Game-day information: Game 3 at Bentley
When	Friday, Oct. 14, 7 p.m.
Where	Watertown, Mass.  |  Ryan Arena  |  Directions
Broadcast and stats	Live Stats  |  Video  |  Audio
Notes and yearbook	Game Notes  |  2016-17 Media Guide
Promotions	Buy tickets to Saturday's banner unveiling at Matthews!
Social media	@GoNUmhockey  facebook.com/GoNUmhockey instagram.com/GoNUathletics  Use GoNU and RedBlackOnePack

BOSTON -- The No. 16/14 Northeastern men's ice hockey team will look to pick up its first victory of the season on Friday night as the Huskies travel across town to square off with Bentley at Ryan Arena. Friday marks the third straight road game to start a season for the Huskies, which hasn't happened since the start of the 2008-09 season.
 
The all-time series with Bentley
Heading into Friday's action, the Huskies trail in the all-time series with the Falcons by a count of 2-4-0. The pair of games this weekend will mark the second consecutive year that NU and Bentley will meet.
 
A hat trick from Andrew Gladiuk gave Bentley all that they needed to win in the first matchup last season, a game that NU dropped 3-2 at Matthews Arena. The Falcons followed up with a 4-1 win the following night at John A. Ryan Arena in Watertown, Mass. The last time that the Huskies triumphed over the Falcons was back on Oct. 16, 2009 when they picked up a 3-2 win for Northeastern's first home win of the 2009-10 season.
 
Since 2006-07, Northeastern is one of just five non-conference opponents (Merrimack, RPI, Alabama-Huntsville and Clarkson) to play a true road game at Bentley.
 
Scouting the Falcons
Bentley welcomes back many familiar faces from last year's team, including leading scorer Max French. French finished in a tie for fourteenth in the country in points last year with 23 goals and 24 assists. Forward Andrew Gladiuk, who scored four goals against the Huskies in his collegiate career, has since graduated and left a hole on the top line that the Falcons hope one of their highly-touted freshmen like Andrew Desbiens can fill. On the back end, Tanner Jago enters his sophomore year as one of the elite offensive defenders in Atlantic Hockey.
 
The Falcons come into the weekend with a 1-0-0 record after winning their season-opening game at New Hampshire, 5-1. French racked up three assists in the win over the Wildcats. In their collegiate debuts, freshmen Desbiens and Dino Balsamo each found the back of the net. Goaltender Jayson Argue picked up the win, making 32 saves on 33 shots.
 
Road warriors
Northeastern will play their third straight road game on Friday at Bentley. It marks the first time since 2008-09 that the Huskies will begin the season with three straight road games.
 
Born in the USA
This year's Northeastern roster features 25 student-athletes who hail from the United States, as well as three from Canada. It is the most Americans that the Huskies have had on their roster since the 2006-07 season, when they had 29. Across college hockey, 66% of Division I are from the United States, 30% from Canada and 4% from Europe (82 players from 13 countries).
 
Returning firepower
With 19 letterwinners back from a season ago, the Huskies won't be at a shortage for options in the attacking end of the ice. NU's returning skaters combined for 106 goals and 168 assists during the 2015-16 season. Their 274 points, which was 73% or NU's offensive output in 2015-16, was more than 31 teams compiled in total last year.
 
Northeastern's 106 returning goals are the most in the nation, while its 274 returning points are second in the country and tops in Hockey East.
 
Individually, Zach Aston-Reese and Nolan Stevens are among the top returning point scorers in the nation after putting up 43 and 42 points last season, respectively. Aston-Reese is tied with three other skaters for seventh in the nation, while Stevens trails close behind in 10th. The duos makes Northeastern one of just three schools with multiple skaters on the list, joining 2016 Frozen Four participants Boston College and North Dakota.
 
