Two goals by forward Peter Giatrelis and 19 saves from goalie Jason Smith led Sacred Heart to a 4-1 victory over Canisius Friday evening at the Buffalo State Sports Arena.
Junior forward Jaymie Harrington scored the only goal for the Canisius (5-15-1, 3-11-1 Atlantic Hockey), his second of the season, and first since his game-winner on Oct. 22.
The Pioneers (12-8-1, 9-6-1) built a 2-0 lead after one period. Drew Sanders scored the game’s first goal at 10:52 when Nick Kary brought the puck up the right boards and slid a cross-ice pass to an uncovered Sanders on the left side of the crease. Sanders sent the puck into a wide-open left side of the net when Canisius goalie Dan Giffin couldn’t recover from the cross-ice pass quickly enough.
Sacred Heart scored its second goal when Giatrelis put a shot over the left shoulder of Giffin off of a pass from Kalen Wright.
Sacred Heart got its third goal at 2:51 of the second period when Giatrelis picked up a rebound and fired it into the right side of the net for his third goal of the season and second on the night. The Pioneers added their fourth goal at 8:46 of the third period when Pierre-Luc O’Brien made a series of moves to get an open look at the net and shot the puck into the top left corner for his 12th goal of the campaign.
Harrington made the game 4-1 at 11:15 when senior defenseman Brandon Irish-Baker got the puck off a faceoff win by freshman Tommy Flikeid. Irish-Baker sent one in from the blue line but Harrington tipped it in to get the Griffs on the scoreboard.
Smith improved to 11-7-1 with the win while Giffin made 28 saves and fell to 1-7-0 on the season.
Canisius killed all four Sacred Heart power plays, and hasn’t allowed a power-play goal in the past five games and 26 straight opportunities.
The Blue and Gold lost for the ninth consecutive game, which is the longest losing streak since a school-record 10-game skid from Dec. 9, 1988 to Jan. 22, 1989.
