No. 1/1 QU Men's Ice Hockey Hosts No. 16 RPI On Thursday, Jan. 21

Thursday, January 21

Hamden, Conn.

7:00 PM

Quinnipiac University

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

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No. 1/1 QU Men's Ice Hockey Hosts No. 16 RPI On Thursday, Jan. 21

1/20/2016 7:05:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey

By: QU Sports Information

No. 1/1 Quinnipiac University Bobcats (19-1-4, 10-0-2 ECAC Hockey) vs
No. 16 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Engineers (12-7-5, 5-1-5 ECAC Hockey)
Date: Thursday, Jan. 21, 2016
Time: 7:00
Location: High Point Solutions Arena (3,086)
All-Time Series vs RPI: 11-5-8
Last Meeting: W, 4-2 (Jan. 9, 2015, Hamden, Conn.)

Follow The Bobcats vs. RPI
Live Stats: SideArmStats.com/Quinnipiac/mhockey/
Live Video: QuinnipiacBobcats.com/watch
Live Audio: AM 1220 WQUN
(PxP: Bill Schweizer; Color: Chris Kotsopoulos)
Twitter: @QU_MIH
Game Notes: Quinnipiac | Rensselaer

The nationally-ranked No.1/1 Quinnipiac men's ice hockey team will host No. 16 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Engineers in a battle between ECAC Hockey's first and second place teams on Thursday, Jan. 21 at 7 p.m. at High Point Solutions Arena at the TD Bank Sports Center in Hamden, Conn.

Multimedia
Quinnipiac fans have a variety of ways to follow the nationally-ranked Bobcats for every game this season. AM 1220 WQUN - the flagship station of Quinnipiac men's ice hockey as well as men's and women's basketball - will have all the action. Bobcat fans can also access live video and stats by clicking the appropriate links on the men's ice hockey schedule page on QuinnipiacBobcats.com. Bobcat fans can also follow all the in-game action on Twitter @QU_MIH.

The Last Time Quinnipiac Played
• The No. 1/1 Bobcats scored two goals in the final 6:01 of regulation to come from behind and tie the Maine Black Bears, 3-3, on Tuesday, Jan. 19 at Alfond Arena.
• Tanner MacMaster scored the game's first goal to give Quinnipiac a 1-0 lead before Sam Anas scored with 6:01 to play in regulation.
• Thomas Aldworth scored with :46.6 seconds left in regulation to force overtime.
• Despite allowing three goals, Bobcats' goalie Michael Garteig made big save after big save for the Bobcats all night long on his way to 29 saves.

What's Next For The Bobcats?
• Following its ECAC Hockey match-up against RPI, the Bobcats will travel to Hanover, New Hampshire to take on Dartmouth at Thompson Arena on Friday, Jan. 29.
• Quinnipiac returns home on Dec. 5-6 when it hosts Cornell and Colgate, respectively, for a pair of ECAC Hockey contests at High Point Solutions Arena. The Bobcats game against Cornell on Feb. 5 can be seen live on SNY.

The Bobcats In The National Polls
• The Bobcats were announced as the No. 1 team in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Men's College Hockey Poll on Monday, Jan. 17, 2016. The Bobcats garnered 30 of the possible 34 first place votes and moved into the top spot in a national poll for the first time since the 2012-13 season.
• The Bobcats also moved up one spot to No. 1 in the latest USCHO.com Division I Poll, as announced on Monday, Jan. 18, 2016. The Bobcats received 41 first-place votes, its most this season.

The Bobcats In The PairWise Ranking
• Quinnipiac enters its 13th consecutive week in the top spot in the PairWise Ranking.
• The PairWise Ranking is a system which attempts to mimic the method used by the NCAA Selection Committee to determine participants for the NCAA Division I men's hockey tournament. The PWR compares all teams by these criteria: record against common opponents, head-to-head competition, and the RPI.
• For each comparison won, a team receives one point. The final PWR ranking is based on the number of points (comparisons) won. Ties are settled by the RPI.

