BUFFALO, NY – Sometimes all a team needs is a little rest after a long and arduous regular season.
Especially when good players are out with injuries.
The rejuvenation paid off on Friday evening when Dylan McLaughlin, Matt Hoover and Matt McLeod all scored twice to lead rested Canisius to an overwhelming 8-1 victory over American International College at the HarborCenter on Friday evening.
Canisius welcomed back Ryan Schmelzer and Jeff Murray after the two missed much time down the stretch of the regular season. Schmelzer and Murray each had an assist. But they were far from the whole story in a balanced Griffs attack that featured points from 13 different skaters.
“That’s huge,” McLaughlin said of the balanced attack. “If it keeps going like that, it is going to be tough to lose. Getting everybody contributing like that would be awesome.”
The Griffins – seeded second in the Atlantic Hockey Tournament – can clinch the best of three series at 8 pm Eastern Saturday against the No. 8 Yellow Jackets.
“It was obviously a great game for us,” said Canisius coach Trevor Large. “Anytime you get eight goals in a game….and I liked the way the offense was really spread out. We were clicking tonight, and obviously made a lot of great plays. We know tomorrow is going to be a different game, a harder game.”
While the Yellow Jackets did what they to do in eliminating Niagara last weekend, they were not as sharp in this one.
“At the end of the day, they are an elite team with elite skill,” said AIC coach Eric Lang. “When we started to chase the game, we really got out of sorts. When you are down three to zip, you do things that are out of character, instead of staying with the process.
“Credit an elite team that was way better than our group tonight, no ifs, and or buts about it.”
The game was decided within a span of just under nine minutes in the first period.
McLeod started things off for the Griffs when he darted from the slot to the net and was in perfect position to take Nick Hutchison’s<cq> pass from behind the net and quickly rifled the puck from extremely close range past Stefano Durante<cq> for a 1-0 lead 8:02 into the game.
It was only the second goal of the season for McLeod, and his first since November 17.
Just over four minutes later, Felix Chamberland<cq> scored in similar fashion when darted in – took Hoover’s pass from behind the net – and gave the Griffs a 2-0 lead from close range on a remarkably similar goal to the first Canisius score.
Then McLaughlin and Schmelzer sped in on a 2-on-1, passed back and forth before McLaughlin took Schmelzer’s feed from just outside the goal crease and made it 3-0 Canisius with just over three minutes left.
The barrage epitomized what it meant to McLaughlin that Schmelzer and Murray were reunited with him on the top line.
“Obviously it is nice having those guys back,” said McLaughlin. “They are great players, and we played well all year together, so it was nice having them back.”
McLaughlin extended the lead just 27 seconds into the second period when scored from the left faceoff circle after taking Murray’s pass. Murray missed Canisius’ last six regular season games with an upper body injury.
AIC finally got on the board when Blake Christensen<cq> took a shot from the right faceoff circle which was blocked by a Canisius defenseman. The puck squirted right back to him, and his second shot beat Canisius goaltender Daniel Urbani to cut the Griffs lead to 4-1 15:41 into the second.
The goal was Christensen’s 13th of the season and his fifth point in his last three games.
But by then, the issue had been decided.
Jimmy Mazza scored the other Canisius goal while Hutchison had three assists and Urbani made 34 saves. Surprisingly, AIC outshot Canisius 35-27.
After the game, Large talked about what it meant to have his club rested, and to get Schmelzer and Murray back with McLaughlin. Schmelzer missed the last six games.
“Dylan is Dylan,” Large said. “That is the thing I know about him. What it does is make our lineup so much deeper. We have some tough matchups. We have elite players on every line we have. Dylan playing with those guys is the perfect role for him. I thought he had a special game tonight.”
NOTES: The Griffs improved to 16-1-1 this season when scoring first……McLaughlin has multiple point outings in 16 of the 34 games he has played…..The Yellow Jackets have surrendered 14 goals in its last two games against Canisius.
