Complete Game Notes

ERIE, Pa. - Nothing has been decided through the first five months of the season.

The Mercyhurst men's hockey team has played 25 games in conference play this season, and everything in terms of playoff seedings comes down to the final two games of the regular season this weekend. The Lakers conclude the regular season with a home-and-home series against long-time rival Canisius to determine the Lakers' seed in the Atlantic Hockey tournament.

Everything is so close that Mercyhurst can finish anywhere from first to seventh place entering the conference playoffs. Air Force leads the standings with 34 points, just one point ahead of RIT, and two points ahead of a three-way tie that includes Mercyhurst, Bentley, and Niagara. Holy Cross trails the three-way tie by one point and Robert Morris is currently in seventh - two points behind Holy Cross. The top four teams in the standings will earn first-round byes in the opening round of the Atlantic Hockey playoffs, with the teams that finish fifth through eighth hosting best-of-three series next weekend against the bottom four teams.

The Lakers are assured a home best-of-three series in the playoffs, but it is still very much up in the air as to when the series will take place.

Mercyhurst (17-13-4, 14-7-4 AHA) is coming off of a split at Air Force last weekend. The Lakers suffered their worst loss since October 16, 2004 in the first game of the series, an 8-0 loss. But, behind a career-high 50 saves from senior Max Strang, bounced back last Saturday for a 2-1 victory over the Falcons to win the season series against the league leaders.

Canisius (9-19-4, 9-13-3 AHA) was swept by Niagara last week, losing 4-1 at home and 4-2 on the road. The Golden Griffins can still get home ice in the opening round of the playoffs, but would have to sweep Mercyhurst and have Connecticut get swept by American International to host UConn in the opening round. If that doesn't occur, Canisius will go to UConn.

After five months, that is the only series that has been determined. Everything else comes down to this weekend.

Faceoff from Buffalo, New York on Friday night is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. while Saturday's contest will take place at the Mercyhurst Ice Center for senior night. Faceoff on Saturday is also scheduled for 7:05 p.m. as Mercyhurst will honor seniors Kevin Noble, Patrick Goebel, Derek Elliott, and Strang prior to the drop of the puck.

QUICK HITS

Canisius signifies the most frequent opponent in Mercyhurst's history. This weekend will mark the 69th and 70th meetings between the two schools, with the Lakers holding a 36-23-9 advantage over the Griffs. However, Canisius has won seven of ten meetings over the course of the last two seasons. Mercyhurst defeated Canisius 6-4 in Buffalo on December 9 in the only meeting between the two rivals this season. The Lakers lead the series in Buffalo 11-10-5.

ABOUT MERCYHURST

The Mercyhurst men's hockey team earned a weekend split at Air Force, suffering an 8-0 setback on Friday night before bouncing back for a 2-1 victory on Saturday night. The Lakers are 17-13-4 overall and 14-7-4 in conference play this season, remaining in the thick of things for a first-round bye to start the Atlantic Hockey playoffs. Mercyhurst enters its final weekend of the regular season in a three-way tie for third place in the standings, two points behind first place Air Force, but just three points ahead of seventh-place Robert Morris. The Lakers are tied with Bentley, whom the Lakers hold a tiebreaker over, and Niagara, who owns the tiebreaker over Mercyhurst. Friday night's contest was easily the Lakers worst loss of the season and was the worst loss since losing 8-0 at Wisconsin on October 16, 2004. Sophomore Jordan Tibbett and freshman Jimmy Sarjeant combined to stop just 27-of-35 Air Force shots. But, on Saturday, senior Max Strang got the start and responded by stopping a career-high 50 shots in the Lakers' 2-1 victory. Strang allowed just a first period goal to the Falcons. He stopped 17-of-18 first period shots and then turned aside all 14 shots in the second and all 19 shots in the third period. Mercyhurst was outshot 51-19 in the contest, but got a second period power play goal from sophomore Nick Jones and then a third period tally from junior Paul Chiasson to steal the victory. Strang's 50 saves was the most by a Mercyhurst goaltender since Ryan Zapolski stopped 50 in a 3-1 win at Robert Morris on November 19, 2010. Strang's previous career-high was a 49-save performance at home against RIT on October 28. It marked the 12th time season that Strang has allowed two goals or fewer in a start and marked his sixth 40-plus save performance of the year. It is also the fourth time this season that Strang has stopped at least 40 shots in a game that he allowed one goal or fewer. Chiasson leads the team with 13 goals this season, with a team-leading 11 of his 13 goals coming against conference opponents. Meanwhile, Jones leads the team with six power play goals and now has nine goals this season. Jones, with nine goals this season, has the most goals by a Laker defenseman since Jamie Hunt scored 12 during the 2005-06 season. Hunt went on to become the first Laker to play in the National Hockey League, skating for the Washington Capitals. In fact, Jones' nine goals is the fourth most by a Mercyhurst defenseman since the 1999-2000 season. T.J. Kemp scored 11 in 2002-03 and then scored 10 during the 2004-05 season.

ABOUT CANISIUS

Canisius lost a pair of games to Niagara during the past week, falling at home, 4-1, and losing on the road, 4-2. The Griffs, who are now 9-19-4 on the season and 9-13-3 in Atlantic Hockey play, have learned their first-round opponent in the Atlantic Hockey Tournament will be Connecticut in a best 2-of-3 series. Canisius will host the Huskies if the Griffs sweep Mercyhurst the last week of the regular season and AIC sweeps Connecticut. Any other result and Canisius will play at Connecticut.  Against the Purple Eagles, Canisius surrendered early goals and could not overcome the deficit. The team that scores the first goal in Griff games this season is now 26-2-4 on the season.  Freshmen led the Griffs on the offensive end during the two games against the Purple Eagles, combining for all three goals and four of the team's five assists. Doug Beck factored in all three tallies during the series, scoring the lone goal in Tuesday's game and posting an assist on both scores on Thursday. Classmate Tyler Wiseman scored both goals in the finale, posting his first career multi-goal game. The rookie entered with one goal in his first 18 games before posting two tallies in a 76-second span.  Dan Morrison and Tony Capobianco both made one appearance during the week. Morrison recorded 32 saves in the opener, raising his career saves total to 2,760. The senior is now just 11 stops shy of the program's all-time record, currently held by Bryan Worosz – who stopped 2,771 shots from 2001 to 2005.  Special teams continue to be an issue for Canisius during the 2011-12 season. The Griffs, who surrendered a power-play goal in each game while going 0-for-9 with the extra-man advantage, have been outscored this season 36-11 on the season. Canisius has won the special teams battle in only three games this season, while losing it in 22 games and playing even 10 times.