| NIAGARA UNIVERSITY MEN'S HOCKEY |
| Niagara Purple Eagles (4-8-2, 4-4-2-1 Atlantic Hockey) at AIC Yellow Jackets (7-8-0, 7-4-0-0 Atlantic Hockey) |
| GAME 15 |
Friday, December 13 | 1:05 PM |
| GAME 16 |
Saturday, December 14 | 1:05 PM |
| LOCATION |
MassMutual Center – Springfield, MA |
| LIVE VIDEO |
flohockey.tv |
| LIVE AUDIO |
PurpleEagles.com |
| RADIO |
1340 AM / 105.3 FM WLVL |
| GAME NOTES |
Niagara |
| LIVE STATS |
Sidearm Stats |
Coming off a weekend with no action, a rested Niagara men's hockey team returns to the ice with a pair of afternoon games at AIC this Friday and Saturday. If the Purple Eagles can manage to sweep the Yellow Jackets, the two schools will be tied in the Atlantic Hockey standings heading into the winter intermission.
Matchup Preview
- This weekend's series is the first meeting between Niagara and AIC since last year's Atlantic Hockey championship game. The Purple Eagles took the top-seeded, 19th-ranked Yellow Jackets into overtime before ultimately falling, 3-2.
- In four regular season meetings last season, Niagara was 1-3-0 against AIC. The Purple Eagles' lone victory was a dramatic, 4-3 overtime win in its season opener on October 12, 2018. The Yellow Jackets bounced back to split the next night, then swept the series on home ice on February 1-2, 2019.
- The Yellow Jackets have won 10 of the last 13 meetings (10-2-1) with Niagara. That includes a 6-1-1 mark in Springfield since AIC made the MassMutual Center its new home prior to the 2016-17 season.
- These two teams are 14-14-1 all-time against one another.
Niagara Notes
- The Purple Eagles are unbeaten in their last five outings (4-0-1), all of which have been against league opponents. Most recently, the team took four points from Air Force on November 29-30.
- Goaltender Brian Wilson has been a force in the crease during Niagara's unbeaten stretch. The junior has given up just eight goals in 309:06 for a goals-against average of 1.55. He has also made 146 saves for a save percentage of .948. Both marks rank second in Atlantic Hockey over that span.
- Ryan Naumovski's 1.60 points per game (eight assists) since November 16 leads the league. The 1.60 assists per game leads all Division I skaters.
- Naumovski wrapped up November leading the the conference in assists (11) and tied for the league lead in points (11 A).
Milestone Watch
- Kris Spriggs
- Is two games away from playing in his 100th career contest.
- Noah Delmas
- With 19 goals in his career, Delmas is one away from tying Chris Mackenzie ('00) for the program record for most goals by a defenseman (20).
- With 72 assists in his career, Delmas is five away from tying Mackenzie for the program record for most assists by a defenseman (77).
- With 91 pointsin his career, Delmas is one away from tying Mackenzie for the program record for most points by a defenseman (97).
- Delmas is also nine points shy of becoming the first Niagara defenseman to reach 100 career points.
Scouting The Yellow Jackets
- AIC has won four of its last five AHA contests, including sweeps of RIT and Canisius. Their most recent outing was a 2-1 setback at Princeton on Tuesday, December 10.
- Blake Christensen's 15 points (4 G, 11 A) are a team high.
- Tobias Fladeby's eight goals are the most among Yellow Jackets skaters.
- Zackarias Skog has been the team's primary goaltender this season, playing in 13 games for a total of 726:26. The senior owns a conference-best 1.98 goals-against average and a .923 save percentage.
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