Senior forward Ryan Mayhew’s second period goal was all Bentley College needed as junior goaltender Ray Jean made 29 saves to lead the Falcons to a 1-0 win over Canisius Friday night at Buffalo State. The win snapped a nine-game winless streak for Bentley and, combined with an Army loss at Connecticut, the Falcons moved into a tie with the Black Knights for the final home-ice playoff spot.
Canisius (9-19-1, 7-15-1 AHA) had its best chance of the night 9:30 into the third period when Scott Follett gained the Bentley zone and flipped a pass to Chris Angelo from the slot. Angelo skated in on Jean untouched, but Angleo was unable to shoot past the Bentley netminder.
Bentley (10-14-5, 8-10-5 AHA) had an opportunity to put the game away with just under three minutes to play as Dain Prewitt broke Bentley in on a three-on-one, but Prewitt’s shot to the near side was parried on a nice blocker save by Max Buetow. Canisius pressed for the tying goal, but Jean made 14 saves in the third period, including a flashing glove save on a shot from Joey Coccimiglio with just under two minutes to play.
The game started off on the wrong foot for Bentley as the Falcons took three penalties in the opening ten minutes. Yet, despite the three early penalties, Bentley kept Canisius from registering a shot on goal until 8:29 into the game on its third power play of the night. The Falcons had the majority of the play in the first period, outshooting the Griffs 13-8, but were unable to take advantage by putting a goal on the board.
The best chance of the opening period fell to Bentley with three minutes left in the period. Senior forward Brendan McCartin broke into the right side of the Canisius zone and fired a wrist shot from the circle. Buetow got most of the high shot, but the puck fell behind the goaltender in front of an open net. Freshman Jeff Gumaer got to the puck first, but could not get off a shot as the bouncing puck wouldn’t stay on his stick.
Bentley would score the opener on the power play 6:29 into the second period as Mayhew netted his four goal of the season. Senior defenseman Josh Chase made a diagonal pass from the point through the seam to Mayhew, who shot past Buetow to give Bentley the lead. Canisius had its opportunities to even the game with three more power-play opportunities in the second period, but Jean kept Bentley ahead heading into the second intermission.
The two teams square off again Saturday night at 7:00 in the final regular season meeting between the two schools.
