Month: January 2016

Freshmen are leading the way for the Western Michigan Broncos, as 18 of the team’s first 58 goals (31 percent) have been scored by first-year players. Forward Griffen Molino is tied for third in the league scoring race with 18 points (7g, 11a), while classmate Colt Conrad (5-8-13) is tied for ninth. First-year blueliner Oliver Kaski has also chipped in with 11 points. Among other accolades, Molino was named the NCHC Rookie of the Month for December.

The Broncos are coming off of a home shellacking at the hands of SCSU, losing 8-2 and 7-3 to the first-place Huskies. St. Cloud State scored on six of ten power play opportunities, dropping WMU’s penalty kill rate to under 70 percent, easily the worst unit in the country.

The boys from Kalamazoo, Michigan like to play a tight, physical brand of hockey, but that has meant quite a bit of time in the penalty box. WMU has been in 109 shorthanded situations already this season (compared to 79 power play opportunities). The Broncos’ power play has scored 16 goals this year (converting at 20.3%), but their penalty killers have allowed 34 goals to the opposition. By comparison, North Dakota has scored twenty power play goals and allowed fifteen in an equal number of man-advantage and shorthanded situations (101 each).

This season, the race for the Penrose is down to North Dakota and St. Cloud State. The Huskies (12-3-1-1, 38 points) are idle this weekend and have eight league games remaining, while the Fighting Hawks (11-2-1-1, 35 points) have ten. SCSU and UND, winners of the first two NCHC regular season league titles, will not meet again in the regular season.

If North Dakota is to put two more victories in the books and pass the Huskies, they will need to do it with secondary scoring. Two Hobey Baker candidates, senior forward Drake Caggiula (15-15-30) and sophomore forward Nick Schmaltz (3-24-27), are expected to miss a second consecutive weekend of action. In their absence last weekend against Colorado College, the top five forwards in the lineup for North Dakota (Brock Boeser, Bryn Chyzyk, Rhett Gardner, Luke Johnson, and Austin Poganski) accounted for eight goals and eight assists. Boeser also scored the only goal in Friday’s shootout victory over the Tigers, UND’s first shootout win in the history of the NCHC.

WMU’s Lukas Hafner, a senior goaltender who played his junior hockey with the Cornwall Colts (CCHL), has the worst numbers of his four-year career (3.49 goals-against average and a save percentage of .901), but that has as much to do with the team in front of him as it does his own play. Hafner has the ability to steal games and was a force two seasons ago, posting a 2.06 GAA and a save percentage of .925. The Toledo, Ohio native also has six assists in his career.

His counterpart in the UND net, sophomore Cam Johnson, has had two rough outings in his last four starts after going nearly 300 consecutive minutes without allowing a goal (a UND record and the second-longest in the history of NCAA Division I men’s hockey) . The Hockey Commissioners’ Association and NCHC Player of the Month for the month of December allowed four goals on 23 shots against Omaha and three goals on 11 shots against Colorado College in two consecutive Friday home starts this month. Johnson was able to bounce back from both of those outings (making 46 of 48 stops in the two Saturday rematches) and is currently first in the nation in goals-against average (1.42) and tied for second in save percentage (.942).

During the 2015-16 campaign, Brad Berry’s squad is unbeaten (17-0-2) when leading after the first forty minutes of play. In fact, North Dakota has gone 65 straight games without a loss when leading after the first two periods. Amazingly, UND is 8th nationally in scoring offense and 3rd in scoring defense, notching 93 goals and allowing only 46 in 26 games this season. Nationally, only St. Cloud State (113 goals for/52 goals against in 26 games), Boston College (100 goals for/45 goals against in 24 games), and Quinnipiac (92 goals for/40 goals against in 25 games) boast a better scoring margin than North Dakota.

