Falcons Close Out Regular Season vs. Sacred Heart & Holy Cross
The Matchup: The Bentley hockey team closes out the regular season this week, starting Thursday night with a road game against Sacred Heart. A visit from rival Holy Cross on Saturday, Senior Night, finishes the regular season.
The Falcons come in riding a seven-game unbeaten streak (5-0-2) after two ties at Army last weekend; 1-1 and 2-2. They are 14-7-5 in Atlantic Hockey play and in 3rd place with 33 points, and have already clinched a bye to the AHC Quarterfinals and home-ice, a best of three series that gets underway March 13.
Sacred Heart (9-12-6 AHC) and Holy Cross (11-11-5 AHC) actually played each other last weekend in a home and home series. Holy Cross won on the road 1-0, but Sacred Heart won the next night in Worcester 5-0. The Pioneers are already locked into the 8th seed and a first round series against Army. Holy Cross is tied for 6th with Air Force and is two points out of 5th place and a first round bye.
Follow the Games: Newly rebranded AtlanticHockey.TV will carry every Bentley AHA game this season. Season ($150), monthly ($35) and single game ($10) passes are available. Live stats will be available on Bentleyfalcons.com and in-game updates will be on Twitter @BentleyFalcons.
Playoff Picture: With two games left in the regular season the Falcons have already clinched at least a first round bye and home-ice. With 33 points they trail 2nd place Canisius by one point and lead 4th place Mercyhurst by two.
They can finish anywhere from 2nd to 4th with 5th place RIT (29 points) playing Mercyhurst (31 points).
Rookie of the Week: Freshman goalie Jayson Argue was named the Atlantic Hockey Rookie of the Week on Tuesday. In the two games at Army he stopped 66 of 69 shots faced for a .957 save percentage. He made 34 saves in Saturday's 2-2 tie, including a game-saving stop on Army with six seconds left in OT that preserved the tie. He made 32 saves in Friday's series opener.
In 15 starts this season, Argue has allowed two or fewer goals in 13 of them. His .940 save percentage overall is second best in the nation, and his 1.86 goals against average is eighth.
Atlantic Hockey Rankings: As the regular season winds down Bentley has several players near the top of several statistical categories in Atlantic Hockey. Junior Andrew Gladiuk is 3rd in points (38), 5th in goals (18) and 7th in assists (20). Sophomore Max French is in the top-10 in points (10th; 32) and goals (t-6th; 15).
Gladiuk is tied for the conference lead in power play points (15) and senior defenseman Steve Weinstein leads all defenseman in points (22). Argue is tops in the AHC in both goals against average and save percentage.
Unbeaten Run: Bentley's seven-game unbeaten run (5-0-2) is the second longest in the nation behind Michigan Tech and Quinnipiac, both of whom haven't lost in eight games. Bentley received votes in the USCHO Division I poll for the third straight week.
The unbeaten run is the second-longest in the program's Division I history, behind last season's nine-game run (7-0-2) from Nov. 15, 2014-Jan. 3, 2015.
Earlier This Season: Bentley has played both Sacred Heart and Holy Cross this month and is 3-0. They swept a home and home with Holy Cross the weekend of Feb. 6. They won at the JAR 4-3, rallying from a 3-1 deficit, then won the next night at the Hart Center 5-2. One week later Bentley defeated Sacred Heart at home 3-1 behind two Brett Switzer goals.
Bentley and Sacred Heart split the first two games of the season back in October, with teach team winning on the other's home-ice; Bentley 4-1 on the road (Oct. 16) and Sacred Heart at the JAR 6-3 (Oct. 18).
Up Next: Bentley is off next weekend as the AHC Playoffs get underway with a best of three first round series. Bentley will open the Quarterfinals at the JAR with Game One on March 13.