Falcons, meet the Falcons. Bentley enters this weekend’s Atlantic Hockey series at Cadet Arena with a 1-1-1 record this season, all vs. Hockey East competition. It routed New Hampshire and tied No. 16 Northeastern before Northeastern toppled it 7-3 in the rematch Saturday. Bentley and Air Force split their series in Colorado Springs in January, with Air Force winning the opener, 3-2, and Bentley taking the second game, 5-3. Atlantic Hockey coaches picked Bentley eighth in the conference preseason poll. Air Force was tabbed to finish second.

Offense

The player to watch is senior captain Max French, who was selected one of USCHO.com’s 10 best returning forwards this season, and with good reason. He had 47 points (23 goals) a year ago. He has a team-high five points (all assists) thus far. French is one of just four upperclassmen with points so far on a team that dresses a heavily freshman-sophomore lineup. He and Kyle Schmidt anchor the top line. Sophomore defenseman Alexey Solovyev leads the team with three goals, and he and freshman blue liner Connor Brassard are scoring threats. Bentley has averaged just 20.7 shots per game in its first three contests.

Defense

Junior goaltender Jayson Argue has started all three games for Bentley. His save percentage of .913 is solid but his goals-against average stands at 3.10. Four of Bentley’s top-six defensemen are freshmen or sophomores, with junior Chris Buchanan and senior Charlie Donners the exceptions, and it has allowed an average of 35.3 shots per game.

Special teams

The power play has been powerless for Bentley, which has connected just once in 14 tries (7.1 percent). It has killed of 24 of 28 penalties (85.7 percent) so far, and that’s a good thing because it’s taking more than nine minors per game. This should be an area Air Force can exploit if Bentley’s discipline is lacking.

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