THE FINAL MONTH
Seven Atlantic Hockey games to go for the Sacred Heart University men's ice hockey team, and it's all left to play for. The second-place Pios are just three points in back of first-place RIT, but on the flip side, are just 10 points clear of seventh-place Canisius, as the league showcases its parity in 2023-24. All of SHU's remaining games are against teams currently in the top six, which makes every point especially valuable down the stretch, as any points left on the table will go straight to a direct competitor. The drive to the finish line starts at home this weekend, with two against fifth-place American International, which is five points behind Sacred Heart, but also has a game in hand. Both games are live worldwide on FloSports, with Friday's game also airing live in the tri-state area on SNY. Tickets are available through Ticketmaster.

LAST WEEKEND
It was tough sledding for SHU at the fourth annual CT Ice, as the Pios fell to host Connecticut on Friday, 6-2, and were defeated by Yale in Saturday's third-place game, 3-2. John Jaworski scored on Saturday and piled up 12 shots across the weekend to land on the All-Tournament Team. Jake Bongo had assists in both games.

SCOUTING THE YELLOW JACKETS
AIC hasn't exactly been on fire out of the break, with a 3-3-1 mark, including just 2-3-1 in Atlantic Hockey play. The Yellow Jackets split their last two weekends, at Air Force and home against Robert Morris, respectively, the latter of which gave the Colonials just their fourth league win of the season. AIC is third in the AHA in scoring offense (3.08) and fourth in scoring defense (2.92), but has really struggled to capitalize on the man-advantage, with a power play which ranks ninth in the league (16.5%). Dustin Manz leads the team in scoring with 3-18-21 in 25 games played.

PREVIOUSLY AGAINST AIC
The two teams split a pair in early December. On Dec. 1, SHU took a wild, 5-4 victory in the Jason Pagni Memorial Game, held at Avon Old Farms. Second-period power-play goals from Mikey Adamson and Kevin Lombardi put Sacred Heart ahead to stay, though the two teams would combine for three goals in 35 seconds late in the third, as the Pios held on for the win. AIC answered with a 3-2 win on its home ice the next night, as John Lundy broke a 2-2 tie with just 2:33 to play.

ALL-TIME SERIES
The two teams have met 76 times in their history, with SHU holding a 36-31-9 edge, though AIC has enjoyed a 13-5-1 advantage over 19 games dating to the start of the 2017-18 campaign. Sacred Heart is 16-13-3 on home ice in the series, though the Yellow Jackets quite enjoyed their initial two trips to the Martire Family Arena last February, posting 4-1 and 5-0 victories.

UP NEXT
It's off we go, into the wild blue yonder next weekend, as SHU makes a trip out west for a pair at Air Force on Feb. 9-10. The Falcons are currently just four points behind the Pios, and have a game in hand to boot. Puck drop is 9:05 p.m. (EST) on Friday and 7:05 p.m. (EST) on Saturday at Cadet Ice Arena in USAF Academy, Colo.