are tied for the most by a Niagara rookie over the past 10 years, joining Nick Farmer (2015-16; 2+7 in 12 GP) and Scott Arnold (2010-11; 8+1 in 15 GP).
Canisius comes to Dwyer Arena on Tuesday night on a five-game win streak after earning victories of 4-2 and 6-1 at American International last weekend. Niagara holds a 21-16-5 advantage in 42 all-time meetings against Canisius. Niagara hosts a home game against Canisius for the first time since January of 2015 on Tuesday. Canisius won a pair at Dwyer Arena by scores of 4-1 and 6-4 on Jan. 22 and 24, 2015. Last season, Niagara played two regular-season games at HARBORCENTER against Canisius in addition to all three games of a first-round Atlantic Hockey postseason series. In the first meeting of this season on Jan. 24, Canisius took a 4-1 victory over Niagara in Buffalo. Nicolas Carrier picked up the lone goal of the game for Niagara, and Jackson Teichroeb made 31 saves in goal. Sophomore Dylan McLaughlin leads Canisius in goals (10), shots on goal (75), and points (22), and is tied for the team lead with 12 assists. Ryan Schmelzer also has 12 assists for the Golden Griffins as well as a team-best plus-10 rating. In goal, Charles Williams sports a 1.87 goals-against average, .946 save percentage, and three shutouts. His overall record is 13-6-3.
from PurpleEagles.com via IFTTT
