Hockey Completes Homestand Versus Army West Point

Games 29-30
Canisius (14-12-2, 14-8-0 AHC) vs. Army West Point (10-11-6, 8-8-6 AHC)
Date: Friday, Feb. 9 | Saturday, Feb. 10
Time: 7:35 p.m. | 7:35 p.m.
Location: KeyBank Rink at HARBORCENTER/Buffalo, N.Y.
TV/Webcast: Atlantichockey.tv
Live Stats: GoGriffs.com
Tickets: Ticketmaster.com
Game Notes: Canisius | Army West Point
DI Series History: Canisius leads, 24-20-6

Canisius wraps up a four-game homestand this weekend when it welcomes Army West Point to KeyBank Rink at HARBORCENTER.

Puck drop for both contests between the Golden Griffins and Black Knights is set for 7:35 p.m.

Scouting Canisius
• Tied for first place in the conference standings, the Golden Griffins (14-12-2, 14-8-0 AHC) head into their final home series of the regular season looking to create some separation in the standings as just six points stand between Canisius and seventh place.
• Dylan McLaughlin continues to impress as the junior forward leads the Griffs in goals (14), assists (25) and points (39). McLaughlin enters the weekend ranked among the top five players in the nation in both points (1.44/4th) and assists (0.96/3rd) per game.
• Senior Ryan Schmelzer is second on the team in goals (13), assists (16) and points (29). Schmelzer needs just one point to move into a tie with former teammate Shane Conacher for ninth place on the program's Division I era scoring chart (106).
• Sophomore Nick Hutchison is third on the team in scoring with 22 points (13g, 9a). Hutchison is tied for the national lead with five game-winning goals.
• Sophomore Daniel Urbani has seen a majority of time between the pipes this season, posting a 2.97 goals against average and a .910 save percentage in 23 appearances.
• Canisius ranks second in Atlantic Hockey in scoring offense, averaging 3.14 goals per game. The Griffs have tallied multiple goals on 19 occasions this season, including 11 performances with four or more goals.
• Canisius has excelled on the power play in 2017-18 as it is 26-for-117 (22.2%) with the man advantage. The Griffs, who rank 12th nationally in that category, have recorded a power-play goal in 20 of 28 games played.

Griffs Remain in First with Split Versus Crusaders
• Canisius maintained a share of first place in the Atlantic Hockey standings as it posted a split with fellow league front-runner Holy Cross last weekend at HARBORCENTER.
• The Crusaders scored three power-play goals to claim the opener, 5-1, before the Griffs rebounded for a 5-2 victory in the finale.
• Canisius tallied four or more goals in a game for the 11th time this season in the series finale and improved to 10-0-1 when doing so.
• Freshman Matt Long recorded multiple points in a game for the first time in his career with his two-point effort (1g, 1a) in the series finale.
• Sophomore Matt Hoover tallied multiple goals in a game for the second time in his career with his two-goal performance in game two.
• Junior Cameron Heath tallied multiple points in a game for the third time this season as he notched two assists during the series finale.
• Junior Dylan McLaughlin picked up an assist in game two of the series, moving him into a four-way tie for ninth on the program's single-season points chart during the Division I era with 39.
• Junior Alex Jaeckle extended his career-best point streak to four games with a point in both contests. He recorded his first career power-play goal in the series opener on Friday.

Scouting Army West Point
• The Black Knights (10-11-6, 8-8-6 AHC) make their way to Western New York tied with American International for sixth place in the league standings with 22 points. Army West Point does start the weekend with three games in hand of the idle Yellow Jackets.
• Sophomore forwards Michael Wilson and Dominic Franco have provided a solid 1-2 punch for the Black Knights as Wilson leads the team in both goals (15) and points (24) while Franco is second in assists (15) and points (23).
• Junior defenseman Dalton MacAfee has provided scoring depth from the backend as he leads Army in assists (16) and is third in points (18).
• Senior Cole Bruns has seen the majority of time between the pipes this season, starting 18 of 27 games played. He has posted a 2.52 goals against average and a .919 save percentage in 1096 minutes of action.

Canisius-Army West Point Series Notes
• Canisius holds an all-time record of 26-25-6 against Army West Point, highlighted by a 24-20-6 edge over the Black Knights in the Division I era of the series.
• The schools have been pretty evenly matched in recent contests as the Griffs hold a 7-5-2 edge in their previous 14 meetings.
• Canisius has posted a 15-7-3 record against Army West Point at home. The Griffs claimed three-of-four points in their most recent series at HARBORCENTER last February (4-0, 2-2).
• Canisius posted a sweep of the first series between the teams over Thanksgiving weekend at Tate Rink, with the Griffs claiming a 4-3 overtime victory in the opener before recording a 3-2 triumph in the finale.

Up Next
• Canisius heads out west for a two-game series at Atlantic Hockey Conference rival Air Force Feb. 16-17.
• The series opener is set for a 7:05 MST puck drop while the finale is slated for a 5:05 MST opening faceoff.
• The Feb. 16 contest will be shown live on Stadium TV.

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Players Mentioned

#53 Cameron Heath: D; 6' 1"; Junior

#72 Matt Hoover: F; 5' 10"; Sophomore

#91 Nick Hutchison: F; 6' 3"; Sophomore

#44 Alex Jaeckle: D; 6' 3"; Junior

#13 Dylan McLaughlin: F; 5' 11"; Junior

#26 Ryan Schmelzer: F; 6' 2"; Senior

#29 Daniel Urbani: G; 6' 1"; Sophomore

#25 Matt Long: F; 5' 11"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

#53 Cameron Heath
: 6' 1"; Junior
: D

#72 Matt Hoover
: 5' 10"; Sophomore
: F

#91 Nick Hutchison
: 6' 3"; Sophomore
: F

#44 Alex Jaeckle
: 6' 3"; Junior
: D

#13 Dylan McLaughlin
: 5' 11"; Junior
: F

#26 Ryan Schmelzer
: 6' 2"; Senior
: F

#29 Daniel Urbani
: 6' 1"; Sophomore
: G

#25 Matt Long
: 5' 11"; Freshman
: F