For 62 minutes and 50 seconds, Atlantic Hockey rivals Army and Canisius battled to a standstill. <\/p>\n
Buoyed by long stretches of suffocating defense, tight checking and impenetrable goaltending, neither of team blinked — and neither team scored. <\/p>\n
And then, in an instant, it was over. <\/p>\n
Black Knights winger Joe Kozlak one-timed a pass from linemate R.J. Burns over the outstretched leg of Golden Griffins’ goaltender Tony Capobianco at 2:51 of the overtime period to give Army a crucial 1-0 road victory at the Buffalo State Ice Arena on Sunday night.<\/p>\n
The Black Knights had not won in overtime since earning a 3-2 decision over Mercyhurst on Jan. 7, 2006.<\/p>\n
“I think this is the first overtime game we’ve won in five years [and] it feels like 50 years,” Army coach Brian Riley said. “We have been in some close games. We pulled the goalie and tied it at Sacred Heart [on Oct. 20], so it’s good for these young guys. They do have a confidence level about them. And you know what? In games like this, they expect to win.”<\/p>\n
The Black Knights (6-8-2, 6-3-2 AHA), already considered one of the bigger surprises in Division I hockey after posting a four-win campaign in 2011-12 and entering the season with a roster stocked with freshmen, avenged a 5-1 loss to Canisius (6-8-3, 5-4-2) on Saturday that featured Army’s shakiest effort since October.<\/p>\n
“After the way we played last night, we needed to respond,” Riley said. “We needed to play our style of game. Last night was not our style.”<\/p>\n
Although the Black Knights outshot the Griffs 34-20 in regulation, Army could not quite solve Capobianco — whose 1.79 goals-against average and .941 save percentage are both among the top 10 in D-I hockey — or the the fourth-ranked Canisius defense.<\/p>\n
The Black Knights managed only 10 shots on seven power-play chances as the Griffs came unhinged over stretches of the second and third periods. Canisius took three two-minute penalties over a 6:49 stretch of the second period and three more minors in a 6:34 span of the third, but successfully killed each.<\/p>\n
The Griffs have now killed 91.3 percent of their penalties, also good for fourth-best in D-I hockey.<\/p>\n
“The penalty kill was great,” Canisius coach Dave Smith said. “I thought we really had the opportunity to gain momentum from that. It was a good feeling on the bench. It wasn’t a feeling of fear or being afraid. The penalty killers really stepped up and did a nice job.”<\/p>\n
When Griffs’ winger Kyle Gibbons snagged a home-run pass at the Army blue line 1:06 into the overtime period and skated in alone on Army goaltender Rob Tadazak, it looked like Canisius would make the visitors regret those missed opportunities.<\/p>\n
Tadazak, however, made the most dramatic of his 25 saves, stoning Gibbons at the left post. Then 1:45 later, Kozlak ended the game.<\/p>\n
The sophomore backup to senior goaltender Ryan Leets, Tadazak entered the game with a 1-11-4 career record with a goals-against average of 3.28. Sunday’s shutout was his first as a cadet.<\/p>\n
“He was a very calming influence for us,” Riley said. “He steered pucks out of the rink, he got us whistles when we needed whistles, and that save — the breakaway in overtime — that changed it all, on our part. He was really good tonight.”<\/p>\n
Army last blanked Canisius on Jan. 20, 2006.<\/p>\n
The win vaults the Black Knights into a second-place tie in the AHA with Holy Cross and Mercyhurst.<\/p>\n
Had the Griffs won, they would have moved into that same position. Instead, Canisius — dominant in their four-goal win on Saturday night — will remain in fifth place and an upcoming two-game tilt with CCHA visitors Bowling Green next weekend.<\/p>\n
“[Bowling Green] plays really hard,” Smith said. “We learned that last year when we played there. It will be nice to get a non-conference opponent and a former national champ into the city of Buffalo. Their program has been trying to rebuild from a couple years ago and I think it’s a great opponent for us.”<\/p>\n
Army is already on the AHA roller coaster, swinging into a pair of home games with conference foe Robert Morris beginning Jan. 4. The Colonials just knocked off fifth-ranked Miami to win the inaugural Three Rivers Classic in Pittsburgh. <\/p>\n
“I think probably when some people heard that Army and Robert Morris were a TV game [CBS College Sports] at the start of the year, they were probably wondering, ‘Why the heck go with them?'” Riley said. “But I think you’ll have two pretty good teams who are off to pretty good starts that have a chance to showcase themselves on national TV. It will be a lot of fun.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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