The Bobcats All-Time Against RPI
• Thursday night's match-up in Hamden will be the 25th meeting all-time between Quinnipiac and RPI. The Bobcats hold a 11-5-8 record all-time against the Engineers.
• RPI is the only ECAC Hockey team that Quinnipiac has not faced this season as Thursday's tilt will be the first game of the year between the two teams. Quinnipiac travels to RPI on Feb. 19.
• Quinnipiac is 4-1-5 on its home ice, including a 4-1-3 mark at High Point Solutions Arena.
• Quinnipiac is 3-0-2 in its last five meetings at home against RPI.
• The Bobcats enter their match-up against RPI unbeaten in their last 10 meetings against the Engineers with a record of 6-0-4. Quinnipiac's last loss to RPI came on Jan. 19, 2010 in Troy, New York.

Scouting The No. 16 RPI Engineers
• Rensselaer enters Thursday's ECAC Hockey match-up with a record of 12-7-5 overall including a 5-1-5 record in league play.
•With 15 points, RPI sits in second place in the league standings, seven points behind Quinnipiac.
• RPI is also ranked No. 16 in the USCHO.com Division I Poll and are receiving votes in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Poll. The Engineers also sit at No. 18 in the PairWise Rankings.
• The Engineers are 4-1-2 in their last seven games and 1-0-3 in their last four ECAC Hockey games.
• Riley Bourbonnais leads RPI in goals (13) and points (20) including four goals and five assists for nine points in 10 ECAC Hockey games.
• Zach Schroeder and Mike Prapavessis have both handed out a team-best 11 assists to date, while Schroeder has scored twice this season.
• Lou Nanne checks in with four goals and 10 assists for 14 points while Jake Wood has seven goals and six assists for 13 points.
• In goal, Jason Kasdorf is 6-5-3 with a 2.01 GAA and a .936 goals-against average.

The Bobcats' Streak
• The Bobcats 17-game unbeaten streak to open the season was the second longest unbeaten streak in program history, after the Bobcats posted a 21-game (18-0-3) unbeaten streak in the 2012-13 season.
• Quinnipiac's unbeaten streak to start the season was the longest in NCAA Division I men's ice hockey since Colorado College opened the 1995-96 at 15-0-3. It was also the sixth longest in NCAA Division I men's ice hockey since 1970.
• Since its loss to Boston University on Dec. 12 to end its season-opening streak, the Bobcats have gone unbeaten in six straight for the second-longest active streak in NCAA Division I hockey. The Bobcats are 4-0-2 since the start of the second half of the season.

Longest Unbeaten Streak To Start A Season Since 1970 (Courtesy of Chip Malafronte, New Haven Register)
29: Cornell (29-0), 1969-70
29: Maine (28-0-1), 1992-93
21: Boston University (21-0), 1977-78
19: Maine (14-0-5), 1994-95
18: Colorado College (15-0-3), 1995-96
17: Quinnipiac (15-0-2), 2015-Dec. 12, 2015
16: St. Lawrence (16-0), 1988-89
15: Harvard (15-0), 1986-87
15: Harvard (15-0), 1988-89
14: Boston University (13-0-1), 1970-71
14: Wisconsin (13-0-1), 1981-82
14: Providence (11-0-3), 2015-16
13: Ohio State (13-0), 1983-84
13: Minnesota (11-0-2), 2001-02
13: Air Force (13-0), 2008-09

Team Notes
• Through 24 games, Quinnipiac has out-scored its opponents 90-35, with four goals in 15 of its 24 games.
• With a pair of 3-0 wins at Yale and at Brown, and following a 1-0 win against UMass on Nov. 28, Quinnipias posted a shut-out in three straight games for the first time in the program's 41-year history.
• 34 of Quinnipiac's 90 goals have come in the second period, in which the Bobcats have out-scored their opponents, 34-16.
• Quinnipiac has allowed just six goals after the second period across 24 games.
• 47 of Quinnipiac's 90 goals have come in the final 10 minutes of the period.
• Quinnipiac currently boasts the third highest-scoring junior class in the country. The Bobcats' 10 juniors have scored an NCAA-leading 42 of the Bobcats' 90 goals, while its 100 total points rank third behind Boston College (114), Michigan (100).
• Quinnipiac currently rank second in power play goals (27), third power play assists (52) and power play points (79).
• Quinnipiac is 5-1-2 in eight games against teams that were ranked at the time they played:

