The Mercyhurst men's ice hockey team is set to play in a home-and-home series with Canisius on Feb. 1-2. Puck drops at 7:05 p.m. at the Mercyhurst Ice Center on Friday and at 7:35 p.m. in Buffalo, N.Y. on Saturday.
 
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Last Time Out
The Lakers welcomed American International to the MIC and split the weekend series winning 4-2 on Friday and falling 8-5 on Saturday.
 
Joseph Duszak, Dalton Hunter, Jonny Lazarus, James Anderson, Derek Barach, Steven Ipri, Ethan Johnson, Tommaso Bucci, Joshua Lammon, Jonathan O'Hara and Devon Daniels recorded points during the weekend series.
 
Stefano Cantali made 42 saves in net, including 26 during the Lakers 4-2 win. Colin DeAugustine stopped six shots in a relief effort on Saturday.
 
Previous Matchup
The Lakers and Golden Griffins met for a home-and-home series on Jan. 11-12 where the Lakers swept the weekend series winning 6-2 and 6-3.
 
Matthew Whittaker, Michael Bevilacqua, Jeremy Wu, Barach, Duszak, Hunter, Bucci, Ipri, Lazarus and Anderson picked up points for Mercyhurst.
 
Garrett Metcalf made 62 saves between the pipes.
 
Grant Meyer, David Baskerville, Jimmy Mazza, Dylan McLaughlin, Alex Jaeckle, Cameron Heath, Ian Edmondson, Matt McLeod, Casey Jerry, Matt Hoover and Logan Gestro had points for Canisius.
 
Blake Weyrick made 18 saves on Friday while Matt Ladd made nine saves in relief effort on Friday and added 24 saves on Saturday.
 
All-Time Series
Mercyhurst holds a 45-35-10 all-time series advantage over Canisius. The two teams are even in the last 10 contests going 5-5-0.
 
Scouting Canisius
The Griffs are coming into the weekend with a 9-14-2, 6-12-1 record. Last weekend they were swept by Bentley losing 4-2 and 3-1.
 
McLaughlin is on top of the Griffs roster with 14 goals and 28 points. Nick Hutchinson is next with 22 points and Austin Agler is 18 points.
 
Weyrick has a 5-8-2 record, 3.16 goals against average and .899 save percentage. Tucker Weppner has a 3-3-0 record with a 3.98 GAA and .859 save percentage. Ladd has a 1-3-0 record, 4.99 GAA and .870 save percentage.
 
Canisius is ranked 25th on the power play with 18.8 percent and ranked 50th on the penalty kill going 77.3 percent.
 
McLaughlin is ranked 14th in the nation with 0.56 goals per game and is tied for 22nd in the nation with 1.12 points per game.
 
A Look at the Lakers
Mercyhurst is coming into the weekend with a 12-14-2, 10-9-1 record.

Duszak is leading the Laker roster with 14 goals, 23 assists and 37 points. Barach is next with 29 points. Matthew Whittaker, Lammon and Ipri have 19 points each.
 
Metcalf has put forth a 7-6-0 record, 3.05 GAA and .906 save percentage. Cantali has a 5-7-1 record with a 3.35 GAA and .892 save percentage and DeAugustine has a 0-1-1 record, 5.59 GAA and .865 save percentage.
 
The Lakers are ranked 47th on the power play with 15.4 percent and ranked 52nd on the penalty kill going 76.9 percent.
 
National Rankings
Duszak is ranked fourth in the nation with 1.37 points per game, second with 1.37 points per game for a defenseman, eighth with 0.85 assists per game and 22nd with 0.52 goals per game.
 
Ipri is ranked 26th in the nation with 0.68 points per game as a freshman.
 
Streaking
Duszak is riding an 11-game point streak in which he has recorded 11 goals and 11 assists for 22 points. Ipri is on a seven-game point streak with two goals and six assists. Whittaker is riding a four-game point streak with three goals and four assists and Bucci is on a three-game point streak in which he has tallied two goals and two assists.

AHA Weekly Award
Duszak was named the AHA Defensive Player of the Week for the third time this month.
 
Hobey Baker Award
Duszak and Barach have been nominated for the Hobey Baker Award. Fans can vote now until March 10. Vote HERE.
 
Next Up
The Lakers have a week off before traveling to Army West Point for a two-game series on Feb. 15-16. Puck drops at 7:05 p.m. both nights.
 
Stay Connected
Keep up with the team by following our social media:
Twitter: @HurstMensHockey
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Instagram: @mercyhursthockey
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