So how much stuck should we put into this past weekend’s series at Cadet Arena? After all, if Air Force sweeps a Niagara team that it has owned the past three seasons, the Falcons would find themselves squarely in the middle of the pack of Atlantic Hockey. And that wouldn’t be a bad position given the rash of injuries they sustained in the first nine weeks of action.

Instead, the Falcons dropped a pair to a resurgent Purple Eagles squad and find themselves at the bottom looking up. Air Force, predicted to finish first in the league whose tournament they won a season ago, sits tied for 10th with Mercyhurst, 11 points behind the team that just swept them.

It’s not ideal, and neither is a sub-.500 record (7-8-3), but there are some signs the Falcons aren’t as far out of it as it might appear on the surface.

As the Falcons head into a four-week break, here is an analysis of the weekend that was.

Well, isn’t that special

The Falcons seem to be slowly ironing out their penalty kill after weeks of on-the-job training for several new players on it. They held Niagara to one goal in eight chances, meaning they killed at a 87.5 percent rate, up from the 80 percent rate they carried into the game. That’s good.

The power play, on the other hand went 0-for-9 and it gave up a shorthanded goal in each game, and each was a back breaker. Friday, Derian Plouffe‘s shortie came on the heels of the one Niagara power-play goal, taking a 3-2 lead to 5-2 in a 2:18 span and ending Billy Christopoulos‘ night after 30 minutes. Saturday, Nick Farmer‘s shortie came after a neutral-zone turnover little more than a minute after Air Force had tied the score at 1 and clearly had much of the momentum on its side. It was even more deflating than Friday’s because the Falcons were far more competitive Saturday.

Spin cycle

If there was a positive to take from Saturday’s loss, it’s that the Falcons answered the challenge from their coaching staff to man up and play better. Aside from a first period in which they were outshot 8-4, the Falcons carried the play, outshooting their guests 21-14 in the final two periods and drawing five penalties in the process.

Yes, they didn’t score on those chances, but their puck movement was vastly better, and a bounce here or there or getting to a loose puck a bit quicker, and Saturday’s outcome – essentially a 3-2 game were it not for two last-minute empty-netters – could have been different.

Welcome wagon

Three other positives I noted were center Tyler Ledford‘s play in his return,

freshman goaltender Zach LaRocque‘s baptism into college hockey and some strong play on the wings.

LaRocque made his NCAA debut exactly halfway through Friday’s 6-3 loss. He stopped 11 of 12 shots on goal he faced, including a couple tricky ones. He was composed in his first action for the Falcons, and though it was a small sample size, he gave some assurance he can handle himself just fine at this level.

Meanwhile, the return of Ledford was big. He helped in the circle, helped on special teams and his skating, stickhandling and hockey IQ opened up things for his wings both nights. Not surprisingly, his wings scored three of the Falcons’ five goals on the weekend – Erik Baskin and Jordan Himley on Friday, and Matt Serratore on Saturday.

The other two goals also came from wings – Evan Giesler and Trevor Stone, two players who brought all-out effort. Giesler has been on a run of late, with seven points – including four of his five goals – in the past seven games. Stone returned from an upper-body injury four games ago and has had a point in each of the two series.

Up next

The Falcons are on a break until Dec. 29, when they play host to Colorado College, and Dec. 30, when they travel to No. 1 Denver. Between now and then The Flight Path has plenty of special features cooked up for you, including more one-on-one interviews, alumni features and first-half analysis.

Follow @AFAFlightPath on Twitter, like us on Facebook and subscribe to this blog for Air Force hockey news

Copyright First Line Editorial 2017