Not only was this 13 lucky but it vividly told the story of the bigger picture for Air Force right now.

When the Falcons commit to playing team defense they are pretty tough to beat, even with three of their best players out due to injury and illness, and that was the case Saturday when they knocked off Bentley for the second night in a row, 4-1, to extend their winning streak to five games.

“We gave up the first goal. You could tell they came with a sense of urgency,” Air Force coach Frank Serratore said. “We worked our way through that. We’ve had a lot of them but that’s as good of a three-period performance as we’ve had.”

In the process, Air Force allowed just 13 shots on goal against sophomore goaltender Zach LaRocque and won without scoring the first goal for the first time during the streak.

This came on the heels of Friday’s victory, in which the Falcons allowed just 18 shots in LaRocque’s first NCAA start.

No shot zone

Simply put, the defense didn’t rest.

“Both nights my boys were blocking a lot of shots, so that’s huge,” LaRocque said. “The boys in general played two really good games, so props to them.”

And it was a collective effort. Not only did the defenseman retrieve pucks quickly but they made quick, smart exits and covered the slot like a blanket. The Air Force forwards rarely gave their counterparts an easy entry.

“The last four games we’ve been really good in the defensive zone,” said junior forward Matt Pulver, who scored what proved to be the winning goal midway through the second period. “I think it starts in the neutral zone, making them have tough entries or making them dump it in every time. Defensively, we’re just picking up our guys and communicating really well. I think it’s helped us a lot.”

Aside from Brendan Hamblet‘s goal with 3:11 left in the first Bentley (2-6-1, 2-4-1 AHC) didn’t get a lot of clean looks.

“We didn’t give them a lot,” Serratore added. “How many quality chances did we give them, two or three? There weren’t many.

“Zach was sharp in there. You could tell he was dialed in. One of the things he did was he came out and played 50-50 pucks, didn’t hesitate and cleared them himself. Give him credit.”

All for one

The win also came with a rediscovered feature you can set your watch to – offensive balance.

Three lines and the power play accounted for Air Force’s four goals, and nine different players had a point.

Just 1:53 after Bentley scored, Evan Giesler knotted the score on a Giesler-like effort on the power play. Walker Sommer‘s shot from inside the circle to the right of Aidan Pelino (28 saves) bounced toward the Bentley goalie’s glove. Giesler pounced and banged the puck into the net with 1:16 to go in the first.

On either side of that goal, Pulver took penalties – two of the 15 called in the game – seven on AFA. After a brief period of going to the box and feeling shame, the junior took matters into his own hands 8:42 into the second.

He captured a loose puck in the neutral zone and was off to the races.

“I was sitting in the box and no one wants to be sitting the box watching their team kill penalties,” he said. “I knew I had to help the team out, and I was able to cut middle and get a lucky goal.

“I tried to fake the shot and move the defenseman and go to the forehand, and I think the goalie overcommitted.”

The left to right play beat Pelino high to the glove side and that was that.

Freshman Kieran Durgan added one insurance goal when he knocked a rebound of Jake Levin‘s point shot in 5:35 into the third and senior Kyle Haak got another into the empty net with 52 seconds left.

“I’m very impressed with our game right now when you consider the guys we have out of the lineup right now I couldn’t be more proud of this group,” Serratore said.

Notes

Senior center Evan Feno, who led the Falcons in goals with five after scoring two on Friday, missed the game because of a lower-body injury. … Junior center Erich Jaeger, who had not played since the first game of the season because of a lower-body injury, returned to the lineup … Senior goaltender Billy Christopoulos missed his second game in a row because of an illness. He had started 51 consecutive games over the past two seasons. … Senior co-captain Matt Serratore missed his seventh game in a row.

Air Force’s three stars

1. Matt Pulver. The winning goal and a monstrous night on the penalty kill.
2. Zach LaRocque. Less work but an even stronger game than Friday’s win.
3. Jake Levin. The sophomore got another assist, giving him five in the past four games, and played a solid defensive game.

Up next

The Falcons head to AIC in Springfield, Mass., for a pair of Atlantic Hockey matinees on Friday (12:05 p.m.) and Saturday (11:05 a.m.). The Yellowjackets share a rink with the American Hockey League’s Springfield Thunderbirds, who have home games both nights. AIC was sweep at RIT this weekend, 2-1 and 5-2.

©First Line Editorial 2017-18