Bentley Hosts Canisius for Key Late Season Series
The Matchup: Bentley will host Canisius at the JAR this weekend for the last full home weekend of the regular season. The series gets underway Friday night with a 7:05 face-off and concludes one night later at the same time. Both games can be seen live in HD on EverSport.
This is the only series of the season between the two teams, and they haven't played in over a year. The last matchups were a series in Buffalo the weekend of Jan. 16, 2015. Canisius hasn't visited the JAR since the 2014 Atlantic Hockey playoffs.
Bentley (9-10-4 AHC) is coming off a split last weekend at Mercyhurst. They won the first game 4-1 to extend their unbeaten streak to five games (3-0-2), before the Lakers gained the series split with a 5-2 victory the next night.
The Griffs (8-9-5 AHC) were off last weekend and last played the weekend of Jan. 29 vs. Air Force, which resulted in a 3-2 win for the Falcons and a 1-1 tie.
Follow the Games: This weekend's games can be seen live on EverSport in HD. The cost for a day pass is $6.99. Visit this page to sign up.
In addition to the live broadcasts, live stats can be found on Bentleyfalcons.com, and in-game updates will be on Twitter @BentleyFalcons
Where They Stand: The Falcons enter the weekend 6th in Atlantic Hockey with 22 points, which is three points behind Mercyhurst in 5th and for the final first round bye in the Atlantic Hockey playoffs. They are five points behind Holy Cross for 4th and a bye and home-ice advantage in the quarterfinals. If the season ended today, the Falcons would host AIC in a first round best of three series in the 6-11 matchup.
Gladiuk Hits 70…And Streaks On: Senior Andrew Gladiuk netted his 70th career goal on Saturday at Mercyhurst, making him just the 2nd player in Bentley's Division I history to reach that milestone. He's now just four goals away from breaking Brett Gensler's record of 73 Division I career goals at Bentley.
Gladiuk has scored a goal in six straight games, a streak which started with a hat trick vs. AIC on Jan. 22. The left winger also has an eight game scoring streak going, where he has put up 18 points on 8 goals and 10 assists.
Gladiuk isn't the only Falcon with an eight game scoring streak going. Line mate Kyle Schmidt has an eight game streak as well with 16 points on 6 goals and 10 assists.
NCAA Leader: Gladiuk's run of form has him in some lofty company. With 142 career points, he's tied with BU's Danny O'Regan for most among active NCAA players. His 70 career goals have him 2nd to Harvard's Jimmy Vesey (74). Gladiuk's 33 career power play goals are 1st among active players.
French T-3rd Nationally: French had two goals and two assists in the series with Mercyhurst, and on the season he's up to an 18-21-39 scoring line in just 25 games. That 1.56 points per game average is T-3rd nationally with Michigan's Tyler Motte. French has 12 multi-point games out of 25 this season.
In Atlantic Hockey, French is 2nd in overall points, just one behind Robert Morris' Zac Lynch. He's 3rd in goals and T-2nd in assists in the conference with Schmidt.
Fans can support French's candidacy for the 2016 Hobey Baker Award by voting once every 24 hours at facebook.com/TheHobey
Power Play Heats Up: The Falcons have scored a power play goal in six straight games, and are converting at a nearly 26% clip during the streak (7-27).
Defense Tightens: Bentley's defense held Mercyhurst to just 18 shots in Friday's 4-1 win. That was the 2nd time in three weeks they held an opponent to under 20 shots, with the first being just 15 for AIC in the 6-1 win on Jan. 22.
Series History: Canisius holds a slight 26-24-5 edge in the all-time series. The teams played 23 times from the 2008-09-2013-14 seasons, including two, three game playoff series, but have played just twice in the last 12-plus months. The Falcons are 6-4 vs. the Griffs at the JAR in the last 10 contests. The first ever meeting between the two squads came during the 1981-82 season, a 4-1 Bentley win.
Up Next: The Falcons will be off next weekend, before closing out the regular season the following week with three games. They get it started on Wednesday the 24th at AIC, then have a home-and-home with Army to finish the regular season. That series begins on Friday the 26th in West Point before shifting to the JAR the following night.