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Atlantic Hockey Showdown: Mercyhurst takes on conference leading Canisius

Thursday February 23, 2017 
HarborCenter, Buffalo NY  
Canisius Golden Griffins (18-10-7, 1st in Atlantic Conference)
 Vs. 
Mercyhurst Lakers (12-16-4, 5th in Atlantic Conference)
                                                       Courtesy: www.tomwolf.smugmug.com

On a Thursday evening contest the Atlantic leading Canisius Griffins take on the Mercyhurst Lakers in a pivotal conference matchup. Although every team in the Atlantic is guaranteed a spot in the playoffs, positioning is still up in the air.

Atlantic Hockey Playoffs Explained: 

 - There are 11 total teams in the Atlantic Conference

- The top 5 teams are given a first round bye while the bottom 6 teams are paired up and play a best of 3 game series hosted by the higher seeded team (Round 1 will take place March 3rd-5th)

- Round 2: round 1 winners are then paired up with #1,2,3 seeded teams, #5 plays at #4, and play a 3 game series hosted by the higher seeded team (Round 2 will take place March 10th-12th)

- Rounds 3-4: These are single elimination games that are held at the Blue Cross Arena in Rochester NY (Rounds 3 and 4 will take place the weekend of March 17th)

- Winner of this tournament is granted an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament

Canisius Season in Review: 

After finishing 7th in the Atlantic last season (10-13-5) the Golden Griffins have come a long way and are currently in 1st and riding an impressive 14 game unbeaten streak (11 wins 3 ties).

- Sophomore Forward Dylan McLaughlin (Lancaster, NY) leads the team in both goals (13) and points (29) this season

- Senior Goalie Charles Williams (Canton, Mich) has been a rock this year posting a 15-6-4 record with a .946 save % and 1.80 goals against average

Mercyhurst Season in Review: 

 After finishing 4th in the Atlantic last season (15-9-4) the Lakers have had a tough time getting on any sort of prolonged run throughout the season. Mercyhurst is currently in 5th place following a weekend split with RMU.

- Junior Forward Jonathan Charbonneau (St-Colombant, Qué) leads the lakers in goals (13) and is second in points (21) in only 27 games this season 

 - Goalies Brandon Wildung (Nassau, Minn) and Colin Deaugustine (Burgettstown, Pa) have split time in net for the lakers posting 7-9-2 and 5-6-2 records respectively and each posting .912 save percentages. 

Barach wins player of the week:

 - Sophmore forward #26 Derek Barach won the Atlantic Conference "player of the week" award with his 5 point performance (2 goals 3 assists) in Mercyhurst's weekend split with RMU

 Last Time They Met: 

 Mercyhurst Traveled to the HarborCenter early on in the season and beat the Griffins 5-1 with Junior Forward Kane Elliot scoring the eventual game winning goal just over one minute into the second period.  

 Where to Buy Tickets: 

 Tickets can be purchased at the game or online here 








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