Niagara University, N.Y.—The Niagara hockey team completed the sweep of battle of the bridge rival Canisius on Saturday night by a score of 6-4 at Dwyer Arena.
First Period
After falling 4-2 on Friday night, the Griffs came out firing as they scored just 3:23 into the game to take an early 1-0 lead.
Niagara answered right back just over a minute later at the 4:40 mark. Drew Veiten raced through the neutral zone and gained the Canisius blue line and found Noah Hackett going into the Canisius zone. Veiten hit Hackett with a pass, Hackett took a one-timer that was blocked, the puck went right back to him and he batted towards the net. Connor Mylymok was just in front of the crease and fired it home for his third goal of the season. Hackett picked up his fifth assist of the season and Vieten picked up his first assist of 2023-24.
Less than two minutes later at the 6:26 mark the Purple Eagles took a 2-1 lead. Aron Jessli broke out of the Niagara zone and saw fellow freshman Tyler Wallace streaking between the Canisius defensemen. Jessli found Wallace who got a shot off on a mini break-a-way, the rebound went to the side of the net and Lars Rodne backhanded the puck back to the high slot where Cole Mickel took a shot that found the back of the net. Mickel scored his second goal in as many nights while Rodne picked up his third assist and Wallace notched his ninth assist of the season.
With 21 seconds left in the first period Canisius tied the game at two.
Niagara outshot Canisius 21-11 in the first period.
Second Period
Niagara took the lead back just 1:26 into the second period as Wallace notched his seventh goal of the year. After Carter Randklev broke the puck out of the Niagara zone, Jay Ahearn won a puck battle in front of the Canisius bench to send Wallace and Randklev in on a two on one. Wallace made one pass to Randklev who made a return pass in front of the Canisius crease. Wallace beat the back checker to the net and finished for his seventh of his freshman year. Randklev notched his 10th assist of the season while Ahearn was credited with his team leading 12th assist.
Niagara earned a power play 4:42 into the period and the power play went to work. After winning the faceoff Niagara set up the man-advantage. Jonathan Ziskie played the puck from his point position to Rodne who was on the half wall. Johnny Wescoe slid out the high slot for a one-timer and ripped home his third goal of the season to give Niagara a 4-2 lead. Niagara scored just 16 seconds into the power play for their third power play goal of the weekend.
Just over 30 seconds later at the 5:29 mark Niagara took a three-goal lead. Oliver Gauthier won a battle deep in the Canisius zone and got the puck to Luke Mylymok who was below the goal line. L. Mylymok passed the puck to Ethan Lund who took a wrist shot through a screen. The shot found its way to the top corner of the net for Lund's second goal of the season. Gauthier picked up his eighth assist of the season while L. Mylymok picked up his sixth assist.
Canisius answered with less than five minutes left in the second as they scored twice at the 15:08 and 15:54 marks of the period to make it 5-4 Niagara.
Niagara went to the locker room leading 5-4 and outshooting Canisius 33-18.
Third Period
After a combined nine goals in two periods, neither team scored in the third period until there was 23 seconds left on the clock, the teams combined for just 10 shots in the third.
With 23 seconds left in the third and an empty Canisius net, Josef Mysak picked up a pass from Lund deep in the Niagara zone. Mysak looked for the empty net with a long shot, the shot was deflected near center ice by C. Mylymok and the puck had enough steam to make it into the empty net. Mysak picked up his eighth assist while Lund had his third assist of the season.
Niagara Notes
· Niagara outshot Canisius 37-24 in the game.
· Jarrett Fiske made 15 saves before leaving the game due to injury in the third period. Mitchell Day made five saves in relief.
· The Purple Eagles went 36-31 in the faceoff circle with Glebs Prohorenkovs winning a team high 17 faceoffs. He had a 63.0 winning percentage.
· 14 Purple Eagles had points while C. Mylymok, Wallace, Rodne, and Lund all had multi point games.
· Niagara blocked 18 shots with Ziskie blocking a team high three.
· It is the first time Niagara has swept Canisius in a weekend series since the 2018-19 season.
· Niagara is now 33-33-6 all-time against Canisius.
· Niagara went 3-5 on the power play in the two games and took just three shots while scoring on all three.
· 18 different Purple Eagles had a point in the two games with nine having multi point weekends.
Up Next
Niagara is off from Atlantic Hockey play next weekend as they will head Plymouth, Michigan to take on the U.S. National Team Development Program on Thursday at 7 PM in an exhibition.
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