vs. No. 9 St. Cloud State (W, 5-2)
vs. No. 9 St. Cloud State (W, 4-1)
vs. No. 7 Harvard (W, 4-1)
vs. No. 20 Clarkson (T, 1-1)
vs. No. 14 St. Lawrence (T, 0-0)
at No. 10 Yale (W, 3-0)
vs. No. 12 Boston University (L, 1-4)
at No. 4 Harvard (W, 5-4 OT)

• Quinnipiac is also 6-0-0 against teams currently ranked in the top 10 in the PairWise Rankings, topping St. Cloud State (No. 2) twice, Harvard (No. 6) twice, as well as Cornell (No. 7) and Yale (No. 10).
• Quinnipiac's four-goal first period against Harvard on Jan. 9 was the ninth time this season that Quinnipiac scored three-or-more goals in a period, and the fourth time it scored four or more goals in a period.
• Entering Thursday, Jan. 21, Quinnipiac is now 2-0-4 in overtime this year, and 6-0-8 in 14 overtime games over the last two seasons. The Bobcats last loss in extended play came in the 2014 ECAC Hockey Semifinals against Colgate on Mar. 21, 2014.
• Qunnipiac's Travis St. Denis (7), Tim Clifton (6), Sam Anas (5) and Landon Smith (3) have more power play goals (21) than 53 NCAA Division I teams.
• Tim Clifton and Sam Anas are two of 12 players to score in 12 or more games to date, which is the most in ECAC Hockey.
• Travis St. Denis is one of 21 NCAA D1 players with three or more two-goal games this season.
• St. Denis is also one of 23 active players with 100 career points; QU, Boston University and St. Cloud (3) are only teams with 2 active players with 100 career points (St. Denis, Anas).
• Quinnipiac is currently the only team in NCAA Division I men's ice hockey to feature two players (St. Denis, Anas) with 50 goals and 50 assists. There are 11 players to reach both marks to date in the country.
• Landon Smith has scored six career game-winning goals in 63 career games, which stands as the fewest games played of the 66 NCAA players with six or more game-winning goals.
• Quinnipiac's defensive unit features four of ECAC Hockey's top-scoring defensemen. Freshman Chase Priskie leads all ECAC Hockey d-men in assists (16) and points (17), while Devon Toews (3-11--14), Connor Clifton (4-10--14) and Derek Smith (3-11--14) are all tied for third in points.
• The Bobcats top-four defensemen ranked among the top 35 in the country, with Priskie ranked tied for 7th in defensemen points in NCAA Division I men's ice hockey.

Wins Since The Start of the 2012-13 Season
Quinnipiac men's ice hockey has qualified for the last three NCAA Tournaments. Since the start of the 2012-13 season, the Bobcats lead all NCAA Division I men's ice hockey programs in wins:

Quinnipiac                96
North Dakota                        94
Minn. St. Mankato                90
UMass Lowell                       88
Minnesota                             87
Boston College                   85

