The Holy Cross men's ice hockey program hits the ice in the Queen City, Buffalo, N.Y. for a two game weekend set with Atlantic Hockey Association foe Canisius Friday at 7 p.m. and Saturday at 4 p.m. in the LECOM Harborcenter. The conference tilts will stream live through FloHockey.

THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT HOLY CROSS (1-7-0, 1-4-0 AHA):

• Holy Cross has lost three straight contests including two last weekend, a 5-2 setback to RIT Friday night and a 3-2 loss to the Tigers Saturday afternoon in overtime. Sophomore Liam McLinskey netted his team-leading fourth goal of the season while freshman Devin Phillips tallied two assists for the Crusaders.
• The Crusaders have faced a juggernaut of opponents over the opening eight games as seven opponents were either ranked or received votes in the national polls at the time of the contest.
• Over those eight battles, the Crusaders have been outscored 35-to-15 by their counterparts.
• Holy Cross ranks fourth in the AHA in blocked shots (114), freshman defenseman Mack Oliphant is the team leader with 12 which is good enough for ninth in the conference.

SCOUTING CANISIUS (2-7-0, 0-2-0 AHA):

• Canisius has lost four straight duels including a series at first place Sacred Heart last weekend. The Griffins fell to the Pioneers 6-3 on Friday and 3-1 on Saturday. Sacred Heart scored four unanswered goals to break open the contest Friday and broke a 1-1 deadlock in the third period Saturday before scoring an empty netter.
• Forward Nick Bowman is the team leader in scoring with nine points via five goals and four assists. He has three multiple-point performances through the opening nine contests.
• The Griffins net most of their scores in the third period as 13 of their 23 tallies have come in the final 20 minutes of play.
• Under head coach Trevor Large, the Griffins are 54-7-5 when allowing two goals or less in a game.

LAST TIME THEY MET:

• Holy Cross is 36-25-11 all-time in the series against the Griffins which began back in 1986.
• Over their last 20 meetings, Canisius is 13-5-2 against the Crusaders.
• In their last meeting on January 14, 2022, the Griffins won a 2-1 contest in Worcester. Then-junior Bobby Young cut the 2-0 deficit in half in the third period for Holy Cross, but they couldn't score the equalizer.

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