fairfield, CT—The Niagara hockey team opened the Atlantic Hockey quarterfinals on Friday, taking on No. 3 Sacred Heart in the first game of a best-of-three series. Niagara scored five points in the third period and defeated the Pioneers 6-3.
Early period
The Purple Eagles used physical play to set the tone of the game and controlled play for the first 10 minutes.
Despite some early power plays, it was Sacred Heart who took a 1-0 lead with a power play goal.
Niagara made six shots in the opening half and won 11 faceoffs. Glebus Prokhorenkovs Team High Five won the faceoff.
Second period
Sacred Heart made the game 2-0 early, just over four minutes into the second period.
Niagara responded at 1:25 p.m. during this period. lane blockhoff threw a breakout pass to Jay Ahern Who tipped the puck to tyler wallace Who enters the Sacred Heart zone in a 2-on-1 with Carter Landkleff. Wallace passed it to Lundklev, who fired it back to Wallace, and with the goalie out of position, Wallace fired a shot into a wide-open net.Wallace led the team to 12th place.th season goals.Landklev led the team to 17th place.th Ahern has 13 assists this seasonth Assist.
Neither team scored for the remainder of the game, with Niagara leading 2-1 after 40 minutes. Niagara outscored Sacred Heart 11-8 in the second period and 12-8 in the faceoff circle.
third period
Landklev scored his ninth goal of the season for the Purple Eagles, tying the score with 1:21 to play. Wallace gained zone, took shots and generated rebounds. Noah Carlin In the corner. Karlin threw the puck toward the net, the puck bounced off Landklev in front of the net, and Landklev fired a shot into the top of the goal, tying the game at two.Ahaan picked up 14th Carlin recorded his eighth assist, with Carlin getting some of the puck in front and setting a season-high for assists.
Just 30 seconds later, at 1:51, Lundklev gave the Purple Eagles a 3-2 lead. Niagara applied pressure in the zone and Lundklev played the puck to Karlin in the high slot. Carlin took a shot, but it missed the net, and Wallace was on the side of the net trying to slot it home. Landklev picked up the puck and it flew in front of the net, scoring his second goal of the night and giving Niagara the lead.Wallace picked up 14th Carlin had his ninth assist of the season.
Niagara scored their fourth goal of the game just 13 seconds later when Jonathan Giske received a pass at the goal line. jack richard. Giske hit a wrister that deflected off a Sacred Heart player into the net, giving Niagara a 4-2 lead. This was Gzyskier's second goal of the season and third of his career.Richard got his 10th Assist this season.
Sacred Heart got one back at 8:49 of the third period, making it a one-point game again.
Just before the midway point of game time, Niagara regained a two-goal lead at the 9:58 mark. Niagara went on a power play and Sacred Heart tried to clear the puck. The puck was stopped at the half wall by Lars Rodne. Rodone skated toward the net and fired a pass across the ice to Richard. Richard scored his ninth goal of the season, giving Niagara a 5-3 lead.Rodone picked up 11th Assists and team lead 12th This season's power play points.
The Purple Eagles stopped the game at 19:11 of the third inning. Glebus Prokhorenkovs He scored his ninth goal of the season from an empty net. Olivier Gauthier Prokhorenkovs blocked the shot, picked up the spilled puck and fired it into the empty net.
niagara notebook
· Jarrett Fisk He made 32 saves in the win. He currently has a 2.00 goals-against average in the postseason, making 74 of 78 saves and posting a .949 save percentage.
· Niagara had 17 shots in the third period for a total of 34 shots.
· The Purple Eagles went 1-4 on the power play while making six shots.
· Niagara was up 37-31 at the faceoff circle. Prokhorenkovs won 12 faceoffs and Richard won 7-2. Drew Wieten We won 8-3.
· Landklev earned three points. In the final two playoff games against Sacred Heart dating back to last season, he had four goals and four assists in two games.
· Niagara's second and third goals were scored just 30 seconds apart, marking the fastest pair of goals in AHA postseason history. Niagara broke that record with its fourth goal just 13 seconds later. This is the fastest three goals in Atlantic Hockey postseason history. This is the fastest three goals scored by an AHA team this season.
· Landklev's goal came just 30 seconds apart, making it the fastest time for a player to score two consecutive goals in AHA this season.
· Niagara overcame a two-goal deficit and won for the second time this season. Niagara trailed 2-0 on Feb. 9 against AIC before winning 4-2.
· Niagara currently has a 21-17-2 record against Sacred Heart in program history.
· Niagara has a 4-2-0 record at Martire Family Arena since opening in January 2022.
· The Purple Eagles are 14-0-2 when scoring four or more points this season.
· This is the first time Niagara has scored five points in one period since Nov. 17, 2018. Niagara defeated Canisius 9-6 at Dwyer Arena.
· This is the first time in Niagara's postseason history that Niagara has scored five goals in one period.
· Niagara currently leads the series 1-0. A win on Saturday or Sunday will advance Niagara to the seventh round of the Atlantic Hockey semifinals.
next
Niagara looks to complete a sweep of Sacred Heart with puck drop scheduled for Saturday at 7 p.m.
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