RIT ended a six-game winless streak, all in Atlantic Hockey play, with a 3-0 victory over Canisius.
Jordan Ruby made 19 saves for his second career shutout and first of the season. Matt Garbowsky completed a strong weekend with a goal and an assist.
“I thought we played a better game than we did last night,” RIT coach Wayne Wilson said. “I thought we competed hard. I thought it showed up defensively. We created a lot of turnovers, made it very difficult for them to come up the ice. Overall, a better team effort for us tonight than last night.”
“It wasn’t our best, though RIT played well,” Canisius coach Dave Smith said. “RIT outworked us the majority of the game. We just couldn’t get anything accomplished.”
After a scoreless first period which also saw no penalties and a missed breakaway opportunity by RIT’s Todd Skirving, the first goal finally came at 11:22 of the second on a perfectly executed two-on-one by RIT.
Josh Mitchell picked up a pass at the blue line with Garbowsky on his left. Mitchell waited as long as possible, making everyone believe he was going to take the shot before finally dishing it off.
Garbowsky cut across the crease before flipping a backhander into the upper near corner.
“We’ve been kind of shooting them over the net,” Wilson said. “Sometimes just trying to be too cute. I was wondering if Matt was going to do the same there. But, we executed well.”
It took just over a minute into the final period for RIT to make it 2-0. Danny Smith found himself wide open in the slot and one-timed a pass from Brandon Thompson past Keegan Asmundson.
RIT finished off the scoring by taking advantage of Canisius applying pressure late in the game to try and break the shutout. This resulted in another two-on-one breakout.
This time, Garbowsky passed across the slot to Brad McGowan, who easily redirected it in at 16:27.
For the weekend, Garbowsky scored four times and registered one assist.
“He gets the first goal and gives us some momentum,” Wilson said. “Then he clinches it with a great pass to McGowan. He does everything for us. He’s been the best guy on the ice for us every game.”
“They were the best line on the ice all weekend,” Smith said. “We had a plan. It didn’t work last night. It didn’t work today.”
As for Ruby, Wilson said, “Great for him. He’s worked hard at it, and I thought he looked strong. Our team looking strong in front of him gave him a lot of help. But, he was always there when we needed him.”
Next weekend, Canisius (4-5-3, 3-3-2) plays a home-and-home with Mercyhurst, starting out on the road.
RIT (3-6-2, 2-4-2) returns home for a pair with Sacred Heart.