Berry has his team in very good position for a 14th consecutive NCAA tournament appearance. UND went 9-1-2 in non-conference games this season, with a home split with Wisconsin accounting for the only loss in twelve games. The Fighting Hawks are currently 3rd in the Pairwise rankings, one of four NCHC teams (along with St. Cloud State, Omaha, and Denver) who would make the NCAAs if the season ended today. Minnesota-Duluth (19th) and Miami (t-20th) are close, with Western Michigan and Colorado College outside the top 25.

Western Michigan Team Profile

Head Coach: Andy Murray (5th season at WMU, 80-73-27, .519)

Pairwise Ranking: t-30th of 60 teams
National Rankings: NR/NR
This Season: 7-14-3 overall, 4-9-1-1 NCHC (7th)
Last Season: 14-18-5 overall (missed NCAA tournament), 6-13-5-4 NCHC (7th)

Team Offense: 2.42 goals scored/game
Team Defense: 3.96 goals allowed/game
Power Play: 20.3% (16 of 79)
Penalty Kill: 68.8% (75 of 109)

Key Players: Freshman F Griffen Molino (7-11-18), Junior F Sheldon Dries (10-4-14), Freshman F Colt Conrad (5-8-13), Senior F Nolan LaPorte (5-6-11), Freshman D Oliver Kaski (4-7-11), Junior D Chris Dienes (2-8-10), Senior G Lukas Hafner (5-9-3, 3.49 GAA, .901 SV%, 1 SO)

North Dakota Team Profile

Head Coach: Brad Berry (1st season at UND, 20-3-3, .827)

Pairwise Ranking: 3rd of 60 teams
National Rankings: #2/#2
This Season: 20-3-3 overall, 11-2-1-1 NCHC (2nd)
Last Season: 29-10-3 overall (NCAA Frozen Four appearance), 16-6-2-0 NCHC (1st)

Season Statistics:
Team Offense: 3.58 goals scored/game
Team Defense: 1.77 goals allowed/game
Power Play: 19.8% (20 of 101)
Penalty Kill: 85.1% (86 of 101)

Key Players: Freshman F Brock Boeser (15-12-27), Senior F Bryn Chyzyk (9-7-16), Junior forward Luke Johnson (7-7-14), Sophomore F Austin Poganski (6-9-15), Sophomore D Tucker Poolman (3-11-14), Junior D Troy Stecher (5-14-19), Junior D Paul LaDue (2-8-10), Sophomore G Cam Johnson (11-1-1, 1.42 GAA, .942 SV%, 4 SO)

By The Numbers

Last Meeting: February 21, 2015 (Kalamazoo, MI). Western Michigan scored two extra-attacker goals in the last four minutes of the third period to knot the game at two, but Drake Caggiula sent the home fans home unhappy with a goal at 3:31 of overtime. Zane McIntyre made 34 of 36 saves for the Green and White, who also won Friday’s contest by a score of 3-1. The Broncos’ lone goal in the opener came with 33 seconds remaining in the game, also with the goalie pulled. Yes, that’s right, all three of WMU’s goals on the weekend came with an extra attacker on the ice.

Most Important Meeting: March 24, 2012 (St. Paul, MN). North Dakota upended Western Michigan 3-1 in the NCAA West Regional semifinal. Brock Nelson had two points, including an empty net goal with 25 seconds remaining that sent UND to the regional finals against Minnesota. Aaron Dell made 24 saves for the Green and White. The Broncos, who have played at the Division I level since 1975-76, have five NCAA tournament appearances but have not been in the national tournament since 2012.

A Trip Down Memory Lane: Saturday, March 22nd (Minneapolis, MN). North Dakota faced a must-win situation in the 3rd place game at the inaugural NCHC Frozen Faceoff, and did not disappoint the partisan crowd. The Green and White rolled to a 5-0 victory behind two first period goals from Conner Gaarder. UND netminder Zane Gothberg made 25 saves for the shutout, and Dave Hakstol’s crew played the waiting game for several more hours before discovering that they had indeed made the NCAA tournament for the 13th consecutive season.

