Preview: RPI vs Clarkson
RPI will bid for its first Clarkson sweep since 2012-13
RPI will welcome its North Country rival tonight after escaping Potsdam with a 4-2 win last November. Clarkson is a program that has grown accustomed to success, and this year has been more of the same for the Golden Knights. At 10-7-1 and 3rd place in the ECAC, Clarkson is in familiar territory with a chance to earn another top-4 seed in the league. Completing the season sweep against Clarkson is something RPI has not done since the 2012-2013 season, so this would be a real accomplishment if the Engineers are victorious.
Thoughts on RPI’s 4-2 Win over Clarkson
RPI earned a decisive 4-2 win at Cheel Arena over the Golden Knights 2 months ago, but it will require a much better effort this time around to repeat this outcome. Despite a 2-goal win, RPI lost the NxG (Net expected Goals) battle by 2.9. Simply put, RPI analytically should have scored 2 goals in this game and Clarkson should have scored 4.9, so it took an outstanding effort from Carson Cherepak to earn the victory.
The game is not played on a computer, but losing expected goals by this margin and still earning a win does not happen terribly often. These numbers were skewed by some questionable refereeing, which saw Clarkson take 7 fewer penalties than RPI in this game, resulting in uneven attacking time. The Engineer penalty kill has been much better of late and Clarkson’s power play has been abysmal, connecting at 12.7%. RPI’s special teams are trending in the right direction, and if there is a lesson to learn from November, it is to stay out of the box against Clarkson. Aside from the obvious goal prevention logic, limiting penalties will be of more importance because Casey Jones’s teams play a physical, defensive style of hockey, so taking 8 penalties again will make it difficult to generate offense.
One final note from this contest is that promising freshman Emmett Croteau was in the net, but former Providence Friar Austin Roden has seen most of the time lately. I would expect Roden, who was teammates with Ryan Brushett at UNO, to get the start tonight.
Lineup Preview
Not much has changed in the lineup for either team over the last few months, as Clarkson still boasts a strong roster. As Stephen hit on in the SLU preview, it would be a huge boost for RPI to get Dovar Tinling and Jakob Lee back for this one, since their line with Hotson drives play at a high level.
Similar to St. Lawrence standout Luc Salem, Clarkson star Noah Beck has had a very disappointing year. After two straight 20-point seasons on the blue line, Beck only has 3 points to his name this campaign. His track record still demands attention, but he has really struggled offensively this year.
One last note: RPI could really use some more offense from its defenders. Max Smolinski and Lauri Sertti are the two main offensive contributors on the blue line, but the group collectively has not contributed much offense this year. If the forwards are still banged up, receiving some offense from the defenders would be very beneficial.
This should be another close one in this historical rivalry. With the students back on campus and a Clarkson fanbase that travels well, I would expect a fun atmosphere tonight. Now if only we can get our pep band back! Jokes aside, this rivalry always brings the fireworks, and both teams need this win. Let’s Go Red!