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Canisius University Athletics

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hockey ot celebration vs Niagara 3-9-19
Dean Bogart
4
Winner Canisius CAN 12-19-5, 8-16-4 AHA
3
Niagara NIA 13-18-5, 11-12-5 AHA
Winner
Canisius CAN
12-19-5, 8-16-4 AHA
4
Final
3
Niagara NIA
13-18-5, 11-12-5 AHA
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 OT 1 F
Canisius CAN 2 1 0 1 4
Niagara NIA 0 3 0 0 3

Game Recap: Ice Hockey |

Hutch is Clutch in Overtime as Hockey Draws Even with Niagara

Junior Nick Hutchison scored 2:04 into overtime to lift No. 11 seed Canisius to a 4-3 victory over No. 6 seed Niagara in game two of their Atlantic Hockey Association first round series Saturday at Dwyer Arena in Lewiston, N.Y.
 
Hutchison's game-winning goal was his second of the contest and punctuated a back-and-forth affair that the Golden Griffins (12-19-5) build a 3-0 cushion just 22 minutes into the contest, only to see the Purple Eagles (13-18-5) use three unanswered power-play goals, including two in a 64-second span late in the second, to tie the game and send the teams to overtime for the second straight contest.
 
In the overtime session, senior Felix Chamberland connected with fellow senior Jimmy Mazza, who drove behind the Niagara net and found Hutchison just off the left post, where he slammed the puck into the cage to even the series and force a winner-take-all game three Sunday afternoon.  
Mazza opened the scoring at the 11:25 mark of the first, blasting a slap shot past Wilson from the top of the right faceoff circle while Canisius was on the power play for his third of the series.
 
Senior Matt McLeod doubled the Griffs margin to 2-0 with a little more than four minutes to play in the opening frame when he finished off a tic-tac-toe passing sequence by tapping home a goalmouth feed from fellow senior David Parrottino for his third of the series.
 
Hutchison stretched the Canisius margin to 3-0 less than two minutes into the second with the Griffs' second power-play goal of the contest, depositing a backdoor feed from sophomore Austin Alger into the Niagara net less than 30 seconds into a five-minute major.  
 
Noah Delmas got the Purple Eagles on the board with a power-play goal a little more than six minutes later, wiring a wrist shot over the left pad of Canisius goaltender Matt Ladd from just above the right faceoff circle to trim the Purple Eagles deficit to 3-1.  
 
Niagara pulled even with a pair of power-play tallies in 64-second span just before the end of the middle period. Justin Kendall began the sequence with 2:34 remaining in the frame, putting home a feed from Delmas from just off the right post during a 5-on-3 sequence before Ludwig Stenlund tied the game with 18:30 elapsed in the period with a snap shot from the top of the point that beat Ladd to the blocker side.
 
The teams played an even third period that saw both teams have a chance to win the game in the final minutes as Chamberland just missed putting home a loose puck with less than two minutes to play before Stenlund had a rebound opportunity on an unguarded Canisius goal in the final minute blocked by a Griffs defender.  
 
Ladd and Wilson both finished with 27 saves for the contest.
 
Head Coach Trevor Large's Postgame Comments
"Obviously it's a big win, anytime you up against elimination and especially in a rivalry game. I knew we were going to give it our best effort tonight. There were some moments in the game tonight that were similar to last night. Getting the overtime winner was the difference. We're happy with the result and now have to prepare to play again tomorrow.
 
"It was something that we talked about, that the start was going to be really important. They had the momentum with the overtime win last night, so objective number one tonight was to get some momentum back on our side and I felt that the first period did that. I liked how we were playing and then they get three power-play goals when we were up 3-0 to tie the game, which makes it tough, but that's what playoffs are, that's the environment. Every game going forward is probably going to be tight. It's good experience for both teams moving forward and hopefully it's the same outcome for us again tomorrow."
 
Game Notes
• Canisius improved to 8-3 in overtime contests in the Atlantic Hockey Association Tournament with Saturday's victory.
• The Griffs improved to 6-7-3 this season when scoring the first goal of the contest.
• Canisius also moved to 32-5-1 since the start of the 2016-17 season when scoring four or more goals in a game.
• Canisius out-shot Niagara by a 31-30 margin on Saturday, generating both shot attempts in overtime to hold the edge in that category for the evening.
• Canisius was 2-for-3 on the power play while Niagara was 3-for-4 with the man advantage.
• Mazza's power-play tally was his third man-advantage goal of the season and the eighth of his career
• With his assist on McLeod's first-period goal, senior Dylan McLaughlin recorded the 147th point of his career, matching Cory Conacher for first place on the program's Division I era career scoring chart.
• Hutchison's power-play goal was his sixth of the season and the 20th of his career, moving him into sole possession of fifth place on the program's Division I era chart for career power-play goals.  
• Hutchison tallied multiple goals in a game for the third time this season and the ninth time in his career with the two-goal effort on Saturday.
• Mazza extended his point-scoring streak to five games with his two-point effort on Saturday.
 
Up Next
The teams will play a winner-takes-all game three Sunday. Opening faceoff is set for 4 p.m. at Dwyer Arena.
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