Air Force (6-5-2) at Colorado College (3-8)
Saturday, 6 p.m. at World Arena
Radio: 1300 AM, GoAirForceFalcons.com
Team updates: The Falcons fell to No. 2 Denver, Colorado College’s opponent next weekend, 4-3, in overtime Friday. Air Force rallied three times to tie the score, and connected twice on the power play. Defenseman Phil Boje and forwards Brady Tomlak and Erik Baskin scored for AFA, and Billy Christopoulos made 39 saves. … The Tigers lost to former WCHA rival Wisconsin, 2-1. Mason Bergh scored for CC, and freshman goalie Alex Leclerc made 31 saves.
Offense
CC is scoring more this season, averaging 2.55 goals per game, than last. Bergh’s five goals and seven points lead the Tigers. Freshmen forwards Alex Berardinelli and Branden Makara each have six points, as do junior defenseman Teemu Kivihalme and sophomore forward Trey Bradley. Freshman forward Nick Halloran has four goals, including a team-high three on the power play. …
AFA consistently is getting contributions from up and down its lineup. Boje, a junior, has a team-high five goals (tied with forward Jordan Himley) and 11 points. Sophomore forward Matt Serratore returned from an upper-body injury Friday and has 10 points. Fellow sophomore forwards Evan Giesler and Kyle Haak each have nine. Defenseman Dan Bailey has three goals.
Defense
This has been a trouble spot for the Tigers. CC allows 4.18 goals per game. Leclerc (1-6, 4.71 gaa, .837) has had the lion’s share of the work in net as sophomore Jacob Nehama recovers from a knee injury. Senior Derek Shatzer (1-0, 2.35, .923) has played very well in spot duty. …
The Falcons have allowed 3.4 goals per game, and though Christopoulos is 0-3-1 with a 3.48 gaa and an .897 save percentage, he has played very well against ranked NCHC opponents Denver and Western Michigan the past two weekends. It will be interesting to see if he starts tonight. Fellow sophomore Shane Starrett is 6-2-1 with a 2.89 and .910 and could get the call tonight. He generally had been solid before a four-goal first period last Friday at WMU.
Follow @AFAFlightPath for in-game and post-game updates
Special teams
The Tigers’ power play connects 13.6 percent of the time, while their penalty kill falls into the needs improvement category (75 percent). …
The Falcons’ PP hits at almost 16 percent and was very good Friday against DU, connecting twice. Their PK has been strong all season, and even though its dipped to 87 percent effectiveness, consider the caliber of completion they’ve played in the past month (Army, RIT, WMU and Denver).