All-time Series: In the short history between the schools, UND has won eleven of the twelve games, outscoring the Broncos 51-22. WMU’s lone victory over North Dakota was a 2-1 road win on March 8th, 2014. The teams first met in 1997.

Game News and Notes

UND forward Luke Johnson has collected three goals and four assists in seven career games against Western Michigan but was held off the scoresheet in last February’s road sweep. North Dakota is 9-1-1 on the road this season, while the Broncos are 6-2-1 at Lawson Ice Arena, suffering their first two home defeats of the year at the hands of St. Cloud State last weekend. UND has never lost in Kalamazoo (6-0-0). The Fighting Hawks and Broncos will also meet at Ralph Engelstad Arena on March 4th and 5th, the last two games of the regular season.

Media Coverage

Friday’s opener will not be televised, but Saturday’s contest will be shown live on American Sports Network, MidcoSN2, TSN2 (Canada), and WDAY’Z Extra. A high definition webcast of the games is also available to NCHC.tv subscribers. All UND men’s hockey games (home and away) can be heard on 96.1 FM and on stations across the UND Sports Network (as well as through the iHeart Radio app). Follow @UNDMHockey for real-time Twitter updates, or follow the action via live chat at UNDsports.com.

The Prediction

North Dakota can take a huge step forward in the league race with two NCHC victories this weekend. It won’t be easy, but UND showed last weekend that they can score without Caggiula and Schmaltz in the lineup. UND 4-1, 3-2.

Mike Haviland’s second year behind the Colorado College bench has already produced better results than year one. Last season, the Tigers were historically bad, winning just twice (2-19-3-1) in 24 league games. This year, CC already has three conference victories (a December home sweep against Miami and a road split at St. Cloud State two weekends ago), and Haviland’s squad has posted a 5-4-0 overall record in the past nine games after opening the season with thirteen consecutive losses.

The feeling among the Tiger faithful is that new blood behind the bench will eventually translate into new life on the ice, and that has certainly been true since the end of November. Haviland is new to Division I hockey, but he was named the AHL coach of the year in 2006-07 (Norfolk Admirals) and served as an assistant coach with the Chicago Blackhawks for four seasons (2008-12), winning a Stanley Cup in 2010. He was most recently head coach for the AHL’s Hershey Bears.

UND and Colorado College met six times last season (twice in Colorado Springs), with North Dakota winning all six games and outscoring the Tigers 25-10. Without those six victories, UND’s record last year would have looked far less impressive at 23-10-3 (.681). This season, Brad Berry’s first trip to Colorado Springs as head coach resulted in a pair of victories (5-2, 2-0).

This weekend’s games are critical for UND’s Penrose Cup hopes. Last year, North Dakota went 10-2-0 against the bottom four teams in the league (Colorado College, Western Michigan, St. Cloud State, and Minnesota-Duluth) en route to a 16-6-2 conference mark and the NCHC regular season title. A second reward for the Green and White was a first-round playoff series against Colorado College, the 13th time in a row that UND hosted the opening round of the conference tournament. The Green and White dispatched the Tigers in two games (5-1, 3-2) and advanced to the NCHC Frozen Faceoff.

This season, the race for the Penrose is down to North Dakota and St. Cloud State. The Huskies (10-3-1-1) have ten league games remaining, while the Fighting Hawks (10-2-0-0) have twelve. SCSU and UND, winners of the first two NCHC regular season league titles, will not meet again in the regular season.

If North Dakota is to put victories in the books and keep pace with the Huskies, they will need to do it with secondary scoring. Two Hobey Baker candidates, senior forward Drake Caggiula (15-15-30) and sophomore forward Nick Schmaltz (3-24-27), are expected to miss this weekend’s action. Freshman Brock Boeser (15-10-25) will be paired with new linemates but will need to finish his chances, as will senior forward Bryn Chyzyk (8-5-13). Other likely contributors among the forward group include junior Luke Johnson, sophomore Austin Poganski, and freshmen Shane Gersich and Rhett Gardner, all of whom have already netted five goals.

