Men's hockey hosts Canisius on Tuesday during the Atlantic Hockey Tilt

ROCHESTER, NY – The RIT Men's Hockey team hosts Canisius on Tuesday night in an Atlantic Hockey America game in the first of three home games this week.

The Tigers return home for the first time in more than two weeks after a pair of non-conference losses at New Hampshire on Friday and Saturday. The Golden Griffins earned four of the six AHA points during their two sets at Mercyhurst this weekend, starting with a 3-2 win on Friday before equalizing 3-3 on Saturday.

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TIGER REWIND

RIT lost 5-1 and 6-1 in New Hampshire last week. The Wildcats scored 62 seconds into Friday's opener en route to a 3-0 lead early in the second. The Tigers got on the board midway through the second on a score from sophomore forward Matthew Wildebut UNH answered 1:13 later, scoring again early in the third to end the night.

New Hampshire opened Saturday's rematch with a pair of goals in the first 3:38 of regulation time before RIT scored a 5-on-3 power-play goal at 9:29 to cut the lead in half. Freshman defenseman Tristan Allen cycled a puck to the sophomore forward Christian Catalanowho found sophomore forward Tyler Fukakusa on the fold for a short finish on the inside of the right post. The Wildcats scored two unanswered goals in the second, followed by two more in the third, to complete the weekend sweep.

RIT freshman goaltender Jakub Krbecek was credited with 31 saves for his 10th game in as many appearances with at least 30 saves this season, before freshman year Ethan David He made 30 total saves in his first career start and third appearance in a Tiger jersey this season.

NO SOPHOMORE RAID

Sophomore forward Tyler Fukakusa leads RIT with 17 points this season, including a team-high 13 assists.
In a team-record five games, he scored a total of twelve points for the team on three goals and nine assists, including a career-high four assists in the 6–2 win over Bentley (November 9), during the month of November.
Fukakusa also had a goal and an assist in back-to-back games against Army (Nov. 16) and Sacred Heart (Nov. 22) before adding two assists versus the Pioneers (Nov. 17) for his fourth multi-point game of the month.
Fukakusa entered the week ranked 11th nationally with 172 faceoff wins while winning more than 53 percent of his draws this winter. He won 18 of 30 faceoffs in his career against Army (Nov. 16) and also won 13 of 15 draws (.867) in last Friday's setback in New Hampshire.

WELCOME MAT

Sophomore forward Matthew Wilde has totaled 10 points on five goals and five assists over the past eight games after missing the Tigers' first eight games due to a preseason injury.
He scored a career-high four points with two goals and two assists in the 6-2 win over Bentley (Nov. 9) for the first of three multi-point games in November.
Wilde was credited with four points over the two games at Sacred Heart, starting with two assists in the opener before recording a goal and an assist the following night.
He entered the week leading Atlantic Hockey with 1.25 points per game and 0.63 goals per game.

SPREAD THE LOVE

Senior forward Grady Hobbs became the 15th RIT player to score a goal during this season's Sacred Heart series. Freshman defenseman Mathieu Cobetto-Roy also registered an assist for his first point in a Tiger jersey, as 19 of the Tigers' 23 total skaters currently have at least one point in 16 games entering the week. First-year goalkeeper Jakub Krbecek also provided an assist in the 6-2 win over Bentley (9 November).

SIMON SAYS LEAVE THE PUCK

Junior forward Simon Isabelle entered the week fifth nationally with 192 faceoff wins and of the nine players who started the week with at least 175 faceoff wins, they finished in second place with a winning percentage of .608. Isabelle won a career-high 18-of-26 (.692) draws in the 3-2 win over Clarkson, before winning 18-of-23 (.783) faceoffs in the 2-1 Bowling Green setback . Isabelle won 11 of 19 faceoffs in Friday's opener at New Hampshire for his 12th double-digit faceoff win in 16 games this season. Isabelle also scored six goals for the team during Tuesday's Canisius match.

SAVINGS ACCOUNT

Freshmen Jakub Krbecek has stopped more than 30 shots in each of his 10 starts this season, including a career-high 43 saves in the 2-1 OT loss to Bowling Green (Oct. 19) and also stopped 35 shots in the 4-1 setback at Niagara (October 30). Krbecek won the first of two consecutive AHA Rookie of the Week honors after making 32 saves in a 3-2 win over Clarkson (Oct. 6), winning his first collegiate start. He also recorded his first career point with an assist and made 33 saves in the 6-2 win over Bentley (Nov. 9). Krbecek moved past current RIT goaltending coach Mike Rotolo '17 for the most 30-save games by a RIT freshman in program history of the D1 era.