BACK TO ECAC HOCKEY PLAY
Following five games away from conference play, the Engineers close out 2016 with five straight in the league, including two this weekend at No. 5 Quinnipiac and Princeton ... RPI faces the Bobcats on Friday (7pm) and the Tigers on Saturday (7pm).

EIGHT ON THE ROAD
Rensselaer is in the midst of an eight-game road trip, which began on November 22 at New Hampshire ... The Engineers aren't home again until January 3 against UMass-Lowell.

FIRST GOALS
Three RPI skaters have recorded their first collegiate goals recently ... Sophomore Brady Wiffen netted his first against Clarkson on November 11, freshman Patrick Polino potted his first against St. Lawrence on November 12, before Jacob Hayhurst tallied his first in the Cherry & White against Ohio State on November 19.

ARIZONA SPLIT
The Engineers took one of two games of its series at Arizona State last weekend, falling in the opener, 5-3, before earning a 2-0 victory in the finale ... Goals from Patrick Polino and Jacob Hayhurst gave the Engineers a 2-1 lead after one, but the Sun Devils pulled even at 3-3 after two ... Third period tallies from Wade Murphy and Robbie Baillargeon provided the difference for the hosts ... In game two, junior Jared Wilson broke a scoreless tie midway through the third period with his team-leading seventh goal of the season ... Senior captain Riley Bourbonnais added an empty-netter with a minute left ... Sophomore Cam Hackett recorded his first collegiate shutout, stopping all 28 shots he faced. 

RENSSELAER BLANKED AT UNH
RPI dropped a 5-0 decision at New Hampshire on Tuesday night ... Tyler Kelleher, Michael McNicholas and Dylan Maller all recorded a goal and an assist ... Wildcats goaltender Daniel Tirone stopped all 25 shots he faced for the shutout, while RPI sophomore netminder Cam Hackett had 32 stops.

OHIO STATE SWEEP ENGINEERS
The 14th-ranked Buckeyes swept a two-game series at the Houston Field House over the weekend by scores of 4-0 and 3-2 ... Matt Tomkins had 28 saves in a shutout on Friday, before Tanner Laczynski scored the third period winner on Saturday ... Jacob Hayhurst netted his first collegiate goal for the Engineers, while senior captain Riley Bourbonnais had a goal and an assist ... Sophomore goaltender Chase Perry matched his RPI-high with 37 saves.

MODEL OF CONSISTENCY
Dating back to last season, senior captain Riley Bourbonnais has at least one point in 23 out of 26 weekends, including all seven this season.

ALL-TIME VS. QUINNIPIAC
The Bobcats own a 12-6-9 lead in the all-time series, which dates back to October 16, 1999 ... RPI won the inaugural meeting, 6-3 ... Quinnipiac is unbeaten in the last 12 matchups, owning a 7-0-5 advantage.

2015-16 VS. THE BOBCATS
Quinnipiac took the season series, 1-0-1, including a 5-4 overtime victory at the Houston Field House ... Devon Toews tied the game with 2:04 remaining in regulation and Soren Jonzzon netted the OT-winner 15 seconds into the extra frame ... In Hamden, the Sam Anas scored with 8.4 seconds left in regulation to salvage a 2-2 tie ... Jason Kasdorf made 46 saves for the Engineers.

ALL-TIME VS. PRINCETON
RPI is 67-33-11 all-time against the Tigers ... The 67 victories are school's most against any opponent ... Rensselaer took the inaugural meeting, 8-4, on January 18, 1952.

2015-16 VS. THE TIGERS
Rensselaer went 1-0-1 against Princeton last season, tying 3-3 in New Jersey, before topping the Tigers, 2-1, in Troy ... Colton Phinney made 36 saves in the deadlock, while Riley Bourbonnais had a goal and an assist ... Max Veronneau netted two goals with an assist to pace Princeton ... In the rematch, Milos Bubela erased a 1-0 deficit in the second period, scoring twice for the win ... Jason Kasdorf was forced to make just 19 saves.

SPECIAL TEAMS
The Engineers enter the weekend with the seventh-best penalty kill in the nation at 89.3% (75 for 84) ... On the man advantage, RPI is converting at a 14.5% rate (12 for 83).

SHORTHANDED GOALS
RPI's three shorthanded goals are good for 11th in the nation ... Senior Riley Bourbonnais' two shorties are tied with 11 other players for the most in the country.

POINT LEADERS
Sophomore Evan Tironese has a team-high 17 points on three goals and 14 assists ... Senior captain Riley Bourbonnais (7 goals, 6 assists) has 13 points, while junior Jared Wilson (7 goals, 2 assist) and freshman Jacob Hayhurst (2 goal, 6 assists) have nine and eight points, respectively.

IN THE CIRCLE
Senior captain Riley Bourbonnais has won a team-best 54.8% of his face-offs, while freshman Jacob Hayhurst is second at 49.6% ... Senior captain Jimmy DeVito rounds out the top three at 46.0%.