Friday’s game checked quite a few necessary boxes for Air Force in no particular order.

• Power-play goal? Check.
• Solid goaltending? Check.
• Overcome adversity in the third period? Check.
• Rediscover Falcon hockey? In process.

The result was a 4-2 Atlantic Hockey Conference victory against Bentley that gave Air Force (2-7, 2-3 AHC) its second win in a row. Sophomore goaltender Alex Schilling made 24 saves for his second victory in as many career starts.

Just as it did last Saturday in winning its first game at Sacred Heart, Air Force received a goal from its defense, and another from captain Matt Pulver, his career-high fifth.

“We showed a lot of substance as a team,” coach Frank Serratore said.

Peaking early

The Falcons took a 2-0 lead into the third period thanks to Pulver’s goal and a power-play marker by defenseman Jake Levin. Levin’s tally – with 6:39 to play in the second period – was only the second power-play goal in 38 tries this season for Air Force.

“I saw an opening, a lane to the net. We hadn’t had a whole lot going for us early in that power play,” Levin said. “I just wanted to get the puck on the net.

“We’ve struggled (on the power play) but we’re finding our rhythm lately, so this is something we can build off of.”

Levin’s shoot-first mentality is something that Serratore would like to see more of.

“Our power play stinks right now because we’re too cute,” the coach said. “We have to attack on the power play.”

Pulver’s goal came 3:31 into the first period. Kieran Durgan controlled the puck in the left corner and found some open space below the goal line. He fed Pulver on the inside of the left circle and the senior wasted no time snapping his career-high fifth goal past Aidan Pelino (33 saves).

The play was reviewed after initially being ruled no goal.

“Durgs was working them down low, I think he heard me in the slot and found me,” Pulver said. “I threw it blindly on net and it went in. That was almost a heart-breaker.”

Gut check

A carryover penalty to start the third period, and another 39 seconds in opened the door for Bentley to tie the score in just 2:09. Will Garin scored from the left point on a 5-on-3, then Michael Zuffante chipped the puck into an empty net after Ryner Gorowski appeared to chip it free from Schilling’s pads.

The sequence highlighted the differences between the teams, Serratore said.

“When we play with our legs and our heart, we’re good,” the coach said. “Bentley scored on their skill on the power play.

“We have to realize what we are, and we have to play a 200-foot game.”

The Bentley outburst seemed to revitalize Air Force, which retook the lead on freshman Willie Reim‘s first NCAA goal, a crash-the-net, deposit-the-rebound job roughly four minutes later on a play initiated by defenseman Carter Ekberg.

A potential second Pulver goal, with 6:53 remaining, was disallowed after officials ruled and an Air Force player hit Pelino with his stick.

Air Force then had to kill off a penalty almost immediately afterward.

“The one that was disallowed was tough, and then we got a penalty right after, but we stayed calm,” Pulver said. “We didn’t feel any pressure.”

Slamming the door

Schilling, meanwhile, was up to the task time and again all game long, stopping shots through traffic, breakaways and Bentley’s quick drive-bys through the slot.

“He’s been our foundation the last two games,” Serratore said. “The reason horrible things didn’t happen was because Schills was there.”

Or as Pulver concluded: “He played really, really well in that Saturday game at Sacred Heart, and tonight he was unbelievable.”

One of the biggest check marks in a game full of them.

Notable

Senior forward Joe Tyran left the game in the closing seconds of the first period after absorbing a high hit from Jake Kauppila, who was assessed a five-minute major and a game misconduct for head contact. … Senior Brady Tomlak added an empty-net goal for Air Force with 9 seconds left. … Junior forward Marshall Bowery returned to the lineup after missing last weekend’s games at Sacred Heart due to an undisclosed injury. … Senior center Erich Jaeger was out Friday because of the flu. … The second two D pairs were shuffled, with sophomore Carter Ekberg playing with junior Zach Mirageas, and freshmen Brandon Koch and Andrew Kruse were together.

©First Line Editorial 2019