SPRINGFIELD, Massachusetts The American International College ice hockey team won a matinee matchup with Canisius College, taking the Atlantic Hockey Conference battle 6-0 on Friday, December 6.

FAST FACTS:
SCORE:AIC 6, Canisius 0
RECORDS:AIC improves to 6-7-0 on the season and 6-4-0-0 in the AHC, while Canisius drops to 2-11-0 with a 1-6-0-0 AHC mark.
LOCATION:MassMutual Center, Springfield, Massachusetts

STATS:
Canisius:
Daniel Urbani: Loss (0-4-0), 32 saves

AIC:
Tobias Fladeby: Hat trick
Martin Mellberg: Three assists
Blake Christensen: Three assists
Hugo Reinhardt: One goal, one assist
Justin Cole: Two assists
Luka Maver: One goal
Jared Pike: One goal
Janis Jaks: One assist
Zackarias Skog: Win (6-6-0), shutout (2), 27 saves

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• The Yellow Jackets were on the board quickly in the first, thanks to a goal by redshirt sophomore Luka Maver; he took an initial shot coming down the left wing after a cross pass from junior Brennan Kapcheck that never reached the net, but after redshirt sophomore Justin Cole knocked the rebound to senior Hugo Reinhardt, the co-captain saw Maver cut to the right side and found him wide open for a one-timer at 3:30 that became his third of the season.
• AIC drew a penalty and punished Canisius for it nearly instantly; off of the ensuing faceoff won by sophomore Elijiah Barriga, junior Tobias Fladeby swung the puck to Kapcheck at the midpoint; Kapcheck in turn continued around the horn to senior Blake Christensen. The All-American winger dished to the side of the net for senior Martin Mellberg, and Mellberg immediately dished to Fladeby, who was waiting on the right side of the net to slam home his sixth of the year at 6:00.
• Canisius had a few opportunities to get back in the game, including a bid by Lee Lapid that senior Zackarias Skog stopped, but AIC held to the 2-0 advantage through one.
• Early in the second, AIC scored the only goal of the period. Fladeby notched his second of the game and seventh of the season after Christensen won a battle in the left corner and wound the puck around the boards to senior Janis Jaks at the right point; Jaks cut to the middle and faked a shot before setting up the Norwegian at 2:57.
• In the third, AIC landed two knockout punches, with the first coming just 14 seconds in as Mellberg caused a turnover at the center faceoff dot and went the other way, backhanding a pass to Reinhardt, who in turn tucked home his fifth of the year while being hooked from behind; the subsequent power play was converted in virtually identical fashion to the first power play goal, as Kapcheck sent Christensen down the left wing, and Mellberg backhanded the puck to a wide-open Fladeby for the hat trick, his eighth of the year, at 1:54.
• Not to be left off of the scoresheet, the fourth line closed the scoring with a great high-effort play; senior Jared Pike stole the puck on a clear attempt along the left wall and forced a pass to Cole; he then cut back into the slot and drilled home his fifth of the season at 8:51 after Cole flicked the puck back to him.

HAT TRICK OF THREE-POINT GAMES:

• Three players Fladeby, Christensen, and Mellberg each recorded three-point nights.
• It is the second time this season that AIC has had at least three three-point players in one game; the other was the 12-0 win over Mercyhurst on November 15 that saw seven players record three points or more, including four-point games from Albrecht and Fladeby.
• A hat trick happened in both games, as Barriga scored three times in the second frame that night.
• AIC's lone game during the historic 2018-19 season that featured three three-point games was also against the Lakers on January 26, with Christensen netting a hat trick to go with three-point games from Kapcheck and Cole.

JUST THROW OUT THE RECORD BOOK AND START OVER:

• Christensen closed to within five points of Guillaume Caron '04 and 11 points of Adam Pleskach '13 in the Division I-era points rankings; he now has 103 points in 121 games played.
• Mellberg's three assists moved him into sole possession of seventh all-time in the Division I-era of program history with 51 assists; though he is chasing Christensen, who now leads the list with 64 helpers, he is within six of the former record of 57 set by Nielsson Arcibal '12. Additionally, one of the players he leapfrogged was Kapcheck.
• Skog tied two all-era records in one day in net; his 33rd win moves him level with Mark Buckley '90, who also won 33 of his appearances and has held that record for three decades, while the shutout, his eighth, ties Ben Meisner '13 for the program high-water mark.

NEXT UP:

• The two teams will battle for the second time on Saturday, December 7 at 1:05 p.m. at the MassMutual Center.
• Tickets are still available through aic.edu/hockeytickets.

STAY CONNECTED:

• For more updates about the AIC ice hockey team, follow@AIC_HockeyonTwitterandInstagram, and likeAmerican International College Ice HockeyonFacebook. For updates on all AIC Yellow Jackets teams, follow@AICAthleticsonTwitterandInstagram, and likeAIC Yellow JacketsonFacebook.