Fresh faces
Northeastern fans will notice a lot of new faces on the ice for the Huskies in 2016-17 as the program welcomed nine newcomers to the squad this summer. Garrett Cecere, Jeremy Davies, Matt Filipe, Nick Fiorentino, Curtis Frye, Grant Jozefek, Biagio Lerario, John Picking and Ryan Shea comprise the 2016-17 recruiting class.
 
"This incoming class is a class that I think can continue what our senior class started four years ago, which each subsequent incoming class has been able to do, which has provided us with a lot of hard work," said Madigan. "They're passionate, productive and smart players, and they want to be here at Northeastern. We're excited to welcome there here to Northeastern this fall."
 
ZAR in the clutch
Senior assistant captain Zach Aston-Reese has been one of Northeastern's go-to players during his career on Huntington Avenue. He entered his final season with 10 career game-winning goals, which ranks fourth in the nation among active players.
 
The Ruck stops here
After winning the starting job midway through last season, sophomore goaltender Ryan Ruck left little doubt as to who would start between the pipes for the Huskies to begin 2016-17. As a freshman a year ago, the Coto de Caza, Calif. native went 20-11-4 in 35 starts, the third most single-season victories in team history and a team record 2.36 GAA.
 
He also cracked NU's single-season record book in games played (37; tied for third), save percentage (.909; ninth), minutes (2185:24; fifth) and shutouts (two; tied for seventh). After starting his career 0-9-2 between the pipes, he responded by going 20-2-4 in his final 26 starts and already holds the Hockey East record for career postseason victories (six).
 
Last Friday, Ruck was named to the Mike Richter Award Watch List, which is awarded annually to the top goaltender in NCAA Division I ice hockey. He is one of 20 netminders on the list.
 
Shots, shots, shots
Northeastern didn't have trouble putting the puck on net during its series at Quinnipiac, averaging 32.00 shots per game. NU is one of 18 teams in the nation with an average of 32 shots in its first two games.
 
Poll position
The Huskies dropped one spot to No. 16 in the USCHO.com poll (16th) while remaining at No. 14 in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll. NU was ranked 15th in the USCHO.com preseason poll, the highest that Northeastern's been ranked to start a season since the poll began in 1997.
 
Recapping Saturday's loss at Quinnipiac
A pair of goals from Tim Clifton and 32 stops from Chris Truehl proved to be the difference as No. 2/2 Quinnipiac skated to a 5-2 victory against Northeastern on Saturday night at the TD Bank Sports Center.
 
The Bobcats netted the game's first three goals through the first 30 minutes of play before Adam Gaudette cut the deficit to 3-1 with his first goal of the year late in the second period. Northeastern continued to fight, but couldn't close the gap as QU extended its lead to 4-1 early in the third period. A goal from Zach Aston-Reese on the power play, his first of the season, brought the Huskies back within two, but Clifton put the game out of reach with an empty net goal late in regulation.
 
Special teams was a factor throughout the evening as the teams combined for 48 penalty minutes and 18 power play opportunities, with Quinnipiac going 2-of-8 and Northeastern 1-of-10.
 
Northeastern outshot Quinnipiac for the second straight night, peppering Truehl with 34 shots, while Ryan Ruck made 23 saves on 28 shots on the night. After winning just 33% of its draws on Friday, Northeastern rebounded by taking 45-of-81 face-offs on Saturday night, including a 16-of-24 performance from Gaudette.
 
Five Huskies crack NHL opening night rosters
NHL hockey is back, and Northeastern fans will be able to see four familiar faces suit up for their teams as the 2016-17 gets underway this week: Matt Benning (Edmonton), Anthony Bitetto (Nashville), Josh Manson (Anaheim) and Jamie Oleksiak (Dallas). In addition, Joe Vitale (Detroit) is out for the season after suffering a concussion last year.
 
They are five of a record 69 players from Hockey East who will start the 2016-2017 season on NHL rosters.
 
The road ahead
Northeastern continues non-conference play next weekend when the Huskies host Arizona State for a pair of games at Matthews Arena, beginning on Friday night at 7 p.m. Arizona State is in its first full season at the Division I level.