On March 16, 2002, at Lake Placid’s 1980 Olympic Arena, the Harvard men’s hockey team shocked some Big Red favorites by a score of 4-3—sound familiar?—sending shockwaves through college hockey.

That victory over Cornell earned the Crimson—who had stumbled into the playoffs with a 2-8-1 record in the final 11 games—a third straight overtime playoff win, an improbable ECAC title, and the team’s first NCAA Tournament appearance in almost a decade.

At times like these, a little recall can be inspiring.

“That memory of two years ago,” said current Harvard captain Kenny Smith, “is a light at the end of the tunnel.”

Having lost 7 of 11 previous contests—but with 6 games to go in the season—the Crimson (9-12-2, 7-8-1 ECAC) still has a chance this year, and leaders like Smith have lost no time pointing at 2002 to show younger teammates why.

But this is a different Harvard team, and the Crimson would most certainly prefer not to rely on another miracle. With six games remaining, the team can improve its seed for the ECAC playoffs and possibly earn a bye in the first round. To do so, the Crimson will need to win most, if not all, of its remaining regular season games.

The team can get a start with a strong effort in two tough games this weekend. Tonight, Harvard takes on Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (15-11-2, 9-6-1 ECAC), a team that is less than a month removed from shutting out Cornell in Ithaca. The Crimson completes the weekend series against streaking Union (11-13-4, 5-9-2 ECAC) at Bright Hockey Center tomorrow night.

RPI has been especially strong in recent weeks. Its 4-1 victory over the Crimson on Jan. 3 was the beginning of a stretch in which the Engineers won seven of 10, outscoring their opponents 30-17. RPI is third in the league in scoring, and goalie Nathan Marsters boasts a .913 save percentage.

What’s more, the Engineers now sit in a three-way tie—with Cornell and Dartmouth, and behind Brown and Colgate—for third in the ECAC.

Few predicted RPI’s rise to prominence. The team finished a staggering 13 games under .500 overall last season and 28 points out of first place in the ECAC.

“Initially, some people were probably surprised RPI beat us 4-1,” said Harvard coach Mark Mazzoleni. “But…you know, they’ve got a team with size that will smack you in the mouth. And that’s literally what they did against us.”

The Union hockey team has had a tougher road this year. At midseason, the Dutchmen hit rock bottom with a winless streak of 12 games—stretching from Nov. 15 to Jan. 23 of this year.

But after beating Sacred Heart in overtime Jan. 23, Union broke out in a big way.

They won three of the next four—including a 7-0 massacre at third-place Dartmouth—and are now approaching .500.

“They’ve put themselves right back into the possibility of hosting in the [first] round,” Mazzoleni said.