WEST POINT, N.Y. – Coming off a 2-2 tie with RIT on Saturday, the Army hockey team has a quick turnaround with a 7:05 p.m. Tuesday meeting with UConn at the XL Center in Hartford.
THIS WEEK: MIDWEEK MATCHUP WITH UCONN
The Black Knights will head out on the road for a Tuesday night matchup with old Atlantic Hockey rival Connecticut. It is the lone game of the week for Army as it will have 10 days between games after Tuesday. The Huskies were also in action at the Barclays Center when the Black Knights played Bentley and got beat by Notre Dame in a Hockey East matchup. The Huskies are coming off two losses to UMass over the weekend in a home-and-home series. The Minutemen won both matchups by two goals to bump UConn’s losing streak up to four games heading into Tuesday night.
NEXT TIME OUT: SERIES WITH ROBERT MORRIS
The Black Knights are back at Tate Rink on Nov. 20 and 21 with Robert Morris making the trip to West Point for a pair of games. The Coloials started the season with a four-game unbeaten streak and also got a win over nationally-ranked Michigan in Ann Arbor. Robert Morris cracked into the top-20 earlier this season and was among the top teams last week. The Colonials split a weekend series with American International. The Yellow Jackets stunned them with a 3-2 win on Friday night, but Robert Morris followed up with a 7-1 defeat on Saturday. Senior Greg Gibson is the league leader in points with 16 on eight goals and eight assists. He has two power play tallies and two gamewinners.
LAST WEEK: TAKING A POINT FROM RIT
The Black Knights faced the defending Atlantic Hockey Tournament champions last weekend and were able to take one point from RIT. The Tigers shut out Army by a 4-0 score on Friday night and led 2-0 going into the third period of Saturday’s contest. The Black Knights fired back with two unanswered goals on the power play to force overtime. C.J. Reuschlein got the scoring started in the third period with his first of the season coming on the power play with an assist to Tyler Pham. It was the first point of the year for Pham, who was Army’s leading scorer a season ago. Mike Preston tied the game with 5:02 left on a freaky goal. Preston’s shot was stopped by Rotolo, but the puck bounced up over his head and into the back of the net. Goalie Parker Gahagen made a season high 37 saves in net to help the Black Knights earn the tie.
ON THE RADIO
Tuesday’s game will be live on the radio in the Hudson Valley on 1260 WBNR-AM in Beacon and 1430 WLNA-AM in Peekskill. Nikolai Busko will have the call on Tuesday. Busko is set to call 30 regular season games that are on the radio for the Black Knights this season. Zack Daly returns as part of the broadcast crew and will do select games throughout the season. The game is also live on Knight Vision at GoArmyWestPoint.com.
POWERING THE POWER PLAY
The Black Knights have scored at least one power play goal in five of their seven games this season and are currently third in the conference in power play percentage at 20 percent. Army has scored six goals in 30 opportunities with Fidler scoring two. Both C.J. Reuschlein and Mike Preston scored on the power play on Saturday night for their first tallies of the year. Army has seven different skaters with a goal on the man advantage and has scored twice on the power play on two occasions in 2015.
SCOUTING THE HUSKIES
Connecticut enters Tuesday night’s contest with a 3-6-0 record and a 1-5-0 Hockey East mark. The Huskies are currently on a four-game winless streak after being swept by Notre Dame and UMass in back-to-back series. Their three wins have come against Alabama Huntsville, Arizona State and Boston University. Connecticut has averaged three goals a game and has given up 3.67. The Huskies are 7-for-42 on the power play for a 16.7 success rate. On the penalty kill, they have kept the opposition off the board in 26-of-32 chances for 81.2 percent.
Rookie Max Letunov is the top skater for the Huskies with 13 points on six goals and seven helpers. The Arizona Coyotes draft pick has seven of his 13 points in league play. Classmate Tage Thompson has added seven points on a team high three power play goals and four assists. Senior Patrick Kirtland is the top upperclassman with six points on two goals and four assists.
In net, junior Rob Nicholas has started eight games between the pipes and has a 3-5-0 record. He has a 3.22 goals against average and a .891 save percentage. He made 27 saves in both games against the Minutemen last weekend, but took both losses. Sophomores Steve Thulin and Tanner Creel are the backups and each has seen time in one game. Creel joined the Huskies after playing for Army in 2013-14.
SERIES HISTORY
This is the 65th meeting between UConn and Army since the first meeting back in 1969. The Black Knights lead the series by a slim 29-28-8 margin. Connecticut has closed the gap as of late with wins in five of the last six matchups, including a 6-3 win at West Point last season. Connecticut leads 13-10-2 in home games against the Black Knights. This is the first meeting between Army and UConn at the XL Center.