Player Notes
Michael Garteig
• On Thursday, Jan. 7, Michael Garteig record 25 saves in a 5-0 shutout against Union. Garteig's seventh clean sheet of the year is a program single-season record - passing his record of six he set as a sophomore in 2013-14 - and is also the most in NCAA Division I hockey this season.
• Michael Garteig (Prince George, British Columbia) enters Thursday's game with a record of 19-1-4 with a 1.47 goals-against average (3rd-NCAA) and a .938 save percentage (5th-NCAA) and seven shutouts (1st-NCAA). He also has two assists for the year.
• Garteig was named the ECAC Hockey Goalie of the Month for December. The Bobcats senior netminder was 4-1-0 with a .945 save percentage and a 1.25 goals-against average, leading all ECAC Hockey goaltenders in wins (4) and shutouts (2) in December.
• In a 3-0 win at Yale, Gartieg won his 60th career game, breaking the program record of 59 held by JC Wells '01 and Jamie Holden '05.
• Against Brown, Garteig ran his shutout streak to 194:49 minutes - the longest streak in program history, passing Jamie Holden's mark of 191:19 during the 2002-03 season.
• On Tuesday, Dec. 8, Garteig was named the ECAC Hockey Goalie of the Week after back-to-back shutouts at Yale and Brown on Dec. 4-5, respectively.
• On November 7, Garteig allowed a season-high four goals in a 5-4 overtime win at Cornell. Since then, he is 11-1-3 with a .947 save percentage and 1.22 GAA, with six shutouts, plus two shutout periods at UConn and Princeton.
• For the year, Garteig is 10-1-2 in 13 home games this season with a 1.14 goals-against average and a .955 save percentage with five shutouts.
• On the road, Garteig is 8-0-2 with a .925 save percentage and a 1.66 GAA, while his eight road wins lead all NCAA Division I goalies.
• In seven road games since his game against Cornell, in which he allowed four goals, Garteig is 5-0-2 with a .965 save percentage and a 0.72 GAA.
• Garteig was honored by the Hockey Commissioners' Association as the NCAA Division I National Player of the Month for November. The announcement from the HCA came after Garteig was named ECAC Hockey's Goalie of the Month for the second-consecutive month.
• In nine games for the month of November, Michael Garteig led all ECAC Hockey goalies in games played (9) minutes (528:51), wins (7), shutouts (2) while posting a 7-0-2 record. Garteig allowed just 11 goals for the month for a 1.25 goals-against average while posting a .946 save percentage. He was the only goalie that appeared in six or more ECAC Hockey games to post an undefeated record (4-0-2) while he also registered a 1.62 GAA and a .933 save percentage against the league. Garteig stopped 19 of 20 in a 4-1 win against Harvard on Nov. 13 before a 22-save performance against Dartmouth on the following night.
• He also stopped 25 of 26 in a 1-1 tie against Clarkson before blanking St. Lawrence in a 36-save performance that saw him featured on ESPN Sports Centers Top 10 as the No. 4 play of the day.
• During the Bobcats' stretch of five games in nine days from Nov. 17 through Nov. 27, Garteig was 3-0-2 with 0.83 GAA after allowing just four goals in 289:44 between the pipes and also posted a .965 save percentage after stopping 109 of 113 shots-on-goal. Two of the four goals allowed by Garteig came with the Bobcats' playing a man-down.
• For his career, Garteig is 65-22-13 with a 1.87 GAA and a .919 save percentage in 6,110:11 minutes in 105 career games.
• Garteig recorded a career-best 41-saves in a 0-0 shutout of St. Cloud State on Oct. 25.
• Garteig was named the ECAC Hockey Goalie of the Week on Oct. 27.
• He was also named the ECAC Hockey Goalie of the Month for October.
• Garteig was named to the Mike Richter Award Watch List on Thursday, Oct. 8. The award is given annually to the top NCAA Division I goalie in the country.
• Garteig's 65 career wins rank first among all active goalies.

