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In a battle between two ECAC Hockey teams that have gotten off to hot starts, it was the No.13 Quinnipiac Bobcats who roared to a 3-0 victory over the RPI Engineers on Friday night in Hamden.

Quinnipiac freshman Daniel Winslow opened the scoring for the Bobcats, netting his first career goal after muscling one home from just outside the crease.

After that, it was the usual suspects.

Odeen Tufto doubled the advantage for his team after his one-timer from just outside the slot flashed past RPI netminder Linden Marshall. Then with around four minutes left, captain Chase Priskie connected on the power play, sending his 7th goal on the year into the back of the net and “Bobcat Nation” into a roar.

Here are three things we learned from the second ECAC Hockey win on the year for Rand Pecknold’s squad:

1. Special Teams will decide the fate of this team

Some might argue I’m jumping the gun here by making a claim like this, but based on what I’ve seen from the Bobcats so far, their performance on both the power play and penalty kill will be an underlying theme for all who watch this team from now until the end of the campaign.

It’s a small sample size right now, but Quinnipiac has been lethal on the power play throughout the young season. They have hit the back of the net on the man advantage in six of their eight games so far this season. They may not tally four power play goals in a game again like they did at home against AIC two weeks ago (three of those were in the third period), but their prowess here still cannot be denied.

Tonight, Odeen Tufto and Chase Priskie both lit the lamp on the power play. In total, the Bobcats have scored 10 goals in this phase of the game through eight games.

The penalty kill has not been as sharp as the power play for Rand Pecknold and his team. Although they are not bad here by any means, Pecknold and players have expressed in media days at the beginning of the season that defending while shorthanded is a point of emphasis.

Quinnipiac has conceded four goals on the penalty kill so far this season.

Today, the penalty kill did its job.

“Everyone just knows their role. We all know what we have to do and the unit today was all on the same page from the get-go,” starting goaltender Andrew Shortridge said. “It was very efficient.”

If the Bobcats can continue to produce on the man advantage and get a little stronger on the penalty kill after every game and practice, then they could be headed for a season that might not end until April.

2. Early goals becoming a trend

In almost every game this year, Quinnipiac has pressed from puck drop and forechecked with emphasis. The relentless nature and hounding of opponents at the start of the game for the Bobcats has come in handy.

QU has scored first in six of their eight contests on the year. It’s not just scoring first – the Bobcats have made it a habit to score early. Dan Winslow scored at around the five minute mark of this game, but it was not even near the earliest goal Quinnipiac has scored this year. Just to reference two instances off the top of my head, Quinnipiac scored 29 seconds in (Craig Martin) and 40 seconds in (Alex Whelan) against AIC (Martin in the first game of the home-and-home series, Whelan in the second).

Trends in sports can obviously be good or bad. If this trend continues, Quinnipiac will be in great shape as it navigates through an even playing field in ECAC Hockey.

3. The Frank Perrotti, Jr. Arena can become a fortress

In the 2015-16 season, then called the High Point Solutions Arena, the Bobcats went 15-2-4 at home. They rallied around their home success all the way to the NCAA Championship Game. In the two years following that, Quinnipiac has won just 18 home games comined, a far cry from the home success of their 2015-16 season.

But that can all change.

Just like with my point about special teams, it’s been a small sample size for Rand Pecknold’s squad at home this year. However, they have proved my point that this arena can become a fortress where visiting teams will despise coming to play. With today’s 3-0 win, Quinnipiac is undefeated at home (4-0-0). The Bobcats have outscored everyone this season 17-4 in Hamden.

“The fans are bringing the energy and excitement this year. As a player, it’s really easy to get up, get going for these home games because you want to impress in front of everyone and you want to come out with a win,” Shortridge said.

Quinnipiac will look to make it two conference wins in a row as Union College comes into town tomorrow. The Dutchmen are a complete team on both ends of the ice, something Pecknold is wary of.

“This will be a good test for us tomorrow night with Union,” Pecknold said. “I think they’re an NCAA tournament team. I think they’re a team capable of winning our league so we have to toughen, reload and be ready to go.”

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