Game Notes

The Matchup: Bentley heads to upstate New York this weekend for the first of three straight weekends on the road. The road trip gets underway when they take on the Niagara Purple Eagles at Dwyer Arena. Both games on Friday and Saturday nights begin at 7:05 pm.

Bentley is coming off a split at home with Mercyhurst last weekend that saw the Falcons win the first game 4-3, but drop the second game 2-0. Niagara is off to a 4-1 start after they swept Sacred Heart on the road last weekend.

This series will mark the third straight season Bentley has faced Niagara on the road. The Purple Eagles haven't visited Watertown since the 2014-15 season.

Follow the Games: All Bentley Atlantic Hockey games, home and away, will air on AtlanticHockey.TV, powered by Stretch Internet. The cost for a regular season pass is $104.99, and a day pass is $10.99.

New this season, the service can be accessed using Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV and Android TV.

Last Time Out: Bentley and Mercyhurst played to a hard-fought split at the JAR last weekend. The Falcons nabbed the first game 4-3, behind a 3-5 night on the power play. One of those power play goals was the go-ahead goal scored by sophomore defenseman Connor Brassard. His goal with 6:09 left in the 3^rd period broke a 3-3 tie.

Brassard's goal capped a back-and-forth 3^rd period that saw the teams combine for five goals. The period began tied 1-1, but the Falcons jumped in front with two power play goals scored in the first 4:47, scored by Kyle Schmidt and freshman Luke Santerno. Bentley held that lead for about seven minutes, until the Lakers scored twice just 30 seconds apart. However, just 1:41 after the Lakers tied it, Brassard scored on a shot from just inside the blue line to give Bentley the lead.

In game two, Bentley went 0-7 on the power play as the Lakers came away with a 2-0 victory. Taylor Best scored the go-ahead goal with 15 seconds left in the 2^nd period, and they added a late empty net goal.

Bentley goalie Jayson Argue continued his strong start to the season. In the two games, he posted a .939 save percentage and 2.00 goals against average.

Argue's Strong Start: Argue has gotten off to a strong start in his senior season. He's started five of Bentley's six games so far, and has posted a .928 save percentage. He's made 30 plus saves in four of his five starts.

Power Play Clicks: Prior to Saturday's game, Bentley's power play was clicking. In the previous five games, they had scored at scored at least once in four of them, and were 7-25 overall, a 28 percent clip. Schmidt has two of the team's seven PP goals, while Jonathan Desbiens, Jake Kauppila, Luke Santerno, and defensemen Alexey Solovyev and Connor Brassard have the others.

Overall, the team's percentage of 21.9 ranks 5^th in Atlantic Hockey.

Last Season's Series: Bentley and Niagara played just twice last season, a series at Niagara last Jan. 13-14. In the first game, Bentley erupted for six goals in a 6-3 victory. Schmidt had two goals and one assist in the win, while center Ryan McMurphy had one goal and two assists. Brassard and Matt Riggleman also had goals. Argue made 34 saves to claim the victory.

The Purple Eagles though turned the tables in the second game, as they won it 3-1. They led 1-0 after the 2^nd period, then added two goals in the first 5:39 of the 3^rd period.

Series History: These two programs have a relatively short history, as Niagara only joined Atlantic Hockey for the 2010-11 season. They lead the series 9-3-2. The last three series played between these two teams have resulted in splits. Last season saw a 6-3 Bentley win and a 3-1 Niagara victory. In 2015-16, Niagara took the first game 6-4, and Bentley the second 3-1. In 2014-15, the last series played at the JAR, Bentley blanked Niagara 6-0 in the opener, but dropped the second 3-2 in OT.

Up Next: Bentley will play its first non-conference game of the season next Friday when they visit Merrimack of Hockey East. The teams last played in the 2015-16 season at the JAR, and last met at Lawler Arena during the 2013-14 season. It will be the 3^rd ever meeting between the two programs as Division I, and the 7^th all-time.