Buffalo, N.Y.—The Niagara hockey team closed out the three game season series with Canisius on Tuesday night as they traveled to Downtown Buffalo. Niagara completed the season sweep of the Griffs as they won 3-2 in overtime.
First Period
Niagara outshot the Griffs 16-11 in the first period while earning three power plays. Niagara generated seven shots on the man advantage.
Niagara took a 1-0 lead at the 9:39 mark while on the power play. Jack Richard kept the puck in on the power play and found Jonathan Ziskie on the opposite point, Ziske fed the puck down to Lars Rodne on the half wall. Rodne made a one touch pass to Johnny Wescoe in the high slot. Wescoe one timed the puck into the top right corner of the net for his fourth goal of the season. Rodne picked up his sixth assist while Ziskie notched his fifth assist.
The Purple Eagles won 15 of 23 faceoffs in the period for a 65.2 winning percentage. Tyler Wallace had a team high eight wins as he went 8-3 in the circle.
Second Period
Niagara doubled their lead 3:50 into the second period as Luke Mylymok scored his seventh of the season. Carter Randklev skated into the Canisius zone and flipped a saucer pass to Tyler Wallace in the high slot. Wallace looked to take a shot but the puck slid off his stick. He held on to the puck and went to the side of the net as the Canisius goalie slid out of position. Wallace waited out the goalie and threw a pass to L. Mylymok who was sitting wide open in front of the crease with an empty net in front of him. Wallace picked up his 10th assist of the season while Radklev picked up his 11th of the season.
The Griffs got on the board with just over five minutes left on the clock in the second period to make it a 2-1 game.
After two periods Niagara led 2-1 and were outshooting the Griffs 26-24.
Niagara was 25-17 in the faceoff circle after two periods as Wallace was the team leader with 12 wins and a 70.6 winning percentage.
Third Period
Canisius tied the game on the power play 6:17 into the period.
Niagara could not regain the lead in the third period but Canisius did not take a lead in the frame.
The Griffs outshot the Purple Eagles 16-11 in the third period but Mitchell Day turned 15 shots aside.
Niagara went 17-6 in the faceoff circle in the third period.
Overtime
Wallace won the opening faceoff of overtime and the Purple Eagles controlled the puck to start overtime. The Purple Eagles took the puck back to their zone as Josef Mysak controlled the puck. Mysak found a speeding Wallace who gained the Canisius zone. Mysak drove through defense while taking a defensemen with him. Wallace passed the puck to Randklev in the high slot, his shot was wide but took a big bounce off the back boards right to Mysak on the side of the net. Mysak tapped the puck into the net for his first goal of the season to give Niagara a 3-2 win.
Wallace and Randklev each picked up their second assists of the game as it was Wallace's 11th of the season while Randklev tied the team high with his 12th.
Niagara Notes
· Day made his second collegiate start while he picked up the first win of his career. He made 38 saves in the win, including 15 in the third period.
· Niagara had 37 shots on goal, they have generated 30+ shots in three of the last four games.
· The Purple Eagles improve to 34-33-6 all-time against the Griffs. Niagara is 4-1-6 against Canisius all-time in overtime.
· Niagara swept the Griffs in the regular season, it is the first time since the inaugural season (1996-97) of Niagara hockey that Niagara has swept Canisius in a regular season series. It is the first time that Niagara has gone 3-0 in a regular season series in program history against Canisius
· The Purple Eagles went 43-23 in the faceoff circle, Wallace won a game high 17 draws while Glebs Prohorenkovs won 13 faceoffs. All four centers for Niagara won over 50% of their faceoffs.
· Niagara went 1-4 on the power play as they totaled 10 shots on the man advantage.
· Randklev is now tied with Jay Ahearn with 19 points for the team lead while Wallace is second on the team with 18 points.
· With Mysak scoring, 22 different Purple Eagles have a goal this season.
· L. Mylymok is now tied for the team lead with seven goals.
· Olivier Gauthier skated in his 100th career game on Tuesday, he had one shot on goal in the game.
· Niagara is 5-0-0 this season when leading after the first period.
· The Purple Eagles are now 3-0-1 when scoring three goals.
· Niagara is 9-2-1 this season when leading after two periods.
· The Purple Eagles have scored first 11 times this season, they are 8-3-0 in those games.
· In three games against Canisius, Wallace had a team high six points as he had one goal and five assists.
· Niagara went 4-9 on the power play in three games against Canisius with 13 shots.
· The Purple Eagles won 107 faceoffs in the three games with Prohorenkovs winning a team high 42 draws.
· Niagara goalies had a combined .916 save percentage and a 2.66 goals-against average. Day made 43 saves on 45 shots in the series.
Up Next
The Purple Eagles return to Dwyer Arena on Friday as they welcome AIC for a two game series. Faceoff for Friday is scheduled for 7 PM while faceoff on Saturday is slated for 5 PM.
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