#3 North Dakota at Minnesota
Nov. 28-29, 2019
Minneapolis, Minn.
3M Arena at Mariucci
Thursday: 7:07 pm
Friday: 7:07 pm
 
UND trails 132-142-15 (.481)
Last year: UND, 3-1
Oct. 27, 2018 in Las Vegas
 
THIS WEEK
Former conference foes and rivals-- Minnesota and North Dakota-- square off this week for a pair of non-league tilts in the Twin Cities.
 
SATURDAY SYNOPSIS
Jordan Kawaguchi's overtime game-winner-- his third in this calendar year-- propelled North Dakota past St. Cloud State, 2-1, for UND's 11th straight home win, running its overall unbeaten streak to nine.
 
FRIDAY RECAP
Shane Pinto scored a pair of goals as North Dakota remained perfect at home this season with a 4-2 win over St. Cloud State, retaining sole possession of first place in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference.
 
BROADCAST INFORMATION
This weekend's games will both be telecast live on FOX Sports North. The series was also picked up for streaming on TSN.ca in Canada and foxsportsgo.com in the United States.
 
All UND hockey games, home and away, can be heard on stations across the UND Sports Home of Economy Radio Network, as well as through the iHeart Radio app. The flagship station for the network is 96.1 FM (The Fox). Longtime broadcaster Tim Hennessy, in his 41st season as the voice of UND men's hockey, calls the action while Steve Olson provides color analysis.
 
SOCIAL MEDIA
Follow along with the action live during all UND hockey games by following @UNDmhockey and @UNDInsider on Twitter. Fans can also read the action via live chat via the Grand Forks Herald and beat writer Brad Schlossman.
 
KAWA-GWG-UCHI
Jordan Kawaguchi has a flair for the dramatic, scoring three overtime goals in his career. The latest came last Saturday in a 2-1 win over St. Cloud State. According to reseatch dug up by Brad Schlossman of the Grand Forks Herald, Kawaguchi is the first UND player to notch three career OT winners since Justin Duberman (1990). For his career, Kawaguchi has five game-winners among his 19 tallies.
 
PIN-TWO
Shane Pinto registered his first career two-goal game in Friday's 4-2 win over St. Cloud State. Three of his first four season goals have come in the first period this season.
 
JORDAN WITH THE ASSISTS
Jordan Kawaguchi registered three more assists last week to give him a team-leading 14 on the season (1.08 per game). The junior assistant captain is tied for third in the nation in that category heading into this week.
 
THE ONE GOES TO 11
North Dakota remained perfect on the season (9-0-0) and ran its home winning streak overall to 11 with Saturday's win over St. Cloud State.  This run is the second longest winning streak at the new Ralph Engelstad Arena.   
 
DATES                  Consecutive wins
1/23/16 - 10/22/17                    12
3/8/19 - current                                  11
1/11/08 - 2/24/08                        8
1/22/11 - 10/7/11                        8
11/7/15 - 1/2/16                          7
11/30/13 - 2/7/14                        7
11/30/02 - 12/28/02                    7
3/2/02 - 11/23/02                        7
 
DID I HEAR A NINER IN THERE?
UND's 9-0 record at home to start the season is its best in the history of the new Ralph Engelstad Arena. The last time a UND team started the season 9-0 at home was in the 1964-65 season (that team started 10-0 at home).
 
STAR-AGUCHI
Jordan Kawaguchi has been named one of the three stars of the game in seven of the nine home games this season, including in each of the last five. Last week, Kawaguchi earned the second star with his two-assist performance on Friday and then was the first star after his game-winning OT goal. He piled up six points in the NCHC-opening sweep of Miami, tallying a goal and five assists. He had three points each night, giving him three games already this season with at least three points. For his efforts he was named the NCHC Forward of the Week (second time) and the NCAA's Third Star of the Week.
 
POWER PLAY POWERING UP
The UND power play unit has scored in each of the last six games, plugging along at an efficient 7-for-26 (26.7% clip). In the seven games before this stretch, UND was just 2-for-25 (8.0%).
 
KILLING ME SOFTLY
St. Cloud State finally tallied a power play goal against UND, just the third against North Dakota's penalty kill unit all season. The Fighting Hawks have killed 42 of 45 penalties this season, (93.3% -- 4th best in the NCAA).
 
POLL POSITION
UND continues its vault upwards in the national polls. This week, UND moved two spots in the USCHO.com poll and three spots in the  USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll to reach third.  
 
STRONG NCHC FLAVOR IN THE POLLS
Five of the eight NCHC teams are ranked in the USCHO.com poll this week. Three of those teams are in the top 10 with UND at three, Denver at four and Minnesota Duluth in eighth. Western Michigan is 17th and Omaha is 18th.
 
SAFE TO SAY HE'S GOOD
Scheel's 1.88 goals against average currently ranks at the top of UND's record books for lowest GAA in a career. He sits well in front of leaders Cam Johnson and Zane McIntyre (2.10). His save percentage (.914) would rank fifth with one more game played to reach minimum games-played standards.
 
