Game Notes

The Matchup: Bentley will play the final leg of three straight weekends on the road starting on Friday night when they visit the Canisius Golden Griffins for a series at the HarborCenter in Buffalo. Puck drop for Friday's game is 7:35, and Saturday's game begins at 4:35.

The Falcons played just once last weekend, as they visited Merrimack for their first non-conference game of the season, which the Warriors took by a score of 5-2. Canisius split at Mercyhurst last weekend. They dropped the first game 4-3 in overtime, but rebounded with a 7-3 win on the second night.

This weekend is the first of two series between these two teams this season. The Griffs will visit Bentley on the weekend of Jan. 26-27.

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: Despite scoring first, Bentley dropped its first non-conference game of the season last Friday, to Hockey East's Merrimack 5-2. Defenseman Brett Orr put Bentley on the board first, just 4:33 into the opening period, with a one-timer from the point. Freshman Michael Boyle had the assist after feeding Orr a pass from down near the goal. The Warriors though tied it about five minutes later, then scored twice within the opening 2:06 of the 2^nd period to take a 3-1 lead.

Defenseman and assistant captain Tanner Jago got the Falcons back in it with a power play goal at 13:49, but that was the last time Bentley scored.

Last Season's Series: Bentley and Canisius played just one series last season, which happened at the HarborCenter. In the first game, a 4-3 Griffs win, three unanswered goals by the hosts in the 2^nd period was the difference. Bentley led 2-0 after two straight goals to open the 2^nd period, which came from Max French and Ryner Gorowsky. However, Ryan Schmelzer, Dylan McLaughlin and Jeff Murray found the back of the net to put Canisius in front 4-2 at the end of two periods. Tanner Jago scored a late goal for Bentley in the 3^rd period.

The 2^nd game ended in a 3-3 tie. All six goals were scored in the 1^st period. French had two of the Bentley goals, and Kyle Schmidt had the other. Goalie Aidan Pelino, then a freshman, made his first career start and stopped 36 shots.

Series History: This weekend will mark the 60^th and 61^st meetings all-time between the two programs. Canisius has a small edge at 29-24-6. Bentley is winless in the last eight meetings in the series (0-6-2). Its last win came in game one of the 2014 Atlantic Hockey quarterfinals, 4-3 in overtime. Brett Switzer scored the winning goal 40 seconds into OT.

The two teams saw a lot of each other from 2008-14, 23 total games in those six seasons, with three playoff series. Bentley won 14 of those games, including a 2009 quarterfinals series in three games. Canisius has won playoff series in 2013 and 2014.

After that busy period, the teams have played just one series in each of the last three seasons.

Looking at Canisius: The Griffs will enter the weekend at 4-4-1 overall and 4-4 in Atlantic Hockey. That gives them eight points and has them in T-5^th entering the weekend. The program is under the direction of new head coach Trevor Large, promoted in the offseason after former head coach Dave Smith was hired for the same position at RPI.

Offensively, Canisius is led by junior forward Dylan McLaughlin. His seven goals and 14 points lead the team. Senior forward Ryan Schmelzer has a team-high eight assists, and is second in points with 12. The goaltending duties have split between sophomore Daniel Urbani and junior Simon Hofley, who are replacing Hobey Baker finalist Charles Williams. Of the team's four series so far this season, Hofley and Urbani have each started one game in every series.

Schmidt Closing in on 100 Points: Bentley's captain Kyle Schmidt is closing in on 100 career points. He's at 97 for his career (44 goals, 53 assists). That ranks him T-9th among active players in career points and T-4th 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.

Up Next: The Falcons will play at the JAR for the first time in nearly a month next weekend when they host Robert Morris for a series beginning Friday night at 7:05. Saturday's game is a 4:05 start. It will be the first of two series this season between the Falcons and Colonials. Bentley will trek out to Pittsburgh the weekend of Jan. 19-20.

Tale of the Tape