Tim Clifton
• Quinnipiac junior Tim Clifton (Matawan, New Jersey) was named the ECAC Hockey Player of the Month for December, as announced by the league office on Tuesday, Jan. 5. For the month, Clifton led Quinnipiac with four goals and four assists for a team-high eight points in five games for the month of December, in which the Bobcats were 4-1-0. Clifton was tied for the ECAC Hockey in goals (4) and led the league in game-winning goals (2) and plus/minus (+6). Clifton scored in Quinnipiac's 3-0 win at Yale on Dec. 4 before following with a goal and an assist against Brown in a 3-0 win on Dec. 5, which both registered as game-winning goals. In a two-game series against Princeton, he registered two goals and three assists. His four-point night on Dec. 29 saw Clifton score and assist on three more goals in a 6-0 win before following with the game's first goal in a 4-3 win at home against the Tigers on Wednesday, Dec. 30.
• Clifton enters Thursday night's game with 13 goals and 10 assists for 23 points in 20 games. Clifton's 23 points rank third in the Bobcats' line-up.
• Clifton has scored a goal in 13 of the 24 games he has played in this year.
• Clifton's 10 goals and 17 points in 11 ECAC Hockey games are both team-highs, while his goal total also leads the league.
• Clifton currently leads ECAC Hockey with 10 goals and 17 points in 12 league games, as well as power play goals (4), short-handed goals (2), game-winning goals (2) and plus/minus (+14).
• Six of Clifton's 13 goals this year have come on the power play. He enters the week as one of nine NCAA Division I players to score six or more power play goals this year.
• Clifton's seven-game goal streak was the second longest in Quinnipiac's Division I history following Chris Cerrella's 11-game goal streak in 1999-00.
• Clifton scored in both games of the Bobcats' season-opening weekend against Holy Cross before missing the next four games to injury. Since returning, he's scored in each of the Bobcats last four games, totaling five goals and an assist.

Travis St. Denis
• In the Bobcats' 5-0 win against Union on Thursday, Jan. 7, Travis St. Denis scored twice and assisted on another goal to become the 38th player in Quinnipiac history and the 24th at the NCAA Division I level to reach 100 career points.
• Travis St. Denis (Trail, British Columbia) has 12 goals and 16 assists for a team-high 28 points in his senior season.
• St. Denis sits at 50 goals and 54 assists for 104 points in 143 career games.
• St. Denis is also riding a six-game point streak in which he's tallied four goals and seven assists. St. Denis leads the league with nine assists in 12 ECAC Hockey games.
• In 13 home games, St. Denis leads Quinnipiac in goals (8), points (13) and power play goals (5).
• St. Denis is also the only player to score two goals in back-to-back games at High Point Solutions Arena this year. He also has a team-best four multiple-point games on the team's home ice.
• St. Denis also leads the team with 10 assists on the road.

Sam Anas
• With a three-point night against UMass on Saturday, Nov. 27, 2015 All-American Sam Anas (Potomac, Maryland) became the 37th player in program history and the 23rd at the Division I level to reach 100 career points. Anas did so in his 92nd career game.
• Anas currently checks-in as ECAC Hockey's third-leading scorer, with a league-leading 14 goals and 14 assists for 28 points.
• Anas enters Thursday's match-up against Union on a team-leading seven-game point streak featuring five goals and five assists.
• Anas also checks-in with a team-leading 59 career goals, good for seventh all-time at Quinnipiac in 102 career games, while also assisting on 51 more for 110 points, good for 27th place all-time and 15th at the Division I level at Quinnipiac.
• Anas is currently one of 16 active players with 100 career points.
• Anas' career 1.06 points-per-game are the fourth-best average among active NCAA Division I players, trailing Northeastern's Kevin Roy (1.15), Omaha's Jake Guentzel (1.10) and Harvard's Jimmy Vesey (1.10).
• Anas has tallied a point in 18 of Quinnipiac's first 24 games.
• Against Harvard on Friday, Nov. 13, Anas became the 17th Quinnipiac player all-time and 11th player at the NCAA Division I level to score 50 goals, doing so in 87 games.
• Anas is the Bobcats' active leading scorer with 59 goals and 51 assists for 110 points in 102 career games.
• Anas ranks fourth among active players with 59 career goals while his 0.58 goal-per-game average is second to Vesey (0.61).
• Anas currently ranks second among active players with 24 career power play goals in 102 games for a 0.24 per-game average and is the tops among active players.
• In 2015, Anas is one of three NCAA Division I men's ice hockey juniors – along with Omaha's Jake Guentzel and Union's Mike Vecchione– to rank in the Top 20 in career points and is the only junior in the Top 10.

