BUFFALO, N.Y. - The Mercyhurst men's hockey team traveled to Canisius for the First Round of the AHA Tournament. Canisius entered the game as the seven seed while Mercyhurst was 10 seed. The Lakers have battled injuries all season and tonight, they were outshot 49-13. However, they lead for the entirety of the game and topped Canisius, 5-2. Charles-Edward Gravel made a career-high 47 saves between the pipes. The Lakers also had five different goal scorers and five goals for the first time this season. 
 
The game began with Mercyhurst (6-26-3, 6 -18-3 AHA) controlling the early faceoffs. The Lakers struck first and opened the scoring at 11:10. Barrett Brooks netted an even-strength goal assisted by Sean James and Trent Sambrook. Later, Ryan Coughlin extended the lead to two at 5:45 with a power-play goal, assisted by Dominik Bartecko and James again. Canisius (17-16-2, 12-13-2 AHA responded with a goal from at 4:40, narrowing the gap to just a goal. The period concluded with the Lakers holding a 2-1 advantage.
 
Mercyhurst extended its lead in the second period with a pivotal goal by James at 15:01. This one was Assisted by Tyler DesRochers and Francesco Iasenza and eventually marked the game-winner. Gravel spent much of the period thwarting the Golden Griffin's attempts. The Lakers defensively were making crucial blocks from players such as Lukas Klemm and Christian Kocsis. Their penalty kill was on fire, stopping a brief five-on-three and then eliminating the rrst of the normal powerplay. The Lakers headed into the second intermission with a two-goal lead. 
 
Canisius scored another goal on the powerplay midway through the period. This their only powerplay goal on five attempts. However, the Lakers were resilient. They held themselves together defensively and then secured their victory with two empty-net goals. Riley Fitzgerald scored the first empty-net goal at 1:58, assisted by Coughlin. Kocsis then sealed the victory with another empty-net goal at 0:37, assisted by Brendan Lamb and Brooks. The Golden Griffin's man-up advantage after pulling their netminder was not enough. Gravel and the rest of the squad were simply unstoppable today as the Lakers won, 5-2. 
 
Mercyhurst travels to No. 1 Bentley for the AHA Quarterfinals. Puck drop for game one of this series in Massachusetts is set for Friday, March 6 at 7 p.m.