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BUFFALO, NY - The RIT Men's Hockey team won its first road game as a Division I team on Friday night, scoring three first period goals en route to defeating Canisius College by a score of 5-3.

 

RIT (2-1-0) got off to a tremendous start, nearly scoring on the opening shift of the game.  Simon Lambert (Ste.-Therese, PQ/Cumberland Grads) (Ste. Therese, PQ) intercepted a pass in the neutral zone, sending Jesse Newman (Westbank, BC/Trail) (Trail, BC) and Darrell Draper (Tigard, OR/Cowichon Capitals) (Tigard. OR) on a 2-on-1 into the Canisius end.  Newman made a nifty move on the Golden Griffins defenseman, but the shot was stopped by Dan Giffin (Milton, ON).

 

The Tigers kept up the pressure, and at the 4:06 mark, tallied their first goal.  Newman and Lambert sped in on a 2-on-1, and Newman's pass found a wide-open Lambert at the side of the Canisius net.  Lambert calmly slid the puck into the back of the net for his third goal of the season, giving RIT a 1-0 lead.

 

Stephen Burns (Newmarket, ON/Newmarket Hurricanes) (Newmarket, ON) made it 2-0 with 12:18 remaining in period one, seconds after a Canisius penalty ended.  Burns flipped a shot on goal from the left point that went off Giffin through a screen.  The goal was Burns' first of his collegiate career.  Newman and Lambert recorded the assists.

 

Just 1:03 later, RIT scored their third goal of the night, this time on the power-play, as Matt Smith (Toronto, ON/Kitchener Dutchmen) (Toronto, ON) poked home a rebound off a shot from Justin Hofstetter (Bright, ON/Cambridge Winterhawks) (Bright, ON).  Marc Hyman (Thornhill, ON/Thornhill Rattlers) (Thornhill, ON) added his second assist of the season.

 

RIT hit two posts in the opening 20 minutes, while out-shooting the Golden Griffins 12-7.

 

Tiger head coach Wayne Wilson believed that RIT's strong start was key.

 

"I thought we got off to a great start and that we set the tone for the game," said Wilson.  "We were at our best when we rolled all four lines.  We got good goaltending from Jocelyn (Guimond) as well."

 

Canisius got themselves on the board early in period two, as Chris Angelo (Depew, NY) poked home a loose puck beside the RIT net to make it 3-1 Tigers.

 

Brennan Sarazin (Nepean, ON/Nepean) (Nepean, ON) gave RIT its three-goal lead back, finishing off a nifty setup by Tristan Fairbarn (Innisfill, ON/Newmarket Hurricanes) (Innisfil, ON) and Brent Patry (Ottawa, ON/Cumberland Grads) (Nepean, ON) for a power-play tally.  Patry blocked a Canisius clearing attempt at the blue line and wheeled a pass across to Fairbarn, who one-timed a pass to Sarazin, who was sitting all alone to the left of the Canisius net.  Sarazin quickly snapped the puck into the top corner for his second goal of the season.

 

RIT got themselves into penalty problems in the second period, allowing five Canisius power-play attempts.  Fortunately for the Tigers, not only did they kill off all five, but scored their first shorthanded goal of the season, as Patry made it 5-1 Tigers roofing a shot over a fallen Giffin for his third goal of the season.  Lambert and Draper assisted on the goal.

 

In the third period, Canisius put on the pressure, scoring two late goals to make the score 5-3, but could not get any closer.  The Golden Griffins out-shot RIT 17-8 over the final 20 minutes of play.

 

Jocelyn Guimond (St.-Edouard-de-Lotbiniere, PQ/Williams Lake) (St. Eduoard-de-Lothniere, PQ) was brilliant in the third period, stopping 15 shots, including two breakaways and several point-blank attempts.

 

Canisius out-shot RIT 34-29.  Guimond stopped 31 shots to pick up his second consecutive win.  Giffin made 24 saves for Canisius, who fall to 1-2 on the season.

 

RIT finished 2-for-6 with the man advantage and killed off all nine Canisius power-play attempts.

 

Lambert led RIT with a goal and two assists.  Patry added a goal and assist apiece in the victory.  Newman and Draper dished out two assists each. 

 

The same two teams meet on Saturday night, this time at the Ritter Arena at 7 p.m.  This will be the first regular season home game for RIT as a Division I program.