SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Canisius scored three times in the first period to build an early advantage and never look back as it cruised to a 6-1 victory over AIC in Atlantic Hockey Conference action Saturday at the MassMutual Center.
Junior Ryan Schmelzer and sophomore Dylan McLaughlin notched a goal and two assists each to pace the Griffs (13-10-5, 12-4-4 AHC), who won their fifth straight contest and extended their unbeaten streak to seven games as they maintained their share of first place in the Atlantic Hockey standings.
Sophomore Alex Jaeckle pitched in a goal and an assist while junior Jeff Murray and sophomores Felix Chamberland and Jimmy Mazza also scored for Canisius. Austin Orszualk tallied the lone goal for the Yellow Jackets (7-15-6, 6-11-5 AHC).
Murray staked Canisius to a 1-0 lead just 3:15 into the contest when he jammed home his own rebound for his second goal of the season.
Jaeckle doubled the Griffs margin to 2-0 at the 14:41 mark of the opening frame, finishing off an odd-man rush by flipping the puck over AIC keeper Alex Murray for his second goal of the campaign.
McLaughlin capped the first-period scoring barrage for the Griffs with less than two minutes remaining in the first, firing a wrist shot past Murray from the slot while Canisius was on the power play to make it a 3-0 contest.
Chamberland stretched the Canisius lead to 4-0 less than five minutes into the second, one-timing a pass from freshman Nick Hutchison between the legs of Yellow Jackets backup goaltender Justin Ketola for his sixth of the campaign.
Orszulak got AIC on the board a little more than two minutes after Chamberland’s tally, deflecting a point shot past Griffs netminder Charles Williams to make it a 4-1 contest.
Mazza restored the Griffs four-goal cushion, 5-1, just before the midway point of the second with a power play tally, beating Ketola with a slap shot from the top of the right faceoff circle for his first of the season.
Schmezler closed out the scoring with a little more than four minutes remaining in the third, beating Ketola with a back-handed effort from the right faceoff circle.
Williams got the start between the pipes for the Griffs and finished with 25 saves. Murray began the game in goal for AIC and made nine saves in 20 minutes of action before being replaced at the start of the second by Ketola, who recorded 13 stops.
Canisius closes out the month of January Tuesday with a midweek contest at rival Niagara. Puck drop for the 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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