AIC YELLOW JACKETS (2-3-4, 2-2-3AHC)
vs.
CANISIUS GOLDEN GRIFFINS (4-7-1, 3-2-1 AHC)



Friday, November 18, 7:35 p.m.
Saturday, November 19, 4:05 p.m.
HarborCenter, 100 Washington Street, Buffalo, N.Y.

Live Stats| Video| AIC Roster | CAN Roster
AHC Standings

LEADERS:

AIC:
Goals:Dominik Florian5, Martin Mellberg 4, Austin Orszulak 4
Assists: Shawn McBride 6, Threetied with 5
Points: Dominik Florian9, Blake Christensen 8, Shawn McBride 8
Blocked Shots: Dominic Racobaldo13, Nicolas Luka 11,Ryan Polin 10
Goalkeepers:
Alex Murray: 4GP, 3 GS, 1-1-1, 4.10 GAA, .854 SV% (76/89), 0 ShO
Zackarias Skog: 6GP, 6GS, 1-2-3, 2.80 GAA, .916 SV% (186/203), 0 ShO
PP: 31.7% (13/41) PK: 77.8% (35/45)

CANISIUS:
Goals:Nick Hutchison 4, Felix Chamberland 3, Three tied with 2
Assists: Five tied with 4
Points: Ryan Schmelzer 6, Three tied with 5
Blocked Shots: Cameron Heath 20, Jack Stander 20, Ian Edmondson 18
Goalkeepers:
Charles Williams: 9 GP, 9 GS, 4-4-1, 2.39 GAA, .937 SV% (296/316), 1 ShO
Daniel Urbani: 3 GP, 2 GS, 0-2-0, 2.65 GAA, .935 SV% (101/108), 0 ShO
Simon Hofley: 1 GP, 1 GS, 0-1-0, 6.00 GAA, .829 SV% (29/35), 0 ShO
PP: 16.7% (9/54) PK: 85.9% (53/64)

The American International College ice hockey team heads to Buffalo, New York, to battle the Canisius Golden Griffins in a weekend series at the HarborCenter.

LAST TIME OUT: AIC skated to a true split with Bentley in a mid-week series at the MassMutual Center in Springfield, tying 2-2 on Tuesday, November 8 and 1-1 on Thursday, November 10. Freshman winger Dominik Florian had the first goal of the series for AIC, tying Tuesday's game 1-1 at 14:45 of the first period on the power play after Bentley winger Kyle Schmidt opened the scoring at 3:45. The squads traded goals in the third as well, with rookie winger Blake Christensen tallying a go-ahead goal at 4:07 for AIC, only to have defensemen Tanner Jago score the game-tying goal at 16:51 of the frame. Schmidt opened the scoring again Thursday night, burying a one-timer in the slot at 1:23 of the middle period, but junior winger Johno May had a response, whipping a wrister from the left side off of a defenseman and in on a power play at 10:35. Both Bentley junior Jayson Argue and AIC freshman Zackarias Skog were brilliant in the series, quite literally matching each other save-for-save as each keeper had 66 stops on 69 shots in the two-game set.

Canisius suffered a sweep at the hands of Army West Point at Tate Rink, falling by 3-0 and 5-2 scores. In the series opener on Friday, Army thoroughly dominated the game, scoring twice before the contest was five minutes old and holding the Griffins to just 14 shots on goal while taking 16 in the third frame alone. The Saturday matchup was hardly better; Canisius surrendered two in the first and two in the second before a late power play goal by Nick Hutchison broke the shutout streak. The teams traded goals in the third for the 5-2 final.

LAST TIME THEY MET: AIC took three points from Canisius in West Springfield last season, winning 3-1 and drawing 1-1 to extend their longest unbeaten streak of the season to four games on January 2 and 3, 2016. Though the Golden Griffins scored the opening goal of the series, it was all AIC offensively after that, with sophomore Marc Dubeau burying the tying goal at 16:25 of the middle period, junior Jackson Dudley potting the eventual winner at 19:00 of the same frame, and junior Bryant Christian adding a third-period marker at 4:32 to seal the win, which held up largely thanks to the 33 stops by junior Alex Murray in net. Canisius again struck first in game two of the series, but AIC found a way to equalize, with Christian scoring the tying goal at 1:02 of the third, and Murray again stood tall, stopping each of the last 37 shots by Canisius to preserve the 1-1 result.

TIE COLLECTION: The draws with Bentley extended several interesting streaks for the Yellow Jackets. Most directly, the team has now tied in three straight contests as part of a four-game unbeaten streak (1-0-3). The Yellow Jackets have tied Bentley in four consecutive games, all at home, with a 5-5 result on January 23, 2016, and a 2-2 score in the regular season finale on February 24, 2016. The four ties AIC has posted this season are tied for the fourth-most all-time in program history for one campaign, with the record of seven being set two years ago. Additionally, the split featuring a pair of draws was the first for the Yellow Jackets since January 30 and 31, 2015, when the team ended both contests even with Sacred Heart, 4-4 and 2-2.

EMPTY BOX: The Yellow Jackets committed just three penalties in the series with Bentley, the fewest in any two-game set so far this season. After spending a total of 40 minutes in the sin bin in the two non-conference contests with Union and Connecticut, AIC has spent 56 minutes in the box in the seven Atlantic Hockey games; in league play the team is the least-penalized squad Atlantic Hockey has, and overall, despite those first two games, the Yellow Jackets' average of 10.7 PIM per game is fifth-fewest in the nation.

TAKING OFFENSE: The Yellow Jackets offense has been on fire, posting the third-best goals-per-game total in Atlantic Hockey this season with 28 goals in nine contests for a 3.11 goals-per-game average. Thirteen of those 28 tallies have come in man-up situations, second most in the conference, and 12 of the 28 are in the third period, third most in the league. The team also has the highest net gain from special teams, with the 13 PPG for along with two shorthanded goals for compared to eight PPG against and no shorthanded goals allowed for a +5 margin; only Robert Morris (+4) and Army West Point (+1) also have positive margins.

OFFENSE AGAINST DEFENSE: The Yellow Jackets' third-ranked offense has helped them overcome the eighth-ranked scoring defense in the league; by comparison, Canisius has succeeded in the opposite fashion, with the league's lowest-scoring offense at 1.58 goals for per game, but the second-best defense, which permits just 2.83 goals per contest. Both their power play and penalty kill rank fourth in the AHC.

FRESH PERSPECTIVE: The Yellow Jackets boast the top three rookie point scorers in Atlantic Hockey; Florian (5-4-9) leads the way, with linemates Christensen (3-5-8) and Martin Mellberg (4-3-7) behind him. Additionally, Hugo Reinhardt (0-5-5) is tied for twelfth in rookie points and first in assists by a freshman alongside several others, including Christensen. Defenseman Janis Jaks (3-2-5) is tied for first in goals and third in points among rookie blueliners. Canisius has the top first-year defender for points, with Matt Stief (1-5-6) leading the way and tied for sixth overall in rookie scoring in the league, as well as the rookie leader in power-play goals in Hutchison, who is tied for the conference lead overall with four.

NEXT UP: The Yellow Jackets play three games during the week of Thanksgiving, with a 7:05 p.m. start on Tuesday, November 22 against the Sacred Heart Pioneers, followed by a series with the Niagara University Purple Eagles on Friday, November 25 at 2:05 p.m. and Saturday, November 26 at 5:05 p.m. All of the contests are slated for the MassMutual Center.