Two goals for Holy Cross forwards Tyler McGregor and Sean Nappo led the Crusaders to a 5-2 win over the Golden Griffins Friday night at the Hart Center.
Canisius (8-18-1, 6-14-1) suffered its first loss in the last four games while Holy Cross (20-6-1, 16-4-1) won its eighth straight.
The Griffs got on the board first at 5:37 of the first period with their fourth power-play goal in three games. Junior forward Joey Coccimiglio knocked in a loose rebound over the glove of Holy Cross goaltender Tony Quesada after a one-timer by junior forward Michael Cohen. The goal ended a string of 23 consecutive power plays killed by the Crusaders. The assist for Cohen extended his point streak to four games, which is the second longest of his career.
The Crusaders responded 53 seconds later when Blair Bartlett sent a pass from the right circle across the crease, and Cal St. Denis slid it into a wide open net to tie the game at 1-1.
Canisius got its second power-play goal of the first period when Cohen fired it in towards the net from the middle of the blue line. On the shot, sophomore forward Joel Kitchen set up a screen in the front of the net and tipped in the puck to score his seventh goal of the season.
The Crusaders answered quickly again when Tyler McGregor got into the open ice off a long pass from Matt Burke. McGregor beat freshman goaltender Dan Giffin on the stick side to the tie the game at 2-2 and scored his 20th goal of the season.
Holy Cross took a 3-2 lead at the 13:44 mark of the second period when Nappo knocked in a loose puck in front of the net, eight seconds into the Crusader power play. The power-play goal was the second allowed by the Griffs in the last 60 opportunities. McGregor and Nappo’s second goals of the game provided the final margin.
Canisius and Holy Cross end their season series Saturday night with faceoff set for 7 p.m.
