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Alger_Austin action vs Niagara 2-22-19
Dean Bogart
3
Canisius CAN 10-18-5, 7-16-4 AHA
3
Niagara NIA 11-17-5, 10-12-5 AHA
Canisius CAN
10-18-5, 7-16-4 AHA
3
Final
3
Niagara NIA
11-17-5, 10-12-5 AHA
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 OT 1 F
Canisius CAN 1 1 1 0 3
Niagara NIA 2 1 0 0 3

Game Recap: Ice Hockey |

Hockey Skates to 3-3 Tie at Niagara

Sophomore Austin Alger and freshmen Kevin Obssuth and Mitchell Martan scored goals, while freshman goaltender Matt Ladd recorded 32 saves to lead Canisius to a 3-3 tie against "Battle of the Bridge" rival Niagara in Atlantic Hockey Association action Saturday at Dwyer Ice Arena in Lewiston, N.Y.
 
Alger buried his 12th goal of the season in the opening minute of the game and Obssuth tied the contest halfway through the second period before Martan scored in the dying minutes of the third to rally the Golden Griffins (10-18-5, 7-16-4 AHA) from a 3-2 deficit.
 
Ladd, meanwhile, stopped 32 of the 35 shots he faced, including 19 attempts on goal from the Purple Eagles (11-17-5, 10-12-5 AHA) during the opening period.
 
Johnny Curran accounted for two Niagara tallies while Ludwig Stenlund scored the first Purple Eagles goal. Brian Wilson finished with 27 saves between the pipes for the home team. 
 
Alger opened the scoring 54 seconds into the tilt when he rifled a feed from senior Dylan McLaughlin past Wilson from the middle of the slot.
 
Niagara would answer back later in the period, as Stenlund took advantage of a Purple Eagles power play at the 7:45 mark to even the score at 1-1.
 
Curran would put Niagara in front before the end of the first, beating Ladd with 4:37 left on the clock in the opening frame.
 
The second period would see the two teams trade power-play tallies, as Obssuth tied the game for Canisius with 7:50 left by putting home a loose puck for his fourth of the campaign. Curran would put Niagara back ahead less than two minutes after Obssuth's equalizer, rifling a shot off the post and in to give the Purple Eagles a 3-2 advantage.
 
Niagara maintained its one-goal cushion until the final stages of the third, when Martan brought the Griffs level with 2:36 remaining with his fifth of the campaign on assists from senior defensemen Jimmy Mazza and Cameron Heath.
 
Neither team was able to net the game-winning goal during overtime despite a bevy of opportunities for both sides as the teams ended the weekend earning two points in the league standings.
 
Head Coach Trevor Large's Postgame Comments
"Tonight's game was a playoff-style atmosphere. It took a huge effort during the whole game to come away with a 3-3 tie with a good opponent. I'm really happy with our overall effort. I thought our guys competed with everything they had tonight and that's something we need to hold on to tight and bring with us next week at RIT and in the playoffs."
 
"We had a next shift mentality. Our guys were saying really good things on the bench, trying to keep an attack mindset no matter what was going on in the game. One of the lines we use a lot is, 'It doesn't matter, get better'. Whether we're up or down, we need to continue to get better. I thought our guys really did that tonight. I thought our third period was maybe the best complete period we've played in a while. I know we wanted to come away with two points, but, overall, our effort was at the highest level."
 
"Ladd's putting together some consistency, which is nice to see. Pretty early in his college hockey career, I think what I've noticed from him is he's bringing a focus to the rink, he's continuing to work, and now he's reaping the rewards of those efforts."
 
Game Notes
• Saturday's contest was the just the sixth tie between Canisius and Niagara in 54 meetings between the two programs. The series marked the first time in series history that the schools have played to a tie in consecutive contests.
• Niagara out-shot Canisius by a 35-30 margin in the contest, with the Purple Eagles having 19 of those attempts come in the first period.
• The Griffs were 1-for-5 with the man advantage while Niagara was successful in two of their five power-play attempts.
• Canisius moved to 4-7-3 this season when scoring the first goal of the contest.
• Martan's game-tying goal in the third period was his fifth goal of the season and second against Niagara. He previously scored against the Purple Eagles on November 17 at Dwyer Arena.
• McLaughlin's assist on Alger's first-period tally gives him 144 points in his career, moving him only three away from Cory Conacher for first place in the program's Division I era list for career points (147).
• The assist also moved McLaughlin past Conacher into second place on the program's Division I era list for career assists (86).
 
Up Next
• Canisius closes out the regular season March 2 by traveling to Rochester, N.Y., for the completion of the season series with RIT. Puck drop is set for 7:00 p.m., from the Gene Polisseni Center.
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