FAMILY WEEKEND
The Engineers open their home schedule this weekend against UConn and Canisius on Friday and Saturday, respectively ... Puck drop is scheduled for 7pm on both nights.

OPENING WEEKEND SPLIT
RPI began the 2019-20 season with a 1-1 weekend, falling at No. 4 UMass, 5-3, in the opener, before topping UConn, 5-3, on Saturday in Hartford ... A pair of freshmen netted their first collegiate goals on Friday night as Zach Dubinsky and Ryan Mahshie lit the lamp against the Minutemen ... Saturday saw Avon, Connecticut, native Chase Zieky notch three points on two goals and one assist, while sophomore Nick Bowman handed out three helpers ... Senior captain Will Reilly netted his first of the year, while Mahshie scored the eventual game-winning goal for his second in as many games ... Classmate Simon Kjellberg also tallied in his first collegiate contest ... Junior Linden Marshall (1-0) picked up the win in net, recording 31 saves in his first start of 2019-20.

EARLY LEADERS
Three players have three points through two games this season, including Chase Zieky (2 goals, 1 assist), Will Reilly (1 goal, 2 assists) and Nick Bowman (3 assists) ... Freshmen Ryan Mahshie (2 goals), Simon Kjellberg (1 goal, 1 assist) and Zach Dubinsky (1 goal, 1 assist) all came away from the weekend with two points apiece.

GOALTENDING
Junior Linden Marshall (1-0) has a 3.00 goals against average an a .912 save percentage in one start this season, while sophomore Owen Savory (0-1) has a 4.03 goals against average and an .895 save percentage in his one appearance. 

ROUND II
After squaring off last Saturday at the XL Center, the Engineers and Huskies get back after it on Friday night (7pm).

ALL-TIME VS. UCONN
Rensselaer leads the all-time series with Connecticut with a record of 5-1-3 … RPI won the inaugural meeting, 6-5 in OT, on January 18, 1930, in Troy.

RECENTLY
RPI has gone 4-1-1 in the last six games against Connecticut, including last Saturday's victory in Hartford.

STREAKS
Rensselaer went unbeaten in its first six games against Connecticut (3-0-3).

FOR THE HUSKIES
Jáchym Kondelík (2 goals, 1 assist) and Vladislav Firstov (1 goal, 2 assists) pace UConn with three points apiece ... Marc Gatcomb (1 goal, 1 assist) and Yan Kuznetsov (1 goal, 1 assist) have two points apiece.

HUSKIES GOALTENDING
Sophomore Tomáš Vomáčka (0-2-1) has started all three games for the Huskies this season and sports a 3.31 goals against average and a .902 save percentage ... In 18 career games, he has a 7-9-1 record, with a 2.50 goals against average and a .918 save percentage.

ZIEKY'S HOUSE
In two career games against UConn, RPI senior Chase Zieky has four goals and two assists for six points.

FIRST EVER MEETING
RPI and Canisius will meet for the first time ever on Saturday at the Houston Field House (7pm) ... After playing the Golden Griffins, the only two teams the Engineers will have not played will be Nebraska Omaha and Penn State.

SCOUTING CANISIUS
The Golden Griffins enter the weekend at 0-2-0 on the season, having dropped their first two games of the season at No. 16 North Dakota by scores of 5-0 and 8-1 ... Junior Austin Alger has the Griffs only tally so far this season, while freshman David Melaragni has the lone helper ... In goal, sophomore Matt Ladd (0-1-0) has a 6.81 goals against average and a .795 save percentage, while freshman Jacob Barczewski (0-1-0) has a 6.06 goals against average and an .868 save percentage.

FAMILIAR FOES
RPI head coach Dave Smith led the Golden Griffins for 12 years prior to arriving on the RPI campus ... He led Canisius to its first ever Atlantic Hockey Championship in 2012-13 and posted a record of 173-232-55, which included six seasons of 15 or more victories ... First-year assistant coach Scott Moser is a 2012 graduate of Canisius and played under Smith, wearing the 'C' during his senior season.

MAHSHIE HONORED
ECAC Hockey announced its weekly award winners Rensselaer freshman Ryan Mahshie has been named Rookie of the Week ... He netted goals in each of his first two collegiate games to help the Engineers to a 1-1 week, scoring the eventual game-winning goal on three shots in RPI's 5-3 victory at UConn on Saturday afternoon ... In Friday's season opening 5-3 defeat at No. 4 UMass, he netted his first collegiate tally, while recording one shot and posting a +1 rating.

