The Canisius hockey team could only muster 12 shots in a 4-1 home loss Saturday to American International.
AIC forward Bryan Jurynec registered the game-winning goal on the power play goal at 16:32 of the second period.
On the play, all three Yellow Jacket forwards helped dig the puck out of the corner, and the puck came out to the point, where Buffalo-native Neil Sullivan patiently chose not to fire it on net. Instead he slid a pass to Chris Bolognino, whose one-timer was deftly tipped by Jurynec over the right shoulder of Canisius goalie Andrew Loewen.
Jurynec and Bolognino also picked up assists on the Yellow Jackets’ first goal, Matt Woodard’s short-handed tally at 3:18 of the second.
Canisius’ leading-scorer Josh Heidinger tied the game on the power play, a little more then six minutes after Woodard’s goal. Griffs’ Defenseman Kyle Bushee ripped a shot from the left point and the rebound came directly to a waiting Heidinger, who had the entire net to shoot at as he notched his seventh goal of the season.
Two empty-net goals in the last minute of the third period gave AIC their third and fourth goals.
Canisius was handily out-shot, 26-12 for the game and 11-0 in the third period, but it was a game where the stat sheet didn’t tell the full story.
The Griffs’ certainly weren’t outplayed and were the better team for much of the game, but for all of the time spent with the puck in the AIC zone; scoring opportunities were hard to come by for Canisius.
“Early, we played with a lot of confidence. We’re showing in the increased skill-level, we’re showing in the ability to make plays,” said Canisius coach Dave Smith.
“But to play championship hockey, we need to string it shift after shift, execution, buy into our team philosophy, getting pucks to the net. The consistency to play our game wasn’t there.”
The Griffs played their best in the first two periods, where despite the shot totals; they dictated much of the game’s flow.
“I believe the first period was 7-2 in shots for them and I thought we controlled the puck for most of it,” said Canisius’ lone goal-scorer Josh Heidinger.
“But it’s buying into the system and shooting when we got chances. If every guy on the team doesn’t buy into it, it’s one less chance to score and one less chance to win.”
The loss drops Canisius’ 2006-07 record to 4-12-1 (4-8-1 in the Atlantic Hockey Association). The Griffs are off until Dec. 30, when they play at Niagara.
AIC, meanwhile, left Buffalo celebrating just their second win of the year. The Yellow Jackets are 2-14-0 (2-11-0).
