Air Force hosts Canisius, Jan. 26-27

THE GAMES
Game 27: Friday, Jan. 26, 7:05 pm MT, vs. Canisius, Cadet Ice Arena
Game 28: Saturday, Jan. 27, 5:05 pm MT, vs. Canisius, Cadet Ice Arena

BROADCAST INFORMATION
Television:............... Friday: None; Saturday: Altitude
Stream: .................. FloHockey
Radio:..................... XtraSports 1300 AM (Jay Ritchie, Dave Toller); xtrasports1300.com
Live Stats................ StatBroadcast

THE BREAKDOWN
Quick Facts: ........... Air Force                                          Canisius
Record: .................. 13-12-1, 10-5-1 AHA                    8-14-3, 7-7-3 AHA
Streak: ................... W 2                                                  L 2
Last Game/Series: .. Sweep at Army (8-1, 7-6)            Swept by Niagara (4-2, 6-4)

THE SERIES
Overall: .................. AF Leads 28-19-2
Last Meeting: ......... Canisius took four points with 4-1 win and 2-2 tie (AF won shootout)

One Timers
* The 15 goals against Army are the most ever scored in a series against the Black Knights and tie as the most ever in an AHA series. The series marked the fourth in school history with 15 goals in a AHA regular-season series. Most recently, AF scored 15 against AIC in the 2011-12 season (8-3 and 7-3).
* The sweep at Army marked the first time AF has ever beaten Army four times in the regular season
* AF's eight goals at Army, Jan. 19, are a season high and tie as the most since the Falcons beat AIC, 10-3, March 10, 2015.
* AF has scored six or more goals in four of the last five games
* Air Force has scored a power-play goal in six of the last seven games.
* The Falcons' 25 power-play goals this season lead the AHA and are fifth in the nation.
* The Falcons have blocked 110 shots the last six games.
* Air Force is tied for the national lead with seven short-handed goals. Air Force is 4-0 this season when scoring a shortie
* Guy Blessing had a career-high 40 saves in the win over Army, Jan. 19. Over his last 12 games, he has a 2.37 GAA and a .912 saves percentage.
* The Falcons are 13-4-0 when scoring three or more goals and 0-8-1 when scoring two or less.
* Air Force is 9-3-0 when scoring the first goal of the game
* Air Force leads the AHA and is fifth in the nation with a .548 faceoff winning percentage.
* Air Force's penalty kill (84.3) is fourth in the AHA and 12th in the nation.
* Clayton Cosentino won 37 faceoffs in the Army series and leads the nation with 407 faceoff wins. Among players who have taken more than 550, he leads the nation in winning percentage at .607.
* Chris Hedden leads the league with 22 assists and 29 points.
* Luke Rowe is second in the league in assists (21) and tied for second in points (26)
* Will Gavin is second in the league in goals (13) and tied for second in points (26)
* Austin Schwartz ranks second in the nation with three SHG this season
* Air Force is only team in the nation with two defensemen in the top 10 in the nation for points by a defenseman (Hedden, 3rd with 29 and Rowe, 5th with 26).

Scouting the Griffs
Canisius is 8-14-3 overall and 7-7-3 for eighth place (23 points) in Atlantic Hockey. The Griffs are 3-3 in their last six games after getting swept by Niagara (4-2 and 6-4). Freshman Matteo Giampa leads the league with 15 goals and is fifth in the league with 25 points. Randy Hernandez and Max Kouznetsov each have 11 assists and 17 points. Senior goalie David Fessenden has started 16 of the 25 games, including two of the last three. He started both games against Air Force in November. On the season, he has a 3.13 GAA and a .896 saves percentage.

Series vs. Canisius
Air Force and Canisius have played 59 times and the Falcons hold a 28-19-12 lead in the series that began in 2006. Earlier this season, Canisius took four of the six points with a 3-1 win in game one and a 2-2 overtime tie (AF won shootout). In the last eight games, each team has won three with two ties. In games played at Air Force, the Falcons lead 16-10-6. The teams split two games last season at the Cadet Ice Arena. AF is 4-1-1 against the Grifs in the last six at the Academy. Six of the last seven in the series have been decided by two goals or less.

Players Mentioned

Guy Blessing

Clayton Cosentino

Will Gavin

Chris Hedden

Luke Rowe

Austin Schwartz

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