Game Notes

The Matchup: Bentley will play its first non-conference game of the season on Friday night when they visit Merrimack of Hockey East at Lawler Rink. The game gets underway at 7:00 pm.

Friday's game will mark the middle weekend of three straight weekends on the road for the Falcons. They visited Niagara last weekend, and will head back to that area next weekend for a series at Canisius.

This will be the third meeting between the two programs at the Division I level. They met previously at Lawler Rink in 2013-14, and at the JAR in 2015-16.

Follow the Game: Friday's game can be seen at the following link, which is a pay subscription service. Watch Live

Free audio is available at the same link, along with live stats

Last Time Out: Bentley tied Niagara 3-3 and dropped the second game 4-3 on its trip to upstate New York last weekend. In the first game, sophomore winger Jonathan Desbiens scored all three goals for his 2^nd career hat trick, and first by a Bentley player since Max French in game two of last season's Atlantic Hockey first round series against Sacred Heart.

Bentley trailed 3-1 late in the 3^rd period, but Desbiens made it a 3-2 game with a goal with 4:48 left, then scored the tying goal with just 6.9 seconds left on the clock to force overtime.

The second game featured four lead changes and three ties, but the final lead change went Niagara's way when center Derian Plouffe broke a 3-3 tie with a goal 3:46 into the 3^rd period. Desbiens scored another goal for a four goal weekend. Kyle Schmidt and Ryner Gorowsky also had goals in this game for the Falcons.

Freshman Luke Santerno had two assists in each game for four assists on the weekend playing as the team's top-line center.

Power Play Clicking: Bentley's power play has been mostly clicking so far this season. Coming into this weekend, they're converting at 22.5 percent (9-40), which is 3^rd in Atlantic Hockey and ? nationally. They've scored multiple power play goals in three of nine games this season.

Schmidt Closing in on 100: Bentley's captain Kyle Schmidt is closing in on 100 career points. After two points last weekend, he's at 96 for his career (44 goals, 52 assists). That ranks him 7^th among active players in career points and T-3^rd in goals.

He would become the 11th player in program history to hit 100 points playing just at Division I. Brett Gensler '14 holds the record for career points solely in Division I for the program, at 167.

Player of the Week: Desbiens was named Player of the Week after his four goal weekend. It's the second time in his career he's earned a weekly award from Atlantic Hockey, after he was named Rookie of the Week once last season after a hat trick in a 6-3 win over RIT (Jan. 28).

Bentley vs. Hockey East: The Falcons will be looking to claim a win over a Hockey East school for the 8^th season in the last 10. They've claimed wins over Maine (08-09), UMass (09-10), Northeastern (10-11, 12-13, 15-16), BU (13-14) and UNH (16-17).

Looking at Merrimack: The Warriors dropped a pair of close games to Boston College last weekend in a home and home series. They dropped the first game on the road, 3-1, then the second contest at home 2-1. The previous weekend, they split a home and home series against UMass in their first Hockey East action of the season, which included a 5-3 win at home. Merrimack has played non-conference series against Colgate and Minnesota-Duluth so far, plus a home game against Wisconsin.

Three players are tied for the team lead in scoring so far, with six points each. Among that group is senior forward Jace Henning, who is tied for the team lead in goals with sophomore forward Sami Tavernier (3 each). Sophomore defenseman John Kovacevic, a draft pick of the Winnipeg Jets, leads the team with five assists.

Goaltending has been shared between juniors Drew Vogler (six starts) and Craig Pantano (three starts). Pantano started both games against BC last weekend.

Up Next: Bentley's road trip continues next weekend when they head back to upstate New York for a series at Canisius. In last season's series played in Buffalo, the Griffs won the first game 4-3, and the second game ended in a 3-3 tie. The two teams will meet at the JAR later this season on the weekend of Jan. 26-27.

Tale of the Tape