Career GAA
1. Adam Scheel (2017-).............. 1.88
2. Cam Johnson (2014-18)................... 2.10
    Zane McIntyre (2012-15................... 2.10
4. J.P. Lamoureux (2004-08)............... 2.14
    Jordan Parise (2003-06).................... 2.14
 
Career Save Percentage
Career Save Percentage Leaders
1. Zane McIntyre (2012-15)................. .926
2. Jordan Parise (2003-06).................... .921
3. J.P. Lamoureux (2004-08)............... .920
4. Karl Goehring (1997-01) ................. .918
5. Adam Scheel (2017-).............. .914
5. Cam Johnson (2014-18)................... .914
 
HIGH FIVES FOR SMITTY
Cole Smith potted an empty net goal late in the 4-2 win Friday to give him five goals on the season already. That total matches his career high from both last year and his sophomore season. Smith has 18 career goals to his credit.
 
HIGH FIVES FOR COLLIN, TOO
Collin Adams found the five-hole for his fifth goal of the season Friday, also matching a career best. Three of his goals this season have stood up as the game winners, one of only two UND players with muliple game-winners this season (Kawaguchi, 2).
 
FOUR PLAY
UND has scored four goals already in eight games this season. North Dakota is 7-0-1 in those contests.
 
HOME SWEET HOME
UND is 9-0-0 at home this season and has been good offensively and defensively. North Dakota is out-scoring its opponents, 40-12 at home this year through nine games and leads the nation in goal margin (+28), shots on goals allowed/game (16.8) and wins (9).
 
100 PERCENT EFFORT
UND head coach Brad Berry etched his 100th career win in the victory over St. Cloud State last Saturday. A look at his milestone games in his five years behind the UND bench:
 
MILESTONE WINS FOR COACH BERRY
1-     Oct. 9, 2015      5-2 vs. Lake Superior State
10-   Nov. 20, 2015   4-3 at St. Cloud State
25-   Feb. 26, 2016    4-2 at Omaha
50-   Feb. 4, 2017      2-1 ST. CLOUD STATE
100- Nov. 23, 2019   2-1 ST. CLOUD STATE
 
HELPING YOUR OWN CAUSE
Goalie Adam Scheel had an assist on the game-winning goal Nov. 16 at Denver. It marked his second career assist.
 
WEATHERBY OR NOT TO BE
Jasper Weatherby turned in his third straight power play goal at Denver, becoming the first UND player to score a PPG in three consecutive games this season. The last to do it was Rhett Gardner last year (Nov. 17-24). The last North Dakota player to make it four straight was Shane Gersich in 2017 (Nov. 12-25).
 
SCHEEL THING
Adam Scheel picked up his 10th win over a ranked team in the Nov. 16 victory at Denver.
 
TAKING DOWN THE BIG BOYS
Wins over ranked teams for Scheel in '19-20
Date            Opponent                                              Score
Nov 16    at #2/1 Denver                           4-1
 
Wins over ranked teams for Scheel in '18-19
Date            Opponent                                              Score
Oct 20     vs.#7  Minnesota State               4-3
Oct 27     vs. #5  Minnesota                       3-1
Nov 2      vs. #16 Wisconsin                       5-0
Nov 3      vs. #16 Wisconsin                       3-2
Nov 9      at #19 Miami                              3-1
Dec 1       at #2 Minn. Duluth                     2-1
Dec 7       vs. #6 Denver                             4-1
Jan 26      vs. #1 St. Cloud St                       5-1
Feb 15     at #9 Western Michigan             5-1
 
THE NEW 30
Adam Scheel recorded 30 saves Nov. 15 at Denver for the third time in his career. He is 1-1-1 in those games (33 saves vs St Cloud on Jan 25, 2019 (L) and 32 at Western Michigan Feb. 15, 2019 in a win).
 
GETTING THEM OFF THEIR PEDESTAL
UND has beaten the No. 1 team in the country (in either national poll) in each of the last five seasons.
 
2019-20     Nov 16 at Denver             W, 4-1
2018-19     Jan 26 vs. SCSU                W, 5-1
2017-18     Nov 17 at Denver             W, 5-4
2016-17     Mar 17 vs Denver             W, 1-0
(NCHC Semifinals)
2015-16     Apr 9 vs Quinnipiac         W, 5-1
(national championship game)
 
MAGNESS BUSINESS
North Dakota sported the business suits at Magness Arena Nov. 16 as its bested Denver, 4-1, to take the series against the Pioneers. It marked the first series win at Magness for UND since the 2003-04 season.
 
WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE?
UND's +30 goal differential is second-best among all Division I schools heading into this week.  North Dakota has outscored its opponents, 50-20, and already has four games with five goals or more this season, just one shy of all of last season's tally.
 
 
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