Colorado College has seen a resurgence in their offensive numbers since assembling a forward line of Hunter Fejes, Sam Rothstein, and Luc Gerdes eight games ago. The three upperclassmen (Fejes is a senior; the other two are juniors) have combined for 11 goals and 15 assists over the past four weekends, and the Tigers have averaged 2.88 goals per game over that same stretch, a far cry from the 1.57 goals/game over the first 14 games of the season.

Another storyline for the boys from Colorado Springs has been the play of freshman netminder Jacob Nehama. The Allen, Texas native has all five of the Tigers’ victories this season (junior Tyler Marble is 0-7-0), and those five wins have all come in his last eight starts.

His counterpart in the UND net, sophomore Cam Johnson, has been absolutely incredible since returning from injury in late November. Johnson leads the nation in both goals-against average (1.28) and save percentage (.949). The Flint, Michigan native went nearly 300 consecutive minutes without allowing a goal (a UND record and the second-longest in the history of NCAA Division I men’s hockey) and was named both the Hockey Commissioners’ Association and NCHC Player of the Month for the month of December.

Johnson’s play, equal parts steady and spectacular, has meant that North Dakota has been able to hold leads. During the 2015-16 campaign, Brad Berry’s squad is unbeaten (16-0-1) when leading after the first forty minutes of play. In fact, North Dakota has gone 63 straight games without a loss when leading after the first two periods. Amazingly, UND is 11th nationally in scoring offense and 3rd in scoring defense, notching 83 goals and allowing only 40 in 24 games this season. Nationally, only Quinnipiac (92 goals for/40 goals against in 25 games) boasts a better scoring margin than North Dakota.

Berry has his team in very good position for a 14th consecutive NCAA tournament appearance. UND went 9-1-2 in non-conference games this season, with a home split with Wisconsin accounting for the only loss in twelve games. The Fighting Hawks are currently 3rd in the Pairwise rankings, one of four NCHC teams (along with St. Cloud State, Omaha, and Denver) who would make the NCAAs if the season ended today. Minnesota-Duluth sits squarely on the bubble (tied with Minnesota at 17), with Western Michigan, Miami, and Colorado College outside the top 25.

Colorado College Team Profile

Head Coach: Mike Haviland (2nd season at CC, 11-43-3, .219)

Pairwise Ranking: t-52nd of 60 teams
National Rankings: NR/NR
This Season: 5-17-0 overall, 3-9-0-0 NCHC (8th)
Last Season: 6-26-3 overall, 2-19-3-1 NCHC (8th)

Season Statistics:
Team Offense: 2.05 goals scored/game
Team Defense: 3.59 goals allowed/game
Power Play: 15.4% (14 of 91)
Penalty Kill: 81.1% (73 of 90)

Key players: Senior F Hunter Fejes (9-5-14), Junior F Luc Gerdes (4-9-13), Junior F Sam Rothstein (5-7-12), Senior F Cody Bradley (5-4-9), Sophomore D Teemu Kivihalme (3-9-12), Freshman D Andrew Farny (2-7-9), Freshman G Jacob Nehama (5-10-0, 3.37 GAA, .905 SV%)

North Dakota Team Profile

Head Coach: Brad Berry (1st season at UND, 19-3-2, .833)

Pairwise Ranking: 3rd of 60 teams
National Rankings: #2/#2
This Season: 19-3-2 overall, 10-2-0-0 NCHC (2nd)
Last Season: 29-10-3 overall (NCAA Frozen Four appearance), 16-6-2-0 NCHC (1st)

Season Statistics:
Team Offense: 3.46 goals scored/game
Team Defense: 1.67 goals allowed/game
Power Play: 20.7% (19 of 92)
Penalty Kill: 85.1% (80 of 94)

Key Players: Freshman F Brock Boeser (15-10-25), Senior F Bryn Chyzyk (8-5-13), Junior forward Luke Johnson (5-6-11), Sophomore F Austin Poganski (5-6-11), Sophomore D Tucker Poolman (3-11-14), Junior D Troy Stecher (5-14-19), Junior D Paul LaDue (2-6-8), Sophomore G Cam Johnson (10-1-1, 1.28 GAA, .949 SV%, 4 SO)

