Air Force hockey at UConn: Three things to watch

Here are three things that Atlantic Hockey Association-leading Air Force (5-5-2, 5-1-2) needs to do to be successful in its road series Friday and Saturday at UConn (2-7-1, 2-4-1).

1. Keep it up on defense

The Falcons have improved on defense and it has shown with a 3-0-2 mark in their past five league games. The better support has enabled senior goalie Andrew Volkening to get back closer to his 2008-09 form (1.70 goals against, .943 save percentage) in the past eight games (5-1-2).

2. Ignore the records

On paper, this looks like two wins for the Falcons, but the Huskies traditionally have played Air Force tough, coach Frank Serratore said. Air Force has an 11-3-1 record all-time, but is only 3-3-1 since 2003, with no game decided by more than two goals. The chance to knock off the AHA leaders is motivation enough for struggling teams like UConn.

3. Score more

The margin of error is too thin for Air Force when it is not producing points outside the nation’s No. 9 power play (24.1 percent). The Falcons were lucky that three goals last weekend (a 1-0 win and a 2-2 tie) at Holy Cross were enough to garner three points. They can’t push their luck. Points production from all four lines would take some pressure off the defense.