ROCHESTER, N.Y. - The RIT Men's Hockey team plays Atlantic Hockey America (AHA)-rival Canisius twice this weekend, heading to the LECOM Harborcenter in Buffalo on Friday before returning home to the Gene Polisseni Center, Saturday. Both games will faceoff at 7:05 p.m.
 
The Tigers have won three out of four contests to start the New Year, including an AHA sweep of visiting Robert Morris, 4-1 and 3-2 in overtime, last Friday and Saturday, respectively. Canisius returns to the ice after a week off following a non-league road split at Lindenwood (L 5-2, W 4-3) the previous weekend to open 2026, marking the first time they played since splitting a home-and-home series with RIT on Dec. 5-6.
 
FOLLOW LIVE
Watch: FloHockey.tv/watch
PxP/Color (Saturday): Gene Battaglia, John DiTullio
Local Audio: WITR 89.7 FM or FOX Sports 1280 AM
Web Audio: witr.rit.edu or foxsports1280.iheart.com
PxP/Color: Ed Trefzger, Scott Biggar, Matt Campbell
Live Stats: ritathletics.com/sidearmstats/mhockey
 
TIGER REWIND
RIT earned five points in the AHA standings with two victories over visiting Robert Morris last weekend. The Tigers started by riding a three-goal third period to a 4-1 win on Friday. Junior defenseman Ben Roger scored in the second minute of play before the Colonials tied the game midway through the second. The Tigers notched three unanswered goals in the third, including what proved to be the game-winner by first-year forward Camden Bajzer, en route to the victory.
 
The Tigers completed the sweep on Saturday after first-year forward Evan Konyen scored 32 seconds into overtime for a 3-2 victory. Trailing, 2-1, with under six minutes left in regulation, junior forward Christian Catalano tied the game with a power play goal to force the eventual overtime and setup Konyen's game-winner.
 
KRBECEK APPEAL
Sophomore goaltender Jakub Krbecek was named to the watch list for the 2026 Mike Richter Award, annually presented to the top goaltender in NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey since 2014.
• Krbecek currently ranks sixth nationally with a 1.86 goals against average and seventh with a .932 save percentage. He is also tied for fifth in wins, sporting a 13-7-0 record.
• Krbecek backstopped both ends of RIT's AHA sweep of visiting Robert Morris last weekend, stopping 33 of 34 shots in Friday's 4-1 win before totaling 24 saves in Saturday's 3-2 OT win.
• He recently tied his career-high with 44 saves in a 1-0 victory over then No. 8/9 Penn State (Jan. 3) for his first shutout in a Tiger sweater.
• Krbecek was named the Atlantic Hockey America (AHA) Goaltender of the Month after compiling a 4-1-0 record in five October starts, highlighted by a 39-save performance during the 7-3 win over Air Force (Oct. 25) and 28 saves in the 6-2 win over Clarkson (Oct. 18) in the Brick City Homecoming game.
• He also landed his first career AHA Goaltender of the Week honor after combining to stop 42 of 44 shots versus Colgate, including 28 saves in the 4-1 win (Nov. 1) after stopping 14 of 15 shots in the opening 3-1 win (Oct. 31).
 
THE KILLERS
RIT enters the weekend ranked sixth nationally and first in the AHA with an .882 penalty killing percentage, only allowing seven goals in 75 opponent power play attempts this season. RIT also leads the AHA and sits 10th nationally in scoring defense, only allowing 2.32 goals per game.
 
THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME
After starting the season with a pair of losses to visiting Sacred heart, RIT is undefeated in its last nine home games. RIT also defeated then No. 8/9 Penn State in front of a sellout crowd of 4,233 fans on Jan. 3, marking the eighth sellout in 12 seasons of the Gene Polisseni Center and first since defeating AIC, 5-2, to win the 2024 Atlantic Hockey Championship.
 
KING KONYEN
First-year forward Evan Konyen leads RIT with eight goals and is tied for first with 15 points. In the five games since returning from holiday break, he has totaled four goals and two assists, including the game-winner in the 1-0 shutout of No. 8/9 Penn State (Jan. 3) en route to becoming the Tigers' third AHA Rookie of the Week, joining Zach Wigle (Nov. 11) and Caleb Elfering (Oct. 28).
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
• RIT is currently 11-1 when scoring at least three goals but is 2-8 when scoring fewer than three goals
• RIT is 12-2 when holding opponents under three goals, but 1-7 when allowing three or more goals.
• The Tigers are 13-2 when holding at least a share of the lead after two periods this season, including a  9-0 mark when leading after 40 minutes of play. However, RIT is 0-7 when trailing entering the third period.
 
ZACH ATTACK
First-year forward Zach Wigle rides a team-best five-game point streak into the weekend. Tied for the team lead with 15 points as well as 10 assists, he has totaled a goal and five assists during the streak, including two assists in last Saturday's 3-2 OT win versus Robert Morris. He has also logged double-digit faceoff wins in four-straight contests, winning 61.1 percent of his draws during the run, including a 16-of-23 showing in the 1-0 upset of No. 8/9 Penn State (Jan. 3) to tie a career-high.
 
ELF OFF THE SHELF
First-year forward Caleb Elfering was voted the AHA Rookie of the Month for October. Elfering finished the month with six points on two goals and four assists. He totaled three points during the Air Force sweep, starting with an assist and two blocked shots in the 5-1 win before adding a goal and two assists in the 7-3 victory to land AHA Rookie of the Week recognition. He also scored his first goal in a Tiger sweater during the homecoming victory over Clarkson.
 
750 AND COUNTING
RIT's 1-0 win over No. 8/9 Penn State on Jan. 3 was the 750th game RIT has played since making the jump to the Division I level for the 2005-06 season. The Tigers currently own a 368-315-70 record for a .535 winning percentage since moving up from the Division III ranks.
 
EVERYBODY EATS
Seventeen Tigers have scored at least one goal this season, while 22 of the 24 total skaters have notched at least one point. Senior defenseman Xavier Lapointe notched his first assist of the season in the 3-2 loss at Clarkson (Dec. 29) to become the latest point scorer while junior defenseman Ben Roger notched his first goal of the season in the 2-1 win at Robert Morris (Nov. 14).
 
TIGERS VS. CANISIUS
Friday's game will mark the 64th all-time meeting between RIT and Canisius. The Tigers lead the all-time series, 31-30-2, including a 16-13-1 home record, but trail, 13-17-1, on the road. The teams split a home-and-home series in December as the home team won both nights. RIT won the opener, 3-1, on goals by senior forwards Austin Brimmer and Simon Isabelle along with what proved to be the game-winner by first-year Caleb Elfering in the third period.  The following night, the Tigers led, 2-1, midway through the second period before Canisius scored three unanswered goals the rest of the way to earn the win.