DEJA VU?
Last season, Jakub Lacka scored in each his first two collegiate games ... He also netted his first collegiate tally against the Minutemen.

JUST HOW YOU DRAW IT UP
Rensselaer is off to a fast start in the face-off circle, winning 53.2% of its draws as a team ... Leading the way is freshman Tristan Ashbrook, who has won 16 of 24 draws for a 66.7% clip ... Sophomore Ture Linden is right behind him at 51.6%, while freshman Zach Dubinsky rounds out the top three at 51.4%.

PLUS NOT MINUS
Senior captain Will Reilly is a team-best +3 through two games this season, while freshman Simon Kjellberg and senior Mike Gornall are each +2 ... Five others are in the black, including three freshmen – Ryan Mahshie, Tristan Ashbrook and Zach Dubinsky – who are all at +1.

SHOTS EVERYBODY
The Engineers have taken 50 shots through two games, with senior winger Chase Zieky leading the way with six ... Classmate Will Reilly is joined by freshmen Tristan Ashbrook and Zach Dubinsky with five apiece.

MILESTONE WATCH
Senior Will Reilly is one point away from 50 or his career, while Patrick Polino is one game away from 100.

TOP RETURNERS
RPI welcomes back four of its top five scorers from 2018-19, including goal-scoring leader Chase Zieky (8 goals, 6 assist), who had 14 points in just 21 games after joining the team for the second semester ... Sophomore Ottoville Leppanen (4 goals, 15 assists) had 19 points as a rookie, while playing in 36 games ... His -2 rating was good for third on the club and 12 of points (3 goals, 9 assists) came in ECAC Hockey play ... Senior Will Reilly led all blueliners in scoring with five goals and 13 assists for 18 points in 33 games ... He enters his final season with 46 career points on 14 goals and 32 assists.

BACK BETWEEN THE PIPES
All-Rookie Team netminder Owen Savory is back after posting a top-10 save percentage in program history last season at .926 ... He went 5-15-3 with a 2.46 goals against average in 25 games (23 starts) with one shutout ... Junior Linden Marshall has played 43 games coming into the season, going 10-28-2, with a 3.31 goals against average and a .900 save percentage ... Newcomer Alec Calvaruso went 19-6-3 with the Sioux Fall Stampede last year, sporting a 2.63 goals against average and an .890 save percentage.

EXHIBITION OPENER
Rensselaer scored four power play goal in defeating Brock University, 6-3, last Saturday at the Houston Field House, in exhibition play ... Sophomore defenseman Kyle Hallbauer scored two goals, while Cory Babichuk, Chase Zieky and Tommy Lee all chipped in with two points apiece. 

FINISHING 2018-19 STRONG
Owen Savory went 4-6-3 over his last 13 regular season starts last year, posting a 2.13 goals against average and a .931 save percentage.

NEWCOMERS
The Engineers welcome nine new players to the 2019-20 roster, including eight freshmen and one transfer ... Four are forwards, four are defensemen and one is a goaltender.

FAMILY MATTERS
Three incoming freshmen have fathers who saw success in the National Hockey League ... Patric Kjellberg recorded 160 points in 394 games between the Canadiens, Predators and Ducks ... Steve Dubinsky notched 70 points in 375 games while suiting up for the Blackhawks, Flames, Predators and Blues ... Ken Klee played in 934 games and registered 195 points and 880 penalty minutes for the Capitals, Maple Leafs, Devils, Rockies, Braves, Ducks and Coyotes.

FAMILY II
RPI junior TJ Samec is the cousin of goaltender Robb Stauber, who won the Hobey Baker Award at the University of Minnesota, before playing for the Los Angeles Kings ... Samec's uncle is Frank Serratore, the head men's hockey coach at the Air Force Academy ... Long-time NHL head coach Joel Quenneville the uncle of junior Chase Zieky.

EXPERIENCE IN GOAL
RPI's three goaltenders have a combined 78 games of NCAA hockey experience between them, including 43 from junior Linden Marshall, who made 28 starts as a freshman in 2017-18 ... Sophomore Owen Savory started 23 games last year.