5 Things From RPI's Last 2 Weekends
Engineers earned wins over Clarkson and Lowell, fell to SLU & UNH
The tide is starting to turn for the better for the ‘25-’26 Engineers, who now stand 3-3 in their last 6 games. Not only are they starting to win games, but they are beating legitimate programs such as Union, Clarkson, and UMass-Lowell. We did a piece on the blog a few weeks ago preaching patience as we expected goaltending and finishing to revert to the mean, and that has played out beautifully the 3 weekends. RPI has started getting much needed contributions from returners that they were missing, and Nathan Krawchuk has begun to emerge as the top goaltender. We’re still in very early stages of this rebuild, but seeing some good effort converted to wins is a welcomed sight for all involved. Let’s dig a bit deeper:
5 Things:
1. The “Systems” Look Highly Effective
I have been pretty honest on here all season long about the long-term oriented approach I am taking with the program given the coaching change. I want to see the team be good this year as much as anyone, but the reality is that what I’ll call “program infrastructure” is very important right now. The most important one is getting the recent coaching hire right, so analyzing how the team plays has been important to me.
Brendan and I said before ECAC play started that the team’s defensive metrics looked pretty good, they just needed the goalies to follow suit. That is starting to play out now and it is part of why they have given up so many fewer goals. The team just defends differently under Lang. You don’t see them get caught in their own zone for minutes on end, they don’t get drastically outshot by good teams, and they use a variety of strategies to break pucks out of their own end. To my eye test, it just looks like a sustainable structure to play, and one that will only elevate as recruiting picks up in years to come.
2. Nathan Krawchuk = Goalie #1?
It is hard to overstate how well Nathan Krawchuk has played in the past few weeks and what it means for this team and program going forward. The goaltending room was probably the team’s weakness on paper coming into the year, and it held them back the first few weeks. Since then, Krawchuk turned in an ECAC goalie of the week performance against Union and a shutout against UMass-Lowell Saturday. Bruno Bruveris also responded with a strong effort in RPI’s win over Clarkson a week ago.
Krawchuk is still somewhat raw and struggles to control rebounds, but you can see the potential from a mile away. He has a great frame, positions himself well and has an above average glove. In the short-term, it looks like he gives RPI its best chance to win.
3. Specials Trending The Right Direction
When I previewed the SLU and Clarkson weekend, RPI had one of the worst penalty kills in the country and combined PK & PP%s as well. To put it simply, goaltending and special teams had been killing them in the first few weekends of the year. Since then, RPI is 2/12 on the PP for 17%, and 13/14 on the PK for 93%. Safe to say this is trending up. As I said in point 1, the baseline 5v5 systems remain very important to me, but games are won with good goaltending and special teams. Krawchuk’s emergence and the positive inflection from the PK is what has driven RPI’s success recently.
4. Scoring With Depth
Coach Lang has said a few times that the team might not have a true first line, but it has a lot of 2nd and 3rd liners. But early in the season, the offensive output was coming almost exclusively from the Wallace-Sitar-Buckley line, and Klassek/Sobieski on the back end. For the team to have success, this was going to have to broaden out, which it has the past 3 weeks. Dovar Tinling and Rainers Rullers have 4 goals between them in the last 2 games, Jimmy Goffredo got his first this weekend, as did Trevor Russell. Luc Wilson has yet to score but leads the team with 8 assists. The Engineer depth is a welcomed sight and something I’d like to see continue forward.
5. Filip Sitar = 1C
I have been pretty blown away by the 2-way game of Filip Sitar thus far. He reminds me so much of Ture Linden during his 20 goal senior year here. As this roster is very young, I have been on the lookout for cornerstone pieces to spearhead this rebuild in the next couple years. Sitar sticks out to me more than anyone as the type of guy you can build a roster around. He leads RPI with 5 goals and 9 points so far and leads the forwards in time on ice by a wide margin. Lang seems to have unlocked him in a way UConn was unable to last year.
Things have been looking up for RPI to start November with 3 weekends left in the 1st half. They will head out to western NY for 2 with Colgate and Cornell this weekend. This will inevitably be a tougher weekend, but picking up a few points will go a long way to staying in the early ECAC race. Let’s go Red!