By The Numbers

Last Meeting: October 31, 2015 (Colorado Springs, CO). The Tigers could not solve UND’s Matt Krynkiw, as the junior netminder stopped all 29 shots he faced (earning his second shutout) and propelled North Dakota to a 2-0 victory (goals by Christian Wolanin and Shane Gersich). On the weekend, the Green and White put 79 shots on goal and scored seven times (UND won 5-2 in Friday’s opener).

Last Meeting in Grand Forks: March 14, 2015. Senior forward Connor Gaarder potted the game-winner with under 90 seconds remaining in the hockey game to propel UND to a 3-2 victory over the visiting Tigers. Colorado College forward Luc Gerdes scored a wraparound goal at 6:10 of the third period to knot the game at 2. CC outshot the Green and White 33-31, but Zane McIntyre was up to the challenge, making 31 saves in the victory. North Dakota won Friday’s opener by a much more comfortable 5-1 margin.

Most Important Meeting: March 27, 1997. UND defeated Colorado College, 6-2, in the Frozen Four Semifinals in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Two nights later, North Dakota downed Boston University, 6-4, to claim its sixth NCAA Championship. North Dakota and Colorado College also met in the 2001 East Regional (Worcester, Mass.), with UND prevailing, 4-1.

All-time Series: UND leads the all-time series, 151-80-10 (.647), including a blistering 97-21-6 (.806) mark in Grand Forks. The teams first met in 1948.

Last Ten: North Dakota has won nine of the last ten meetings between the teams, outscoring CC 38-18 over that span. The only Tigers victory was an overtime win in the 2014 NCHC quarterfinals.18 of the last 21 games have been decided by two goals or less.

Game News and Notes

In first periods this season, North Dakota has outscored opponents 27¬-13 while Colorado College has been outscored 22-8. These two coaching staffs coached against each other at the AHL and NHL levels prior to the NCHC. Only six teams in UND men’s hockey history have won 20 games before the calendar turned to February. With four January games remaining on the schedule, Brad Berry currently has his team’s record at 19-3-2.

Media Coverage

Both games this weekend will be televised on Midco Sports Network. Saturday’s contest will also be featured on FOX College Sports Central. A high definition webcast of the games is also available to NCHC.tv subscribers. All UND men’s hockey games (home and away) can be heard on 96.1 FM and on stations across the UND Sports Network (as well as through the iHeart Radio app). Follow @UNDMHockey for real-time Twitter updates, or follow the action via live chat at UNDsports.com.

The Prediction

If UND was healthy, I would have the home team winning by three goals each night, but that’s obviously not the case. Question marks abound: How will Brad Berry shuffle the lines to get the most out of his forwards? Will North Dakota’s top four defensemen be able to handle the Rothstein line? How will freshman goaltender Jacob Nahama respond in his first Ralph Engelstad Arena appearance? I’m giving the Fighting Hawks the edge in both contests, but these games will be much closer than most people expect. UND 3-2, 3-1.

Nebraska-Omaha has finally figured out who will replace Ryan Massa in net (the four-year starter logged over 4000 career minutes between the pipes for the Mavs and was a key component in their Frozen Four run a year ago). In twelve starts, freshman netminder Evan Weninger ranks second in the league in save percentage (.942) and third in goals-against average, allowing less than two goals per game.

Fortunately for North Dakota, Weninger will not be in uniform this weekend due to an injury. Surprisingly, Mavericks’ head coach Dean Blais has elected to give freshman Alex Blankenburg his first career start in Friday’s opener rather than tab junior Kirk Thompson, who has performed capably in eight starts this season. Thompson has amassed a record of 4-3-1 with a 2.75 goals-against average and an .889 save percentage. Blankenburg has no official NCAA statistics (of course) and is listed at 5-8 and 162 pounds.

