Watertown, Mass. ? The Canisius College hockey team cruised to a 7-3 victory over Bentley in the second game of the Atlantic Hockey Quarterfinals. With the best-of-three series knotted at one, the two teams will play a deciding game tomorrow at 7:05 p.m.
“We played very hungry tonight,” said Canisius head coach Dave Smith. “We found the pucks around the net that last night we didn't and that was the difference.”
Junior Ryan Klusendorf led the Griffs with two goals, while juniors Carl Hudson and Jason Weeks, sophomores Cory Conacher and Scott Jenks plus freshman Dave Kostuch each added a score. Jenks' goal is the first of his collegiate career.
“It felt great to score those two goals tonight,” Klusendorf said. “As a team, we got the monkey off our back. Once we got a couple of goals early, our confidence just continued to grow. We played very well tonight.”
Junior Andrew Loewen played strong in net for the Griffs, recording 41 saves to earn the victory.
“I thought Andrew played excellent tonight,” Smith said. “He made a lot of key saves at key times.”
The Griffs (15-15-6) came out firing in the first period, scoring three goals in the opening stanza. Conacher tallied his 12th goal of the season 11:37 into the first period. Senior Spencer Churchill sent a shot toward the goal but Bentley's Kyle Rank made the save. Junior Dave Cianfrini then fired a shot and the puck found the stick of Conacher, who found the back of the net.
Kostuch gave Canisius a 2-0 advantage just less than two minutes following Conacher's goal. The rookie blocked a shot and then skated the length of the ice. Kostuch sent the puck to freshman Adam Brace but Brace's shot went wide. Junior Josh Heidinger first swatted at the puck in front of the net and then Kostuch knocked it in for his team-leading 21st goal of the season.
Canisius stretched its lead to three, taking advantage of its first power play of the evening. Freshman Wes Love fired a shot from the blue line but was blocked by a Bentley defender. The rebound went right back to Love, who had his second shot tipped in by Klusendorf. Cianfrini registered his second assist of the night on the goal at the 15:50 mark.
Bentley (18-16-2) cut the Canisius lead to two shortly before first intermission. The Falcons skated in on a 3-on-1 break and Dain Prewitt scored his 20th goal of the season with just 22.9 seconds remaining.
Canisius continued to dominate play early in the second period. Hudson took advantage of a 5-on-3 power play with his 14th goal of the season. Weeks won a faceoff back to Hudson, who one-timed the puck in to give the Griffs a 4-1 advantage 5:06 into the second frame.
Klusendorf then scored his second goal of the evening, finding the back of the net 7:34 into the period. The junior centered the puck from the corner, which went off a Bentley defender and into the back of the net. Junior Peter MacDougall and sophomore Eric Rex both registered an assist on the goal.
Prewitt once again scored a late goal for the Falcons. The senior found the back of the net on a power with 41 seconds remaining in the second. Bentley added another power play goal 30 seconds into the third period when Dustin Cloutier scored from a shot in the slot.
The Griffs sealed the victory with two goals in a two-minute span. Weeks scored his 14th goal of the season with 12:30 left in the period. Conacher fired a shot toward the net and after Bentley's Joe Calvi made the save, Weeks knocked the puck out of the air and into the net.
Jenks then scored his first career goal on the power play with 10:21 left in the game. The sophomore fired a shot in from the blue line off a pass from Brace to wrap up the Griffs' 7-3 victory.
Game three is set for 7:05 p.m. tomorrow night at the John A. Ryan Skating Area.
Game Notes: The win ended a seven-game losing streak for the Griffs in the postseason ... Klusendorf tied the Griffs' Division I postseason record with two goals, matching the mark set by four other players, including Kostuch from Friday's game ... Loewen set the postseason saves record, topping the mark of Dan Giffin, who recorded 38 saves against Mercyhurst in 2006 ... Kostuch is one goal shy of the school record of 22, set by Chris Duggan during the 1998-99 season ... Weeks is also one assist shy of Duggan's and Heidinger's assist record with his 25 helpers ... Hudson's power play goal was the 20th of his career, two shy of the school record set by David Deeves. Hudson has tallied 20 of his 30 career goals on the power play (66.7 percent) ... Heidinger moved into a tie for fourth in the program's Division I record book with his 91st career point. He is now tied with Brad Kenny ... Canisius tied the school's postseason record for goals in game, matching the mark set against AIC in 1999 ... The Griffs' seven goals are the most since a 7-3 victory at Bentley on Nov. 12, 2005 ... Canisius' four-goal margin of victory is also the largest in the school's Division I postseason history.