Connor Clifton
• Bobcats junior defenseman Connor Clifton (Matawan, New Jersey) has blown past his 2014-15 point totals (0-5), accumulating four goals and 10 assists for 14 points in 24 games this year.
• His 14 points this season are also a career-high, surpassing his nine-point total (5g-4a) as a freshman in 2013-14.
• Clifton saw a six-game point streak – the longest of his career - fall with a scoreless showing against Harvard. Clifton scored an empty-net goal against Dartmouth and again against UConn to give him a point in eight of Quinnipiac's first 13 games.
• Clifton had an assist in a 3-2 win against Colgate on Friday, Nov. 13 before scoring the game-winner in overtime against Cornell in a 5-4 win in Ithaca, New York.
• Clifton was chosen in the 5th Round of the 2013 NHL Draft by the Phoenix Coyotes.
• He was the first Quinnipiac freshman to join the Bobcats directly from the prestigious U.S. National Developmental Team.

Chase Priskie
• Freshman defenseman Chase Priskie (Pembroke Pines, Florida) has passed out a team-leading 16 assists, while also scoring once, for 17 points through his first 24 career games.
• Priskie's 16 assists rank second among all NCAA Division I freshmen.
• Priskie leads all ECAC Hockey freshmen, as well as all league defensemen, in assists (16), games played (24), power play assists (8) and power play points (9) while his 17 points for the year rank second among freshmen and first among all league blueliners.
• Priskie had assists against Harvard and Dartmouth, which followed a three-assist outing against Cornell to give him six in his last six games.
• The last freshman with three assists in a game was Sam Anas at Colgate on Nov. 1, 2013.
• The last Quinnipiac defenseman with three assists in a game was Zach Tolkinen against UMass on Nov. 30, 2013.

Derek Smith
• Derek Smith checks in with three goals and 11 assists from the blue line.
• Derek Smith leads all ECAC Hockey defensemen with a +16 plus/minus and is one of three defensemen to block 50 or more shots (52, 2nd) for the year.
• Smith provided the dramatics when he cleaned up a rebound and scored the game-winner in overtime against No. 4 Harvard at Madison Square Garden on Jan. 9.
• Smith found the back of the net in back-to-back games in the Bobcats' 6-0 and 4-3 wins against Princeton on Dec. 29-30.
• Smith totaled 13 assists in 36 games as a sophomore last year but sits second in the Bobcats' line-up with 10 helpers this season.
• Smith sits in the Bobcats' history books as the first player in program history to have scored on his first two shots on goal, which came in his second and third collegiate games.

Devon Toews
• Junior Devon Toews has scored three goals and assisted on 11 more for 14 points in 21 games this season.
• Toews scored once and also assisted on another goal in the Bobcats' 3-0 win at No. 10 Yale on Dec. 4.
• The Bobcats' defenseman was drafted by the New York Islanders in the fourth round of the 2014 NHL Draft after a freshman campaign that saw him total a goal and 16 assists.

Soren Jonzzon
• Quinnipiac captain Soren Jonzzon had an assist in both games against Princeton last week.
• Jonzzon had a strong weekend at Yale and Brown, totaling two assists against the Bulldogs while also scoring in the Bobcats' win at Brown.
• Jonzzon stands at three goals and eight assists for 11 points this season, giving him 13 goals and 18 assists for 31 points for his career.
• Jonzzon has a goal and three assists in his last four games.

K.J. Tiefenwerth
• Quinnipiac junior K.J. Tiefenwerth is enjoying a break-out season, as he's tallied career-highs in goals (5), assists (7) and points (12).

Landon Smith
• For the year, Smith has accumulated six goals and 13 assists for 19 points.
• Smith currently has six points in his last five games on two goals and four assists and has tallied a point in nine of his last 12 games.
• Landon Smith enjoyed a remarkable first season with the Bobcats in 2014-15, scoring 15 goals and assisting on 16 more for 31 points in his first year of college hockey.
• Smith started his sophomore year with a goal in the Bobcats' home opener, but then went nine straight games without a goal.
• Coming out of the Thanksgiving break, Smith has four goals, and three assists, in the Bobcats' last seven games.