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ROCHESTER, NY – The RIT men’s hockey team (11-7-2, 10-3-1 Atlantic Hockey) moved into sole possession of second place in the Atlantic Hockey Association after defeating conference rival Canisius 6-3 on Tuesday evening before 1,087 fans at the Ritter Arena.

 

Brent Patry (Ottawa, ON/Cumberland Grads) (Ottawa, ON), Al Mazur (Burnaby, BC/Langley Hornets) (Burnaby, BC) and Simon Lambert (Ste.-Therese, PQ/Cumberland Grads) (Ste. Therese, PQ) each had three points in the win for RIT, who have now won eight out of their last 10 games.

 

Tiger Head Coach Wayne Wilson was pleased with his team’s resolve and was glad to see his team rebound after Saturday’s loss to Niagara.

 

“It was a weird game for us,” said Wilson.  “I don’t think we were quite as sharp as we were on Saturday, but you do what you do to win the hockey game and we did that tonight.”

 

The Tigers allowed a team Division I record two shots on goal in the opening and out-shot the Golden Griffins 14-2.

 

Canisius got on the board first, just 23 seconds in, as Jason Weeks took advantage of a Tiger turnover behind the net and bounced a shot off Guimond from a tough angle.  Michael Cohen assisted on the goal.

 

RIT got the equalizer right before the halfway mark of the period, as Brent Patry (Ottawa, ON/Cumberland Grads) (Ottawa, ON) ripped a shot from the right point that seemed to bounce off a Canisuis defenseman and fly over the shoulder of Andrew Loewen.  The goal was Patry’s third of the season.  Al Mazur (Burnaby, BC/Langley Hornets) (Burnaby, BC) and Rob Tarantino (Oakville, ON/Oakville Blades) (Oakville, ON) assisted on the goal.

 

Senior Tristan Fairbarn (Innisfill, ON/Newmarket Hurricanes) (Innisfill, ON) gave RIT a 2-1 lead just 1:37 later, as he took a perfect feed from Ricky Walton (Hamilton, ON/Hamilton Red Wings) (Hamilton, ON) off a Canisius giveway behind the net.  Walton feathered a perfect pass to Fairbarn and the captain deked Loewen for his first goal of the season.

 

The Tigers upped their lead to 3-1 with 1:21 left in the opening period, as Simon Lambert (Ste.-Therese, PQ/Cumberland Grads) (Ste. Therese, PQ) slammed home a rebound off a shot by Steve Pinizzotto (Mississauga, ON/Oakville Blades) (Mississauga, ON) with just one second left on a five-minute power-play.

 

Canisius scored the next two goals of the contest early in the second to tie the game at 3.

 

Weeks tallied his second of the game on a 5-on-3 power-play 2:40 into the period from the slot the cut the RIT lead to 3-2.

 

David Kasch tied the game at the 11:53, slamming home a rebound into the open net after Guimond found himself out of position after making the initial save off a shot from Bret Norris.

 

Darrell Draper (Tigard, OR/Cowichon Capitals) (Tigard, OR) put RIT back up 4-3 with 2:28 left in the second, putting home a rebound off a harmless shot by Patry that Loewen seemed to have controlled.  The rebound skipped to Draper at the left face-off circle, who slid the puck past a stunned Loewen for his third goal of the year.

 

RIT held a 24-9 advantage in shots after two periods.

 

Stevan Matic (Burnaby, BC/Langley Hornets) (Burnaby, BC) gave RIT a two-goal cushion just 1:08 into the third period, slamming home a loose puck off a Tiger rush into the zone for his third of the season.  Pinizzotto and Brennan Sarazin (Nepean, ON/Nepean Raiders) (Nepean, ON)  assisted on the goal.

 

Patry scored his second of the game and fourth of the year with 1:18 left after Canisius pulled the goalie for an extra attacker.

 

Guimond made a season-low 12 saves to puck up his fifth win of the season.  Loewen stopped 32 in the loss for Canisius, who falls to 5-15-1 overall and 5-10-1 in Atlantic Hockey play.

 

RIT was 1-for-3 on the power-play, while Canisius finished 1-for-5 with the man advantage.

 

The Tigers out-shot Canisius 38-15.

 

With the win, RIT improved to 3-1 against Canisius in the last two seasons and 43-10-1 all-time against the Golden Griffins.

 

The Tigers are back in action on Friday and Saturday, as they travel to face Atlantic Hockey leader Sacred Heart.  Game-time both nights is at 7 p.m.