BUFFALO, N.Y. – Sophomore Nick Jones and senior Derek Elliott scored power play goals 42 seconds apart with under five minutes left in the third period, lifting the Mercyhurst men's hockey team to a 6-4 victory at the Buffalo State Sports Arena on Friday night. The Lakers improved to 8-7-2 overall, and more importantly, to 7-1-2 in Atlantic Hockey play. Canisius dropped to 4-9-3 overall and 4-4-2 in the conference.

Two teams that have combined to score less than four goals a game coming into the contest, scored a total of 10 goals on Friday night, including five total in the third period.

Mercyhurst was awarded a two-man advantage for 38 seconds with 4:48 left, and six seconds later, Jones ripped a slapshot from the left point, cashing in his fourth goal of the season, again giving the Lakers a one-goal lead at 5-4. Freshmen Tyler Shiplo and Ryan Misiak had the assists. Then, on the 5-on-4 advantage, Elliott scored his second of the night, roofing a backhander past Canisius goaltender Tony Capobianco with 4:06 left, for the final tally of the game. Shiplo had the lone assist on the goal.

Mercyhurst jumped out early with a pair of first period goals, taking a 2-0 lead to the dressing room after the opening twenty minutes. Sophomore Daniel O'Donoghue scored his second goal of the season at the 4:36 mark, giving the Lakers a 1-0 lead. Junior Paul Chiasson made a great play along the right wing boards, finding freshman Matthew Zay behind the Canisius goal. Zay then found a wide-open O'Donoghue stationed in front, who then slid it past Capobianco.

Then, after Canisius nearly tied the game at 1-1, Misiak started a 3-on-2 break out of the Mercyhurst end. Freshman Chris Bodo led the rush, who took an initial shot that was stopped by Capobianco. But, Elliott was there to bang home the rebound for his sixth goal of the season at the 13:43 mark of the first period. The Lakers outshot the Griffs 11-5 after the opening twenty minutes.

Canisius picked up the tempo to start the second period, and got on the board 1:06 into the middle stanza when Braeden Rigney somehow snuck one between the near post and Mercyhurst goaltender Max Strang. The unassisted goal cut the Mercyhurst lead to 2-1.

Later in the period, with Canisius' Carl Larsson in the penalty box, Mercyhurst recaptured the two-goal lead with some beautiful passing on the power play. Freshman Nardo Nagtzaam notched his fifth goal of the season, snapping a shot past Capobianco, after a great feed from freshman Daniel Bahntge at the 6:40 mark of the second period. Senior defenseman Kevin Noble had the other assist on the power play goal. It was Nagtzaam's first career power play goal.

Then, with 2:05 left in the second, Canisius again cut the lead to a goal, thanks to a centering feed from Matthew Grazen, who found a wide-open Kyle Gibbons stationed in front of Strang. Taylor Law had the other assist. It was Gibbons' team-leading sixth goal of the season. Canisius owned the play in the second period, outshooting the Lakers 17-11.

The Lakers had a chance to regain a two-goal lead to start the third period, when Misiak was left in front of the Canisius goal. Misiak went to the backhand, which was robbed by Capobianco's glove hand. Soon afterwards, at the 3:45 mark, an unfortunate carom in the Lakers' zone enabled Grazen to rip a slapshot on a bouncing puck past Strang for his second goal of the season, tying the game at 3-3. Gibbons and Law picked up the assists.

But, the Lakers bounced right back, at the 5:47 mark. Nagtzaam, with some hard work along the right wing boards, found a wide-open Chiasson cutting down the slot. The junior just got enough on the one-timer, sliding a backhander under the pads of Capobianco to regain a one-goal lead at 4-3. It was Chiasson's third goal of the season.

Canisius then came right back. With Nagtzaam in the penalty box, Law banged home a rebound, off the initial shot from Gibbons, at the 10:17 mark, tying the game at 4-4. Ben Danford had the other assist on the power play marker. That was all that Canisius could muster, however, leading the Lakers' late period heroics.

Shots for the game were even at 31-31. Strang stopped 27-of-31 shots to improve to 8-7-2 overall and 7-1-2 in the conference. Meanwhile, Capobianco stopped 25-of-31 to suffer the loss.

Mercyhurst cashed in three power play goals on the night, going 3-for-8 with the man advantage. The Griffs were 1-of-6 on the power play.

The Lakers will return home on Saturday night against the Purple Eagles of Niagara. Faceoff is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. from the Mercyhurst Ice Center.