Postseason Push Ramps Up With Final Two Regular Season Games
WALTHAM, Mass. – Bentley closes out the regular season later this week when they visit Holy Cross on Thursday and host Sacred Heart on Saturday night.
What's Ahead
With just two games left in the regular season the Falcons are in 7th place in the Atlantic Hockey standings with 36 points and a 11-12-1 record. However the standings are tightly bunched. Air Force, Niagara and AIC are all tied for fourth with 38 points, which means the Falcons are just two points out of a potential first round bye.
The top-four teams in the standings receive a bye to the quarterfinals and host a best of three quarterfinals series from March 8-10. The team that finishes fifth receives a bye as well and will play the No. 4 seed.
If they don't move into the top-five, Bentley will host a first round, single elimination game on March 2.
Last Time Out
Coming off a bye week the Falcons were last in action on Feb. 9-10 at Canisius and earned five points from the series. They blanked the Griffs 3-0 in the first game. The second game was a 2-2 tie but Bentley won the shootout.
Connor Hasley posted his third shoutout of the season in the first game, and Bentley's fifth of the season. Ryan Mansfield had two goals and Ethan Leyh notched a power play goal.
In the second game Matt Thomson and Nick Bochen scored for the Falcons who looked to be on their way to a 2-1 victory, only for Canisius to score with less than one second left to send the game to overtime, and eventually the shootout. They won the shootout 2-0 with goals from Thomson and Mansfield and two saves by Nicholas Grabko.
Dominant D
The Falcons set a new program record for shutouts in a single season with their fifth on Feb. 9 at Canisius.
They have allowed two goals or fewer in more than half of the games this season, 18 of 32, and in five straight contests. They rank tied for 5th nationally in fewest goals allowed per game at 2.34.
The Falcons are 5th nationally in fewest shots allowed per game at 24.3.
The penalty kill has also been stout and is 6th nationally at 85.8 percent. They have killed off 18 straight power plays, which spans the last five-plus games.
Bentley is one of just six teams in the nation with a PK over 85% and a power play over 20%. Boston College, Lake Superior, Quinnipiac, RIT and Providence are the others.
Earlies This Season
Bentley will face Holy Cross and Sacred Heart each for the third time this season. Holy Cross swept a two game home and home series on Nov. 17-18, winning both games 2-0.
The Falcons and Pioneers split a home and home series on Jan. 12-13. Each team won on the other's home-ice with SHU winning in Waltham 4-3 and Bentley winning 3-2 in overtime on the road.