BOSTON – The Northeastern men's ice hockey team will look to get back on track tonight when the Huskies travel to Watertown, Mass. to battle Bentley at 7:05 p.m. It marks the first time that a Hockey East team has ever played at Ryan Arena.
The all-time series with BentleyNortheastern and Bentley will square off for the sixth time in program history on Saturday night, All five previous games between the Falcons and Huskies have been played at Matthews Arena. Northeastern got the upper hand in their first two contests, winning them both 4-1 and 3-2. The next three matchups went Bentley's way with the Falcons leaving Matthews with 2-1, 6-3 and 3-2 victories.
Scouting the FalconsBentley comes into Saturday with an 1-2-0 record after the Falcons fell twice to the Mercyhurst Lakers last weekend in a pair of close games, 3-1 and 3-2. Forward Andrew McDonald has scored all three of Bentley's goals so far this season while fellow forward Ryan McMurphy has recorded two assists.
In goal, the Falcons boast a tandem that should split time evenly this season. Jayson Argue made 26 saves in the opening-night loss to the Lakers while Gabe Antoni stopped 19 pucks in the second of two defeats. Argue started 20 games as a freshman for Bentley last season, posting a record of 8-7-4. Antoni saw 10 starts as a junior last year, finishing with a record of 6-5-0.
Three of Bentley's top five scorers from 2014-15 graduated this past summer, leaving some big holes in the team's scoring. Forward Andrew Gladiuk posted 42 points as a junior last season and looks to lead the charge offensively for the Falcons this season with a new supporting cast.
Junior Max French had an impressive 34 points in his sophomore campaign last season and led the Falcons in shots on goal with 115. Gladiuk and French put up seven goals each on the man advantage last season, and with the emergence of players like McDonald and McMurphy, Bentley is poised to have a deadly power play this season.
O Captain, My CaptainHead coach
Jim Madigan announced this spring that senior
Kevin Roy will serve as team captain this season. He will be assisted by senior
Mike McMurtry and juniors
Matt Benning and
John Stevens. Roy is the 81st captain in program history.
Poll positionNortheastern is currently receiving votes in both the USCHO.com and USA Today preseason polls. The Huskies are one of 10 Hockey East teams either ranked or receiving votes in the USCHO.com poll, while 14 of NU's opponents are featured in the poll.
Unfamiliar facesWhile Northeastern and Bentley are meeting for just the sixth time in team history on Saturday night, the Huskies haven't gone up against opponents from Atlantic Hockey in recent seasons. Since head coach
Jim Madigan took the reigns of the program in 2011, NU has played four games against Atlantic Hockey members, going 2-3-0. Overall, Northeastern is 53-22-2 all-time against current members of Atlantic Hockey.
Recapping last night's game against BentleyFacing a 3-0 third period deficit thanks to a hat trick from Andrew Gladiuk, the Northeastern men's ice hockey team (1-1-0) scored twice in the final frame, but could not find the equalizer as Bentley escaped with a 3-2 victory on Friday night at Matthews Arena.
Northeastern outshot the Falcons 51-11 in the game, but Bentley received 49 saves from netminder Jayson Argue, including 38 through the first 40 minutes of play. Gladiuk scored two of his three goals on the power play, while
Colton Saucerman and
John Stevens both scored for the hosts, who went 1-of-4 on the advantage.
Zach Aston-Reese added two assists for the Huskies.
NU picked to finish fifth in Hockey EastAt the league's annual media day on Sept. 21, the coaches were picked to finish fifth in Hockey East. This year's poll marks the second straight season that the Huskies have been predicted to finish in one of the top five spots in Hockey East after their fourth-place selection last year.
Boston College was predicted to win the conference this season, receiving 115 points and seven first-place votes in the preseason poll. Last year's Hockey East champion, Boston University (107 points, three first-place votes), was selected to finish second in the conference, while defending national champion Providence College (95 points, two first-place votes) rounded out the top three. Sitting one place above the Huskies is last year's Hockey East runner-up, UMass Lowell (92 points).
Shots, shots, shotsThe Huskies haven't been afraid to fire the puck on goal in their first two games of the season, peppering opposing netminders with 94 shots on goal. It's the most shots on goal in the nation for team's that have only played two games.
The road aheadNortheastern will head out west next weekend to battle No. 15/13 Minnesota on Friday and Saturday in Minneapolis. The Huskies are making their first trip to the Mariucci Center since capturing the Mariucci Classic in 2011.
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