Friday, Feb. 22 • 7:38 pm (CT) • Ralph Engelstad Arena (11,634) • Grand Forks, N.D.
Radio: Home of Economy UND Sports Radio Network (Tim Hennessy, Steve Olson) • TV: CBS Sports Network (Ben Holden, Dave Starman, Shireen Saski)
Webcast: http://www.cbssports.com/cbs-sports-network/
 
Saturday, Feb. 23 • 7:07 pm (CT) • Ralph Engelstad Arena (11,634) • Grand Forks, N.D.
Radio: Home of Economy UND Sports Radio Network (Tim Hennessy, Steve Olson)  • TV: Midco Sports Network (Alex Heinert, Jake Brandt)
Webcast: NCHC.tv
 
THIS WEEKEND:
North Dakota welcomes defending-NCAA champion Minnesota Duluth to the Ralph for a key National Collegiate Hockey Conference battle. UMD currently sits second in the league standings while North Dakota is fifth, three points back of Denver for the fourth and final spot that would host the quarterfinal round of the NCHC Playoffs come March.
 
TICKET INFORMATION
Single-game tickets remain available for his game. Tickets can be purchased at the UND Box Office at Ralph Engelstad Arena or online at FightingHawks.com/tickets.
 
Additional seats may become available on 'Ticket Release Thursday.'
 
Broadcast Coverage                                                                                                                                                                                 
All UND men's 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 40th season as the voice of UND men's hockey, calls the action while Steve Olson provides color analysis.
 
Both games this weekend will be televised live. Friday's game will be telecast by CBS Sports Network, which is also available on DirecTV (channel 221) and DISH Network (158). Saturday's game will be carried on Midco Sports Network. Saturday's game will also be available via streaming at NCHC.tv.
 
Social Media                                                                                                                                                                                                           
Receive live updates during all UND hockey games by following @UNDmhockey and @UNDInsider on Twitter. Fans can also follow the action via live chat via the Grand Forks Herald's UND hockey beat writer Brad Schlossman.
 
SERIES HISTORY
North Dakota owns an all-time mark of 146-86-9 against Minnesota Duluth, although the Bulldogs have won nine of the last 11 meetings. UND's win in the NCHC Frozen Faceoff third-place game snapped the school's longest losing streak against any school in nearly 30 years. That was the last loss of the season for UMD, which went on to win the NCAA championship. This season, the teams split a series at Amsoil Arena on Nov. 30 and Dec. 1. 
 
MINNESOTA DULUTH COACHING STAFF
Former North Dakota All-America defenseman Scott Sandelin (North Dakota '86) is in his 19th year behind the UMD bench and owns a 349-302-86 (.532) career record. Sandelin's coaching staff includes another former UND standout defenseman, Jason Herter (North Dakota '05), as well as assistant coaches Adam Krause (Minnesota Duluth '15) and Brant Nicklin (Minnesota Duluth '06).
 
ABOUT THE BULLDOGS
The Bulldogs have allowed an NCAA-low 51 goals this season and are the top penalty kill team in the country coming into the weekend. The Minnesota Duluth PK unit has killed off 91.8 percent of opposing power play opportunities to date, with teams managing just eight power-play goals on them all season (8-98).  Junior goalie Hunter Shepard is second in the nation in goals against average (1.73). They are led in scoring by three players that have tallied double-digit goal totals thus far: Nick Swaney (12), Parker Mackay (11) and Justin Richards (10).
 
LAST MEETINGS BETWEEN THESE TEAMS:
Minnesota Duluth used four second-period goals to chase UND starter Peter Thome in a 5-0 Nov. 30 win. Adam Scheel helped backstop North Dakota to a 2-1 win the following night with early first-period goals by Jordan Kawaguchi and Grant Mismash. Thome has not seen regular season action since that Friday game, sustaining an injury shortly following the start of the calendar year.
 
LAST SERIES
North Dakota split a series in Kalamazoo, Mich., against the ninth-ranked Western Michigan Broncos. UND got all over the home team Friday, using three first-period goals to fuel a convincing 5-1 win. Saturday, WMU took a 3-0 lead but had to hang on as UND closed within one, but eventually fell, 4-2.
 
POLL POSITION
UND is receiving votes in the Feb. 18th USCHO.com poll (would be 22nd). North Dakota did not appear in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll also released this week.
 
STRONG NCHC FLAVOR IN THE POLLS
Not only does St. Cloud State top both polls, but three other NCHC teams find themselves in the top 8. Minnesota Duluth sits at No. 3 in the USCHO poll, Denver is seventh and Western Michigan is eighth.
 
HANDLING THE RANKED TEAMS
North Dakota has nine wins against teams that were ranked when they played. UND is 9-7-1 against ranked teams this season.
 
THEY HAVE THEIR AT-TEN-TION
North Dakota will be playing its fourth consecutive series against a top 10 team. Through this stretch, UND is 2-3-1, despite all but two coming on the road. The Fighting Hawks are out-scoring their opponents, 15-12, in this stretch, including a pair of five-goal outbursts (vs. St. Cloud and at Western Michigan).
 
TAKING DOWN THE BIG BOYS
Adam Scheel has nine wins over ranked teams this season after a Feb. 15 takedown (5-1) of #9 Western Michigan. In the 17 games in which he's played against a ranked team, he's compiled a 9-6-1 record with a shutout and a ridiculous 1.69 goals against average and .931 save percentage. He's allowed one goal or fewer in seven of those wins, including each of the last four wins.
  
FACEOFF FACT
North Dakota lost the faceoff battle Friday at Western Michigan for just the fifth time all season. It marked the first time that UND won a game in which it didn't have the advantage in the dot.
 
QUICK WORK
Mark Senden's goal just 18 seconds into the game Friday at Western Michigan was the quickest goal of the season for North Dakota. The last time UND scored that quickly came last season (Jan. 12) at Bemidji State when Austin Poganski also scored at the :18 mark.
 
MARK IT DOWN
Freshman forward Mark Senden was honored with the NCHC's Rookie of the Week after his play last week at Western Michigan. Senden scored an early goal and added a helper and went an NCHC-best +4 on the weekend in the split.
 
The freshman is UND's eighth NCHC weekly honoree with five coming on defense.
 
UND's NCHC weekly honorees
Oct. 29:    Colton Poolman (Defenseman)
Nov. 5:     Adam Scheel (Goaltender)
Nov. 26:    Jacob Bernard-Docker (Defenseman)
Dec. 10:    Colton Poolman (Defenseman)
Jan. 14:    Jacob Bernard-Docker (Defenseman)
Jan. 21:    Gabe Bast (Defenseman)
Jan. 28:    Adam Scheel (Rookie)
Feb. 18:   Mark Senden (Rookie)
 
NO RUN-OF-THE-MILL KILL
North Dakota recently had its string of successfully killed power plays snapped. Saturday at Western Michigan, the Broncos scored on the PP for the first opponent PPG after 18 straight kills by UND. Opponents are just 18.8 percent on the PP against North Dakota this season.
 
**For the complete PDF release, click here**