Hockey is finally back for the Bentley Falcons. To kick the season off, the Falcons traveled to the historic Matthews Arena to face-off against the Northeastern Huskies in their home opener. Both fanbases brought the energy as 4,208 fans piled in, creating an electric atmosphere. However, for the Falcons, there was a small problem; Northeastern is a big, Hockey East school. They face off against the likes of BU, BC, and other Hockey East powerhouses packed with NHL prospects on a regular basis. The result was a 4-0 spanking, and the score suggests the game was closer than it actually was. For that, we have our goaltender Nicholas Grabko to thank, who was outstanding in the game, making 32 saves on 35 shots. From my perspective in the student section, a lot of those shots were high percentage scoring chances too. That’s not to say that our guys didn’t try hard in front of him – they worked their tails off by being physical, keeping sticks in passing lanes, and by killing off four penalties – it’s just that it’s hard to play against a team that has eight players already drafted into the NHL. On offense, we did have 29 shots on net, but outside of a couple of semi-threatening chances, most of them were from the perimeter. To us, this game was about moral victories; the traveling Bentley students outcheered the massive Northeastern crowd at times. Unfortunately for the Bentley players, they had to sit on the loss for nearly a week.
On Friday, October 8, the Falcons had a chance to redeem themselves and pick up a win against the Ohio State Buckeyes at home. The Falcons started off hot with a goal 1:35 into the game, on a screwed-up handoff behind the net by Buckeyes’ goaltender Ryan Snowden. Collin Rutherford was at the right spot at the right time to break up the handoff and put in his first ever goal as a Falcon. From then on out, the remainder of the period was a seesaw battle as both teams were trying to find their legs. The Buckeyes tested Grabko from everywhere, peppering him with 18 shots. Grabko answered all of them. The second period started off just like the first: with an early Falcons goal, but this time, only 28 seconds in. Inside the offensive zone, Brendan Hamblet put on a hesitation move to the outside, drawing the attention of all five Buckeyes players, then firing a centering pass to Cooper Connell who cashed in for his first as a Falcon. All Snowden could do was sit down and wave at the puck with his blocker. Unfortunately, the Buckeyes responded very quickly – only 18 seconds later. The goal scorer was Mason Lohrei, who happens to be one of the Boston Bruins’ best defensive prospects. After those quick goals, the remainder of the second period was rather sleepy. Outside of two huge saves by Grabko before and after the second media timeout, the defense tightened up for both teams. Late in the period, Falcons’ Lucas Vanroboys attempted to wake up the crowd with what would’ve been a bone-crunching hit behind the Buckeyes’ net, but the Buckeyes’ player mostly evaded the check and ended up getting clipped by Vanroboys, who received a 2-minute minor penalty for tripping.
The third period was the Nicholas Grabko show. Desperation was setting in on the Buckeyes, as they generated dangerous chances one after another. Early in the period, Grabko saved a fluttering shot from the left wing, but lost track of the puck in the process. Somehow it leaked loose at the side of the net where the Buckeyes picked it up, skated it around the net, and fed a centering pass right into the slot. Grabko exploded off his line and answered the shooter with a beautiful save. However, Grabko wasn’t done there; he cleaned up his power-play unit’s mess by saving a huge 2 on 1 chance. He also saved a couple of highly dangerous one timer chances, one of which was a perfectly executed cross crease pass by the Buckeyes. He was definitely getting the Buckeyes frustrated as they stared up into the heavens after their misses. And of course, what kind of game is it without any drama? Late in the 3rd period, the Buckeyes seemingly tied the game, but of course the referees missed the offside call that led to the goal. A coaches challenge overturned the onside call, thus nullifying the goal.
In the waning moments of the game, Vanroboys killed off any chances the Buckeyes had of scoring the tying goal by launching a diving poke-check to clear the puck out of the defensive zone during the penalty kill. His heroic effort and Grabko’s 34 saves sealed the game, earning Bentley their first win of the year.
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