Pittsburgh, Pa. – The Robert Morris University men's hockey team returns home for a Saturday game against Canisius College before traveling to meet the Golden Griffins in Buffalo on Sunday. The Colonials (8-3-3, 7-2-3 AHC) are in first place in the Atlantic Hockey conference standings and Canisius (4-10-1, 4-5-1 AHC) is tied for seventh place. Both teams are coming off a road split, with Saturday's loss to RIT ending a Robert Morris six-game unbeaten streak.
RMU VS. CANISIUS
Saturday 7:05pm 84 Lumber Arena, Pittsburgh, PA | Sunday 7:35pm HarborCenter, First Niagara Rink, Buffalo, NY
STATS: Saturday | Sunday
LIVE AUDIO: Saturday | Sunday ($)
LIVE VIDEO ($): Saturday | Sunday
GAME NOTES: RMU Notes (.pdf) | Canisius notes (.pdf)
SOCIAL: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Snapchat - username RMUhockey
ROBERT MORRIS QUICK HITS
* Robert Morris is receiving votes in the USCHO.com and the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine polls.
* RMU sports 9 seniors in the 2015-16 class, each making an NCAA Tournament appearance, winning Atlantic Hockey regular season & conference tournament titles.
* The Colonials are captained by redshirt-senior defenseman Tyson Wilson. Alternate captains are defenseman Evan Moore and forward Brandon Denham.
* The Colonials return seven of their top nine forwards from the 2014-15 team, all eight defensemen and all three goaltenders.
* Robert Morris is one of the highest-scoring teams in college hockey, scoring 62 goals in 14 games, leading the nation in goals per games played at 4.43
* Zac Lynch is the Atlantic Hockey Player of the Month for November. Greg Gibson took home the honor in October and Dalton Izyk was goaltender of the month as well.
* Junior goaltender Dalton Izyk has been named to the Mike Richter Award watch list for the NCAA's top goaltender.
* RMU was picked to win the Atlantic Hockey conference in both preseason coaches and media polls. Zac Lynch was voted preseason all-star by the media.SCOUTING CANISIUS
* Head Coach Dave Smith is in his 11th season at the Griffins helm, leading Canisius to appearances in the Atlantic Hockey championship weekend for 3 straight seasons.
* Shane Conacher is the Atlantic Hockey Player of the Week after registering five points in a split at Air Force, including a season-best three points (1g, 2a) in a 4-2 win Saturday.
* The Griffs are outshot by an average of 11.6 shots per game and outscored by 1.3 goals per game.
* Canisius has scored 5 power play goals in 48 opportunities, converting just 10.4% of chances. The Griffs have given up 14 PPG, with opponents converting 24.6% of chances.
* Canisius has won the faceoff battle much of the year, winning an average of 50.6%
* Conacher leads the Griffs in scoring with 19 points (8G, 11A). Ralph Cuddemi also has 8 goals, 10 assists. Ryan Schmelzer is the only other player in double digits with 3 goals and 9 assists.
* Defenseman Jack Stander is one of the top players in the conference in blocked shots with 33.ALL-TIME SERIES
Robert Morris holds a lead in the all-time series with a 12-6-2 record against the Griffs. RMU has won 5 of the last 6 games, with the last game resulting in a 1-1 tie in Pittsburgh.
LAST TIME OUT
ROBERT MORRIS
The Colonials split a series at RIT with a 4-0 shutout win Friday before falling 6-3 on Saturday. Terry Shafer starred in the shutout win making 37 saves. Seven different Colonials scored, including power play goals by Brandon Denham (4), Brady Ferguson (4) & David Friedmann. Zac Lynch saw his six-game goal-scoring streak come to an end in Saturday's loss. Defenseman Alex Bontje scored his first career goal on Saturday.
CANISIUS
Last weekend, the Griffs split a series at Air Force, falling 3-2 to the Falcons before a 4-2 win Saturday. Senior Ralph Cuddemi netted two goals on the night with junior Shane Conacher and freshman Daniel LaFontaine each adding a tally. Sophomore Ryan Schmelzer paced the Canisius attack with a career-best three assists. Sophomore Reilly Turner stopped a career-best 42 shots to earn the win between the pipes.
