SPRINGFIELD, Mass. The AIC men's ice hockey squad looks to get back in the win column as they head east on I-90 for a clash with the Bentley Falcons this evening with the opening face-off scheduled for 7:05 p.m.
The Yellow Jackets are coming off their first shut-out of the season last Tuesday at the hands of Holy Cross with a 3-0 decision.
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LAST TIME THEY MET: AIC and Bentley met twice last season at the Olympia Ice Center and skated to a 4-4 overtime draw on Saturday night before the Falcons took a 5-2 victory back down I-90 on Sunday afternoon. Austin Orszulak scored three goals over the weekend with a pair on Saturday night including the equalizer with just 24 seconds on the clock to send the game into the extra frame.
ALL-TIME SERIES: In one of their closest and most even series AIC is 21-27-5 all-time against the Falcons dating back to the 1980-81 season. The Yellow Jacket's last victory in the series came during the 2013-14 season in a high scoring 8-7 affair at the JAR. Alexander MacMillan '15 tied a single game record with five points and four assists and scored the game winner at 13:54 of the third period.
HOO-HA TWO TIMES TUESDAY: This marks the fourth of eight Tuesday games this season and second consecutive for AIC as they currently sit at 0-3 on Tuesday's dropping a pair of games to Sacred Heart. All-time on Tuesday's AIC is 10-25-6 since going Division I in 1999.
BACK ON TRACK?: After a slow start to November, with just one assist in the first three games, Orszulak potted a pair of goals in a weekend split with Niagara (11/20-11/21) to give him the team-lead with five after he was held without a goal for eight games. The junior now leads the team with 10 points on five goals and five assists.
SCOUTING BENTLEY: Jason Argue leads the conference with a .941 save percentage and is second with a 2.38 goals against average in seven starts with a 3-2-1 record. Max French is tied for second in the league with seven goals and tied fifth in points with 13. The Falcons also have the second best power-play in Atlantic Hockey converting at 23 percent while their PK ranks them third at 82.1 percent. The Falcons have also allowed the second fewest goals in the conference with 33 goals against in 12 games or 2.75 per contests.
SECOND PERIOD WOES: AIC is allowing 27 goals in the second period while only scoring nine of their own for a -18 differential. Bentley also has their worst period during the middle frame only scoring seven times this season while allowing 10 for a -3 differential. However, the Falcons only have a -2 overall differential (33-31) while the Jackets are -39 (71-32) and have allowed the most goals in Division I.
FRESHMAN STRONG: Rookie Shawn McBride is second on the team in scoring with four goals and five assists for nine points while classmate Ryan Polin has added a pair of goals and three helpers from the blue-line. Polin was just named Defensive Player of the Week by the league last week while McBride has already been tabbed Rookie of the Week four weeks ago. The two headline a strong freshman class that has seen six players record points and have contributed for 11 goals and 17 assists over the first two months of play.
UP NEXT: AIC once again has the weekend off for the second-straight week and third out of the last four. They return to the ice on December 11-12 as they host Army West Point for a two game set.
