Preview: RPI vs Quinnipiac

The defending national champions come to town

Quinnipiac celebrates winning the national championship last year (photo: QBSN)

#2 in the Pairwise. #3 in KRACH. #5 in the USCHO poll. No matter what ranking system or metric you use, Quinnipiac has not slowed down much after winning it all last year in Tampa.

Quinnipiac Team Outlook

There’s basically no weaknesses when you look at Quinnipiac and their numbers as a team. They’re scoring 4.36 goals per game and allowing only 2.14 goals per game. They still possess the puck and control scoring chances as well as any team in the country. Their shots on goal averages are 33.7 for and 23.9 against, and their Corsi% is 59.2%.

If that’s not enough, they have quality goaltending (granted not as good without Perets but still pretty good) with a team 0.910 SV%. They have also had no issues finishing their scoring chances with a 12.9% shooting percentage, which is 2nd in the country.

Lastly, Quinnipiac’s special teams are elite and among the best in the country. Their power play is operating at 20%, which is good. However, it’s the penalty kill that’s truly elite. Their penalty has a 92% success rate, which is 3rd in the country. RPI will certainly have to be more disciplined than they were last weekend against Northeastern.

Overall, there’s not really any weaknesses here. There’s a reason that last week’s game against BU was Quinnipiac’s first regulation loss of the season.

Biggest Threats

Quinnipiac is a team loaded with talent, and it all starts with #11 Collin Graf (W) who has 16 points in 9 games. He has missed time with a couple injuries this season, and since returning, he’s stepped right back up as one of the best players in the country. Graf had 59 points last year and decided to pass up NHL deals to come back, and he has taken his game to another level.

Last year’s national championship OT hero, #16 Jacob Quillan (C) centers that top line with Graf on his wing. He broke out last year with 38 points, and he also passed up NHL offers to come back for his junior year. He has 19 points in 14 games this year as a dominant two-way force.

I could keep going on, but the last player I’ll talk about is the captain #15 Jayden Lee (RD). He has not had to play a big role in previous years as he was behind Zach Metsa on the depth chart. He decided to come back for his 5th year, and he has stepped up in a bigger role. Lee has 14 points in 14 games and a +10 rating as Quinnipiac’s #1 defenseman.

Summary

Obviously, Quinnipiac is an elite team and one of the very best in the country. RPI shouldn’t be surprised by that and will know what they’re going up against since they’ve already faced BC, Maine and Providence.

Quinnipiac plays a pretty similar style as Maine where they try to dominate puck possession and the scoring chances battle with an aggressive forecheck and smothering neutral zone play. RPI is going to have to play a lot better than they did against Maine. They will need to make quick decisions and move the puck quickly through the neutral zone.

That’s only part of the battle though. RPI is also going to need to find a way to win the special teams battle to have a shot. Their power play looked better last weekend, and they got a key goal on it in Saturday’s game to tie it up. The penalty kill was poor though, and they can’t afford to lose the special teams game with how well Quinnipiac controls the puck.

Lastly, Cherepak has to step up in net. RPI has the 2nd worst team save percentage in the country at 0.865. That simply has to be better. You can’t win with that kind of goaltending.

If RPI can do those 3 things, they’ve got a shot in this one. I still believe that at their best, they can compete with the best teams in the country. In last year’s game, it was a 2-1 game going into the 3rd period, and they had a chance to win that one. Let’s hope for a similar game tonight.

Let’s Go Red!