His counterpart in the UND net, sophomore Cam Johnson, has been absolutely incredible since returning from injury in late November. Johnson has won eight consecutive games (four by shutout) and allowed a total of four goals over that stretch (one each in the other four victories). The Flint, Michigan native went nearly 300 consecutive minutes without allowing a goal (a UND record and the second-longest in the history of NCAA Division I men’s hockey) and was named both the Hockey Commissioners’ Association and NCHC Player of the Month for the month of December.

Johnson’s play, equal parts steady and spectacular, has meant that North Dakota has been able to hold leads. During the 2015-16 campaign, Brad Berry’s squad is unbeaten (11-0-1) when leading after the first forty minutes of play. In fact, North Dakota has gone 62 straight games without a loss when leading after the first two periods. Amazingly, UND is 11th nationally in scoring offense 2nd in scoring defense, notching 75 goals and allowing only 35 in 22 games this season. By comparison, UNO has outscored opponents 66-47 over their first 20 games. Nationally, only Quinnipiac (87 goals for/35 goals against in 23 games) boasts a better scoring margin than North Dakota.

Omaha was swept by visiting Denver last weekend, the second sweep the Mavericks have suffered this season (UNO also lost a pair of games at Western Michigan in late October). Omaha’s first period on Friday night will set the tone for the entire weekend, as head coach Dean Blais will have his squad prepared to rebound from their first two home losses of the season.

Berry has his team in very good position for a 14th consecutive NCAA tournament appearance. UND went 9-1-2 in non-conference games this season, with a home split with Wisconsin accounting for the only loss in twelve games. The Fighting Hawks are currently 2nd in the Pairwise rankings, one of four NCHC teams (along with Omaha, St. Cloud State, and Denver) who would make the NCAA’s if the season ended today. Minnesota-Duluth sits squarely on the bubble at 16, with Western Michigan, Miami, and Colorado College outside the top 25.

Omaha will host North Dakota in late February for UND’s first games in the newly-opened Baxter Arena (capacity 7,898). With hockey back on the UNO campus, North Dakota can expect a raucous, rowdy atmosphere next month. Brad Berry has his squad playing well on the road, going 10-1-2 in the first half of the season. No team in the country has more road wins than North Dakota.

UND’s next home victory will mark 200 home wins since the current Ralph Engelstad Arena opened prior to the 2001-2002 season. North Dakota is 199-73-34 (.706) all-time at the Palace on the Prairie, including an 8-1-1 record this season. The team will be wearing green jerseys at home for the first time in the Ralph, and a Green Out is planned for Friday’s opener. Fans are encouraged to wear green to match and support the home squad. NCHC teams will wear dark jerseys at home and white jerseys on the road for the second half of the season (conference games only).

Nebraska-Omaha Team Profile

Head Coach: Dean Blais (7th season at UNO, 125-104-25, .541)

Pairwise Ranking: 7th of 60 teams
National Rankings: #9/#9
This Season: 14-5-1 overall, 4-5-1-0 NCHC (5th)
Last Season: 20-13-6 overall (NCAA Frozen Four appearance), 12-8-4-3 NCHC (3rd)

Team Offense: 3.30 goals scored/game
Team Defense: 2.35 goals allowed/game
Power Play: 17.9% (14 of 78)
Penalty Kill: 87.5% (70 of 80)

Key Players: Junior forward Jake Guentzel (10-17-27), Junior F Austin Ortega (16-8-24), Junior F Justin Parizek (6-15-21), Sophomore F Jake Randolph (8-9-17), Sophomore D Luc Snuggerud (2-6-8), Junior D Ian Brady (1-5-6), Freshman G Evan Weninger (10-2-0, 1.99 GAA, .942 SV%, 1 SO)

North Dakota Team Profile

Head Coach: Brad Berry (1st season at UND, 18-2-2, .864)

