The Bentley Falcons defeated the Canisius hockey team, 8-3, behind six special teams goals. The loss drops the Griffs to 7-7-4 on the season and 5-5-2 in Atlantic Hockey play while Bentley improves to 7-10-1 and 6-6-1 in league action.
Freshman Dave Kostuch led the Canisius attack with two power play tallies, while junior captain Peter MacDougall also scored for the Griffs. Freshman Wes Love posted two assists to pace the Canisius attack.
“We weren't focused enough today,” Kostuch said. “We scored early but we didn't keep it going. We didn't have the emotion that we needed in the first period.”
The Griffs struck quickly, taking advantage of a penalty whistled on Bentley just 14 seconds into the contest. Kostuch sent a wrist shot past the Bentley goalie 1:08 into the contest to give the Griffs the early advantage. Love and junior Jason Weeks both tallied assists on the goal. Sophomore Scott Jenks nearly stretched Canisius' lead to two when a puck trickled past the Bentley goalie. The puck sat in the crease but the Falcons swatted it away to keep the game 1-0.
Bentley responded with seven-straight goals, scoring four times on the power play and once short-handed. Dustin Cloutier tallied three goals and two assists during the run to give the Falcons a 7-1 advantage.
MacDougall ended the Bentley run, scoring his second goal of the season on a breakaway with 2:56 left in the second period. Freshman Scott Moser and sophomore Derek Danowski both registered an assist on the goal.
Kostuch scored his second goal of the game with a power play tally 5:31 into the third period. Junior Josh Heidinger and Love each posted an assist. Bentley finished the game with another power play score to seal the 8-3 victory.
The Falcons outshot the Griffs 39-28 and converted 5-of-7 power play opportunities. The Griffs scored twice in nine power play chances.
“If we have one night like tonight a year, we can say it just wasn't our night,” said Canisius College head coach Dave Smith. “We will look for our leaders in the room to bring us back tomorrow.”
The teams conclude the two-game series tomorrow night at the Amherst Pepsi Center. Game time is set for 7:05 p.m.
Game Notes: Canisius now leads the all-time series between the two schools17-13-3 but in the last 12 meetings, Bentley holds a 9-2-1 advantage ... The eight goals surrendered by the Griffs were the most at home since losing to Connecticut 9-3 on Nov. 18, 2005 ... The last time a Canisius opponent scored five power play goals was against No. 1 Miami on Nov. 24, 2007 ... Kostuch leads the Griffs with 11 goals and is tied for the team lead with 18 points. Kostuch ranks 10th nationally and first among rookies with 0.61 goals per game.
