ERIE, Pa. – Canisius goaltender Dan Morrison recorded 37 saves as the Golden Griffins defeated the Mercyhurst College men's hockey team, 4-2, to earn a split of the two-game series on Saturday evening at the Mercyhurst Ice Center.

With the loss, the Lakers fall to 13-17-2 on the season and 13-9-2 in conference action, while the Golden Griffins improve to 14-12-4 overall and 12-9-3 in AHA play. Both teams are now separated by just a point in the league standings, with MC holding the edge, 28-27.

Junior Mike Gurtler and freshman Grant Blakey led the offense for the second-straight game. Gurtler put on another two-point performance, scoring a goal and adding an assist to finish the weekend with four points and mark goals in each of his last three games. Blakey, meanwhile, scored his eighth goal of the season to extend his point-streak to five games and give him 21 on the season.

Despite holding a 39-25 edge in shots, Mercyhurst saw its top-ranked AHA offense fall short as Morrison made save after save. The sophomore netminder limited the Lakers to just two goals on 31 shots through the first two periods before pitching a shutout on eight attempts in the final stanza.

Both teams traded goals to end the first period in a 1-1 tie. Following Preston Shuppe's short-handed breakaway at 16:32, Gurtler cleared the slate on a Canisius turnover behind the net, stuffing in the loose puck on the doorstep at the 17:55 mark.

Canisius regained the lead in a big way early in the second with back-to-back goals just 51 seconds apart. Steven Shaffer made it a 2-1 advantage when he took a pass from Ryan Klusendorf and streaked down ice for a one-on-one goal at 4:31. Dave Kostuch then expanded the score to 3-1, scoring off a pass from Josh Heidinger at 5:22.

Blakey brought the Lakers within one less than a minute later off a pass from Gurtler at 5:49.

The Golden Griffins, however, restored the two-goal lead with 2:19 remaining in the period, as Cory Conacher netted his 20th goal of the season on the power play at 17:41.

In a game that saw both teams combine for 15 power plays on 27 penalties, Conacher's second-period score was only one scored with the man-advantage. Canisius finished the game 1-for-7 on the power play while Mercyhurst went 0-for-8.

Junior Ryan Zapolski suffered the loss with 21 saves through 58:09. He now stands at 13-14-2 on the season.

Mercyhurst closes out its home schedule next weekend when the Lakers host Army for a two-game series on Friday, Feb. 19 at 8:05 p.m. and Saturday, Feb. 20 at 7:05 p.m. at the Mercyhurst Ice Center. Friday's game will be nationally televised on CBS College Sports as the network's Game of the Week.