ROCHESTER, N.Y. - RIT welcomes Bentley to the Gene Polisseni Center for a two-game Atlantic Hockey series this Friday (7:05 p.m. and Saturday (5:05 p.m.). Already of assured no lower than a second-place finish in the conference standings with two weekends to go in the regular season, The Tigers look to bounce back from a pair of losses at Niagara last week, while the Falcons look to climb out of last place to keep their postseason hopes alive.
 
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Perched atop the Atlantic Hockey standings with 48 points, the Tigers would wrap up the top overall seed with six points over its final four games, while their magic number would shrink should second-place Sacred Heart (42 points) falter during its final two series (at Canisius, home-and-home vs. AIC). The top-four seeds will host a best-of-three quarterfinal series (Mar. 3-5), while the top overall seed receives home-ice advantage throughout the postseason.
 
BENTLEY GAMES TO BE CARRIED BY NESN+
Both of this weekend's games versus Bentley are scheduled to be broadcast on New England Sports Network Plus (NESN+). The network home of New England sports, including the NHL Boston Bruins and MLB Boston Red Sox, NESN+ is included in multiple local cable providers throughout Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont and certain DirecTV packages. Fans can also stream NESN+ on fuboTV and DirecTV Stream.
 
TIGER TRACKS
Owners of a 1-4 record with two OT losses over its last five games, RIT dropped both ends of a two-game set at Niagara last weekend, 4-1 and 4-3, for its first three-game losing streak of the season.

• RIT dug out of a 2-0 first-period hole on Friday to knot the game, 3-3, midway through the third period, but the Purple Eagles found the game-winner with 30.7 seconds left in regulation to seal the win. Senior defenseman Gianfranco Cassaro scored the game-tying tally with his 10th goal of the season, while senior forward Elijah Gonsalves logged his 25th career goal and graduate student forward Kobe Walker scored his ninth this winter.
• Gonsalves tied Saturday's game, 1-1, with 12:09 on the first-period clock, but Niagara retook the lead 30 seconds into the second period and scored a pair of 4-on-4 goals during a 1:03 stretch midway through the third period en route to a sweep of the teams' lone series of the season.
• RIT swept two road meetings with Bentley earlier this season, shutting out the Falcons, 3-0, before taking a 3-1 decision the following night (Jan. 6-7). Sophomore goaltender Tommy Scarfone was named the Atlantic Hockey Goaltender of the Week after stopping 58 of 59 shots during the series, including 29 in the opener for his first shutout of the season. Sophomore forward Tyler Mahan had a goal in each game to lead the offense. 

POLL WATCHING
RIT fell out of the top-25 for the first time in five weeks, after reaching as high as No. 18 in both the USCHO.com and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine polls. The Tigers received their first USCHO ranking earlier this season since finishing No. 20 in the final 2016 poll after winning their second-straight Atlantic Hockey Championship. RIT also had not appeared in the USA Today poll since finishing No. 10 in the final 2010 rankings following its first Atlantic Hockey Championship and a run to the Frozen Four.
 
POWER OUTAGE
RIT owned one of the nation's top power plays the first three months of the season, notching 19 extra-man tallies on 62 attempts (.306) during 16 games prior to winter break. However, the Tigers have only converted two power play chances on 44 attempts (.045) over its last 14 games, including an 0-for-24 streak their last seven contests.  
 
IN THE RANKINGS
The Tigers entered the week tied for 14th nationally and first in Atlantic Hockey with 3.33 goals per game.  RIT was also 14th in the country and tops in the conference with a +0.67 scoring margin and 23rd nationally in scoring defense (2.67 goals per game). The Tigers' penalty kill ranked seventh (.855) despite facing 145 opponent power play attempts - the most in the nation.
 
SILKY WILKIE
Sophomore forward Carter Wilkie leads Atlantic Hockey and is tied for 15th nationally with 33 points while sitting 22nd nationally and first in the conference with 1.10 points per game. He is also tied for fourth in the league with 13 goals and is fourth with 20 assists.

• Wilkie entered the week eighth nationally with 355 faceoff wins while winning 53.5 percent of his draws. He is only the 11th player in RIT's Division I era to score 30 points in multiple seasons after totaling 30 points (13 goals/17 assists) as a first-year. 
• Wilkie is a two-time Atlantic Hockey Player of the Month (November, January) and four-time Player of the Week honoree this season. 

SAINT TOMMY
Sophomore goaltender Tommy Scarfone was named the Atlantic Hockey Goaltender of the Month for January. Finishing 5-1-1 in seven starts, including a pair of Atlantic Hockey shutouts, he compiled a .930 save percentage and a 1.83 GAA. In his six conference starts, he was 4-1-1 with a .926 save percentage and a 1.96 goals against average.

• A three-time AHA Goaltender of the Week this season, Scarfone is tied for seventh nationally in wins with a 17-8-1 record, including a 14-5-1 mark with a 2.27 goals against average and a .920 save percentage in 20 conference games this year.
• Leading Atlantic Hockey with 27.65 saves per game, he stopped a career-high 41 shots in RIT's 6-1 setback to No. 5 Penn State (Dec. 30) before tying his fourth-highest total with 37 the following night for another of his nine games with at least 30 saves this season. 

ROOKIE COOKIES
First-year forward Tyler Mahan is second for RIT and is tied for 13th in the country among first-year players with 11 goals. He also entered the week in a five-way tie for first nationally with three short-handed tallies. Mahan had a season-high six-game point streak snapped in the 1-0 victory over Mercyhurst (Jan. 14) after totaling five goals and three assists during the run.
 
BEST DEFENSE IS GOOD OFFENSE
Senior Gianfranco Cassaro and junior Aiden Hansen-Bukata rank among the nation's highest scoring defensive pairings this season.

• Hansen-Bukata is 12th in the country with 0.82 assists per game and sits second in Atlantic Hockey with 23 assists. He's also tied for seventh in the league with 25 points. He registered three assists three times this season, including the 8-5 win over Union (Oct. 15), the 4-3 win at AIC (Nov. 5) and the 10-4 win at Canisius (Dec. 3).
• Cassaro is 10th in Atlantic Hockey with 24 points (10G/14A). The Atlantic Hockey October Player of the Month and three-time Player of the Week scored a career-high four points on a goal and three assists during the Tigers' 10-4 win at Canisius (Dec. 3). He also scored two goals on two occasions, including a three-point night in the 5-2 win over Holy Cross (Oct. 28). 

BLOCK PARTY
Graduate student defenseman Spencer Berry entered the week tied for seventh nationally and first in Atlantic Hockey with 60 blocked shots this season. He knocked down a career-high seven shots in the 5-3 win over Princeton (Nov. 25) and has logged at least one block in all but two games this season, including four on four occasions - the latest in the 5-3 win at Arizona State (Jan. 21).
 
ABOUT BENTLEY
Bentley looks to keep its Atlantic Hockey playoff hopes alive after a 4-3 win and a 2-2 tie (SO L, 2-1) during last week's home-and-home with AIC (Feb. 8, 10). Firsty-year forward Nicholas Niemo leads the Falcons with 19 points (6G/13A), while senior forward Lucas Vanroboys is second with 17 points (4G/13A), a goal and an assist in the AIC victory. Graduate student forward Dylan Pitera and sophomore forward Harrison Scott are tied for the team lead with seven goals apiece, followed by three players with six goals each. Junior Nicholas Grabko and first-year Connor Hasley have each started 16 games in goal. Grabko is 5-11-0 with a 3.69 GAA and a .884 save percentage while Hasley is 4-8-2 with a .911 save percentage and a 2.92 GAA.