Minnesota earned the one-goal victory despite a strong effort from junior netminder Tony Capobianco. The junior finished the contest with 41 saves on the night to keep the Griffs within striking distance of the No. 2 Gophers.
"We played hard and smart hockey today and gave ourselves a chance to win the in the end," said Canisius head coach Dave Smith. "If their goalie doesn't make two great saves in the last minute, we go into overtime against a very good Minnesota team. It is important that we take today's effort into next weekend's games and into conference play."
The Gophers wasted no time finding the back of the net, striking just 12 seconds into the contest. Kyle Rau tipped in Jake Parenteau's shot from the top of the face-off circle for the early 1-0 Minnesota lead.
That was all the offense that nationally-ranked Minnesota would get and all that they would need as the 1-0 score held until the final horn. Canisius had a couple of great chances late but could not get the puck past Adam Wilcox. With just under five minutes remaining in regulation, junior Kyle Gibbons got a step on the Gopher defense and lunged toward the puck but his deflection was not strong enough to find the back of the net. Then, sophomore Tyler Wiseman gained possession of the puck in a scrum in front of the net with just 30 seconds left but could not tally the equalizer nor could the Griff net the rebound as Minnesota held on for the 1-0 win.
The Gophers finished the contest with a 42-20 advantage in shots with neither team scoring on the power play in two chances. Wilcox stopped all 20 shots he saw to earn the shutout victory.
Canisius continues non-conference play next weekend with a pair of games against Clarkson. The Griffs welcome the Golden Knights to the Buffalo State Sports Arena with the series beginning on Saturday at 3:05 p.m.
Game Notes: Minnesota is the highest ranked team the Griffs have faced since squaring off with No. 1 Miami on Nov. 24, 2007 ... The Griffs are now 3-21-2 all-time against nationally-ranked schools ... Canisius now ranks sixth nationally with a scoring defense of 1.67 ... Capobianco owns a goals against average of 1.78 this season with a save percentage of .944 ... Capobianco recorded 40 saves in a game for the fourth time in his career and for the first time since stopping a career-best 45 against Air Force on Oct. 29, 2011 ... The schools were meeting for the first time ... Canisius is now 0-10-2 all-time against WCHA schools.