CONFERENCE HONORS
Senior goaltender Terry Shafer was named the Atlantic Hockey Association Travel Team USA Goalie of the Week for his 37-save shutout performance at RIT last Friday. The 4-0 shutout is the fifth of Shafer's career, tying him for the RMU record for shutouts with teammate Dalton Izyk and Eric Levine '13.
FIRST THINGS FIRST
The Colonials have 24 1st period goals in 14 games, the most in college hockey.
ROAD WARRIORS
Robert Morris is the nation's 2nd highest road scoring team with 34 goals away from home, first in goals/per game on the road with 2.43
NATION'S BEST
RMU's power play is the NCAA's best, converting 32.7% of chances. Seven players have PPG; Brandon Denham & Brady Ferguson have 4, Matt Cope, Greg Gibson, Dan Leavens & Zac Lynch each have 2. David Friedmann & Chase Golightly have one.
RECORD SETTER
In the month of November, Zac Lynch put together a streak of four consecutive games with shorthanded goals, an NCAA record. Lynch leads all active college hockey players with a total of 10 career shorthanded goals, also an RMU record. Lynch was named Atlantic Hockey's player of the month for November as well.
HOT LINE BLING
The Colonials top line of Leavens - Gibson - Lynch have combined for 54 points this season; the highest scoring line in Atlantic Hockey, third highest in the country, behind Boston College's Gaudreau-White-Fitzgerald who have 57, and New Hampshire's Correale-Poturalski -Kelleher who have 70 points.
WALL OF DEFENSE
Rob Mann is ranked 7th in the nation in blocks per game (2.57), blocking 36 shots (9th) in 14 games. Mann is 2nd in the conference in blocks & in B/PG. Case Golightly is 5h in the conference in blocks (30) and b/pg (2.14). Tyson Wilson is 9th in the conference in blocks per game (1.86), 8th in blocks (26), tied for 12th most points by a defenseman nationally (11) tied for 5th in assists by a defenseman (10).
LYNCH LEAVING HIS MARK
Lynch is currently fourth in the nation in points this season (22), third in career points among active players with 123 points. The Pittsburgh native is also 4th in assists (71) and is 7th in goals (52). Lynch is also & tied for 11th in power play goals (15).
CHART-TOPPERS
Robert Morris has several other players ranked in the top 50 nationally in career numbers. Gibson is tied for 13th in goals (47), 32nd in points (85) and tied for 36th in game-winning goals (6). David Friedmann is 41st in points (76), 41st in goals (32), and 17th in GWG (8). Brandon Denham is 45th in points (75) and 44th in goals (31), also tied for 36th in GWG (6). Tyson Wilson is 25th in career assists with 54.
THAT'S A PLUS
Seven of the top 10 +/- leaders in Atlantic Hockey are Colonials. 1st is Tyson Wilson (+14), 3rd Zac Lynch & Chase Golightly (+11), 5th Alex Bontje & Matt Cope (+9), 7th Brandon Denham (+7). Wilson is 11th nationally, Lynch & Golightly 23rd. Wilson is 4th in the nation among defenseman, Golightly 11th. Wilson 2nd among free agent defenseman, Golightly 6th.
TEAM SCORING
Robert Morris is one of the top scoring teams in college hockey, leading the nation in goals per game at 4.43. The Colonials 62 goals in 14 games played ranks 6th nationally, behind only Top 20 ranked teams, Boston College, St. Cloud State, North Dakota, Penn State & Quinnipiac. RMU is 2nd in points per game at 12.21 behind only Boston College 12.27. The Colonials rank 7th nationally in goal margin, outscoring opponents by 25, a margin of 1.79 goals per game.
BETTER WITH AGE
Robert Morris has the oldest team in college hockey. The Colonials average age as of October 1 is 22 years, 121 days.
ROAD TO REVOLUTION
Follow Robert Morris men's hockey throughout the the season with an all-access look at the Colonials. Each week, a new episode is posted on the RMU Athletics YouTube Channel. This week's episode features our Jewish student athletes celebrating Hanukkah and balancing finals week with preparing for Canisius.
COACH'S CORNER
Hear from Head Coach Derek Schooley each week on the Coach's Corner, also posted on the RMU Athletics YouTube Channel.
