Air Force at No. 10 CC hockey: Three things to watch

1. PLAY WELL TO BUILD CONFIDENCE

The Falcons, second in the Atlantic Hockey Association, face a tough four-game league stretch after this weekend. A good showing would spark Air Force headed into a road series at first-place Rochester Institute of Technology.

“If we’re competitive with CC and DU, we can go into those final four games knowing we can get it done versus Atlantic Hockey teams,” Falcons coach Frank Serratore said.

2. ADJUST TO THE OLYMPIC SHEET AT WORLD ARENA

The wider ice surface will test Air Force’s ability to defend against Colorado College’s speed, which puts more pressure on the nation’s No. 2 penalty kill (119-of-133, 89.5 percent).

“You can’t be as aggressive with all that ice around you,” Serratore said. “You have to approach it differently.”

3. ROLE PLAYERS MUST PERFORM WELL

Air Force can little afford to have the deeper Western Collegiate Hockey Association squads take advantage of the third and fourth line forwards and the fifth and sixth defensemen. Stephen Carew moved back to defense last week to add speed in the corps.

“We’ll find out if we’re a deep team or not,” Serratore said.