Pairwise Ranking: 2nd of 60 teams
National Rankings: #1/#2
This Season: 18-2-2 overall, 9-1-0-0 NCHC (t-1st)
Last Season: 29-10-3 overall (NCAA Frozen Four appearance), 16-6-2-0 NCHC (1st)

Season Statistics:
Team Offense: 3.41 goals scored/game
Team Defense: 1.59 goals allowed/game
Power Play: 17.9% (15 of 84)
Penalty Kill: 84.7% (72 of 85)

Key Players: Senior F Drake Caggiula (14-15-29), Sophomore F Nick Schmaltz (3-23-26), Freshman F Brock Boeser (13-8-21), Senior F Bryn Chyzyk (8-3-11), Sophomore D Tucker Poolman (3-11-14), Junior D Troy Stecher (3-12-15), Freshman D Christian Wolanin (3-6-9), Sophomore G Cam Johnson (9-0-1, 1.07 GAA, .957 SV%, 4 SO)

By The Numbers:

Last meeting: January 31, 2015 (Omaha, NE). UND flipped the script from Friday’s opener as Brendan O’Donnell potted the game-winner two minutes into overtime to give North Dakota a 4-3 victory. One night earlier, Omaha forward Austin Ortega’s goal with 33 ticks remaining in the extra frame spoiled UND’s third period comeback. Five of the twelve goals in the series were scored on the power play.

Last meeting in Grand Forks: November 29, 2014. Zane McIntyre made 32 saves as the Green and White built a 3-1 lead and held on for a 3-2 home victory. North Dakota senior forward Mark McMillan scored a second period goal that withstood a lengthy review, and senior captain Stephane Pattyn potted a shorthanded tally late in the middle frame for the game winning goal. UND and UNO skated to a 2-2 tie in Friday’s opener, but Nebraska-Omaha won the shootout for the extra league point.

Most memorable meeting: The game that UND fans will long remember is the outdoor game played at TD Ameritrade Park (Omaha, Nebraska) on February 9th, 2013. One day after winning a tight 2-1 contest indoors, North Dakota throttled UNO 5-2 on a sunny, melty afternoon. Mavericks netminder John Faulkner was pulled after allowing three goals on five shots in just ten minutes of game action.

All-time: UND leads the all-time series 9-6-1 (.594), including a 4-3-1 (.563) record in games played in Grand Forks. North Dakota has picked up six wins and a tie in the last ten games between the schools, outscoring the Mavs 30-27 over that stretch. Three of the last four games have gone to overtime.

Game News and Notes

Dean Blais, who was the head coach at UND from 1994-2004, collected 262 victories at North Dakota and led the school to national titles in 1997 and 2000. Senior forward Drake Caggiula has appeared in 144 games in his North Dakota career, tied with Minnesota State’s Bryce Gervais for the most among all active NCAA Division I men’s hockey players. Prior to last weekend’s sweep at the hands of Denver, UNO had gone 8-1-1 in its previous ten games. Both UND and Omaha are tied for second in the nation with six shorthanded goals, one behind first-place Penn State. North Dakota has not lost since November 21st, a string of eight consecutive victories.

Media Coverage

Both games this weekend will be televised on Midco Sports Network. Saturday’s contest will also be featured on FOX College Sports Central. A high definition webcast of the games is also available to NCHC.tv subscribers. All UND men’s hockey games (home and away) can be heard on 96.1 FM and on stations across the UND Sports Network (as well as through the iHeart Radio app). Follow @UNDMHockey for real-time Twitter updates, or follow the action via live chat at UNDsports.com.

The Prediction

Here are the key questions for this series: Which defensive pairing will Brad Berry match up against Jake Guentzel’s line (with RW Austin Ortega and whoever plays left wing), and will those blueliners be effective? How will the CBS line (Caggiula, Brock Boesser, and Nick Schmaltz) fare against a rookie netminder making his first start in a hostile environment? And how will the officials call a game that is certain to be hard-nosed, gritty, and physical? The fans are in for a treat this weekend, and both teams will leave with points. 2-2 tie (North Dakota wins the shootout), UND 4-1.