O’Regan also tallied a point against Bentley. But finding the back of the net may be harder against a physical Engineers defense.

“RPI has some big defenseman so we’re going to have to work on getting it behind them coming in the zone and then pressuring hard,” O’Regan said.

RPI’s strong defense has held opponents to an average of 1.30 goals per game in the Engineer’s three-game winning streak. In last year’s loss against Rensselaer, the Engineer’s back line held the Crimson to just 11 shots on the night.

“We got a slow start [against Bentley],” Criscuolo said. “The first period we have to keep it simple against RPI. They’re a big team so we know we’re going to have to get guys behind their defensemen and use our own speed…. This year they have already proven themselves. They have played quite a few good teams and have been successful.”

No. 13/14 Boston University has been one of RPI’s big name opponents in the season thus far. The Engineers topped the Terriers earlier this month, 3-1, with two goals from Ryan Haggerty. Their only loss came against then No. 5 Boston College, a 7-2 defeat suffered last Wednesday.

“We played pretty well as a team for the first game,” O’Regan said. “We are coming into the game with the confidence that we can definitely hold our own against a big RPI lineup.”

—Staff writer David A. Mazza can be reached at damazza@college.harvard.edu. Follow him on Twitter @David_Mazza1.