To earn a bye, RPI (14-19-3, 9-11-0) would need to win both games while Cornell and Colgate would need to lose both of their games this weekend and Princeton would need to lose a makeup game to Harvard. Sunday afternoon.

“It’s just a continuation of our efforts to get everything lined up, offense, defense, special teams for Friday night,” RPI coach Dave Smith said. “Then you try to bottle it up and hold onto your winnings until Saturday, and you go into the playoffs feeling pretty good. That’s the mindset we have. Sometimes we felt close, sometimes we didn’t feel close. We keep growing and progressing, that’s how we feel.

As the playoffs approach, consistency will be key for an engineering team that hasn’t won back-to-back games since the second weekend in December.

RPI have beaten Harvard and Dartmouth on the road this season – both games were 2-0 wins sandwiched around a 2-0 loss to Union in the Mayor’s Cup – and have just finished a weekend with a victory on the road to Brown followed by a tough loss to last-place Yale.

Smith says, statistically speaking, Yale’s loss was his team’s best-played game, although RPI couldn’t overcome special teams lapses, which will need to be cleaned up.

“I thought our best game last weekend, in terms of process, was against Yale,” Smith said. “We threw 75 shot attempts and kept it at 50, then we lost the game because we allowed a shorthanded goal, two power play goals and an empty net. I really liked a lot of things.

The game against Dartmouth will be played under the same COVID-19 restrictions the school has had in place all season. Only students and teachers are allowed in the arena. But RPI is allowing each graduating player to have up to four guests on Saturday as part of the senior night celebration.

Although the numbers are small, Engineers captain Ture Linden says it will be significant because it’s the first time in two years that spectators other than students and faculty will enter Houston Field House for a game.

“It’s a great weekend for us, not only in terms of seeding and playoff implications, but also getting the chance to play in front of our parents and families who will be allowed to participate,” Linden said. “It’s going to be an extra special thing for us and just another reason for us to go out there and get three points.”

Linden noted the importance of blocking out the emotions of the weekend and focusing on the Big Green and then the Crimson.

“Every game in the ECAC is tough. The most important thing for us is to have a good start on Friday,” Linden said. Young, hard-working team. Anything can happen. We have to do our best. They’re quick, they work hungry for pucks. We have to play our best game.”

Sean Martin, a local freelance writer, is a frequent contributor to The Times Union.