#2 NORTH DAKOTA (18-2-3, 9-0-2-2 NCHC) at #11 MINNESOTA DULUTH (12-8-2, 7-3-2-0 NCHC)
Jan. 24-25, 2020
Duluth, Minn.
Amsoil Arena (6,726)
Friday: 7:36 pm CT
Saturday: 7:07 pm CT
Series: UND leads 147-85-10 (.628)
Last year: Series tied, 2-2
 
TV FRIDAY
TV: CBS Sports Network
PxP: Ben Holden
Analyst: Dave Starman
Rinkside: Shireen Saski
 
TV SATURDAY
TV: MidcoSN
Web: nchc.tv
 
RADIO
PxP: Tim Hennessy
Analyst: Steve Olson
Radio: 96.1 FM (Flagship)  & Home of Economy Fighting Hawks Sports Network
Web: FightingHawks.com 
 
 
THIS WEEK
Huge conference and national implications are on the line this weekend as North Dakota heads to Minnesota Duluth for the only series between the teams in the regular season. UND is No. 1 in the Pairwise Rankings and holds an eight-point lead on the second-place Bulldogs at the midway point of the conference schedule.
 
 
LAST TIME OUT
North Dakota picked up five of six available NCHC points with a 4-4 tie and a 5-3 win at Miami last week. UND rallied from down 2-0 both nights. Peter Thome came on in relief Friday and made his first start Saturday to earn his first win of the season. Matt Kiersted (5A) and Jordan Kawaguchi (2G, 3A) each enjoyed five-point weekends.
 
 
BROADCAST INFORMATION
Friday's game will once again be broadcast on CBS Sports Network, the second of three nationally-televised UND games on that platform. Ben Holden calls the action with Dave Starman joining him in the booth and Shireen Saski on the bench.
 
Saturday's game will picked up by MidcoSN with the road feed and UMD announcers. It will also be available for viewing via streaming at NCHC.tv.
 
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 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 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.
 
 
SERIES HISTORY
North Dakota owns a 147-85-10 edge in the all-time series with Minnesota Duluth. Last season, the teams split the four-game season series, each getting a game in the other's building.
 
 
ROAD DAMAGE
North Dakota brings an eight-game road unbeaten streak into Friday. UND is 6-1-3 on the road this season, already surpassing last season's road win total (5) and its unbeaten streak on the road is its longest since 2016-17 (Nov. 18 - Jan. 27).
 
 
ROAD RAGE
Despite 2-0 deficits in the first period on both nights last week, North Dakota still holds a 34-18 edge in the first period this season on its opponents. UND is out-scoring its opponent, 15-9, in the first period of road games this season.
 
 
POWER PLAY PROFICIENCY ON THE ROAD
North Dakota is humming along at a 25.0% clip on the power play in road games this season. UND has scored with the man-advantage in 6 of its last 16 on the road (37.5%).
 
 
SHOTS ON... WHOA
North Dakota's defense has allowed just 98 shots on goal in the last six games combined. UND has kept its opponent under 15 SOG seven times this season (6-1-0).
 
 
FOUR-PLAY
UND tallied its 15th four-goal game on offense and hasn't suffered a single loss in those games (13-0-2) after the Saturday win at Miami.
 
 
TWO GOOD
UND  feel one spot to second place in the most-recent USCHO.com poll. Cornell took over as the new No. 1. North Dakota stayed at No. 2 in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll as well. North Dakota began the season at No. 18/RV. UND's No. 1 ranking was its first since Oct. 17, 2016.
 
 
YADA, YADA, YADA
Three of the eight NCHC teams are ranked in the top 11 in this week's USCHO.com poll. UND sits second in the poll with Denver at fifth and  Minnesota Duluth is now 11th after being swept at St. Cloud State.  
 
 
THEY'RE REAL... AND THEY'RE SPECTALAUR
Jordan Kawaguchi's numbers have been eye-popping this season, especially in this current stretch. In his current seven-game point streak, Kawaguchi has tallied 13 points with five multi-point games. He etched his fifth three-point game Friday at Miami and has points in 17 of the last 19 games.
 
 
I'M OUT THERE, AND I'M LOVING EVERY MINUTE OF IT
Freshman Shane Pinto has produced some solid road numbers this season. He leads UND with six goals away from home and leads the Fighting Hawks with a .551 faceoff winning percentage.
 
 
HELLO, NEW MAN
Peter Thome made his first start of the season Saturday at Miami. He earned the win after settling in from a 2-0 deficit in the first period. It marked his 11th career win at North Dakota.
 
 
NO SOUP FOR YOU!
Peter Thome stopped both shootout attempts in the Friday tie and shootout win at Miami. He has now stopped all six shootout attempts in his career.
 
 
MASTER OF HIS DOMAIN
Matt Kiersted piled up five points last weekend at Miami. It started with a career-high-tying three-assist game on Friday and he added two more on Saturday, helping on noth the game-tying and game-winning goals. Kiersted has 17 assists on the season, second-most on the team and more than the team leader last season (Kawaguchi - 16).  He has 11 career points against Miami in eight games.
 
 
THE "C" WAS ANGRY THAT DAY, MY FRIEND
Captain Colton Poolman will be making his return to the lineup following missing last week at Miami. He has missed just five games in his four-year career at UND. Poolman has played in 135 of 140 games in his career. 
 
 
DOUBLE-DIPPING
Last season, just one player etched double figures in scoring (Kawaguchi, 10) but already three North Dakota players are in double digits in that category (Kawaguchi- 12, Pinto- 11, Michaud- 10). There are several in striking range as Cole Smith has nine with Collin Adams, Grant Mismash and Jasper Weatherby all with seven. 
 
 
SERENITY NOW!
This week's matchup with UMD is the only one of its kind this season as the Bulldogs don't make the return trip to Grand Forks this season.
 
 
GOING STREAKING
Jordan Kawaguchi (7) and Cole Smith (6) are each riding point streaks coming into this week. Kawaguchi has five goals and eight assists in his streak while Smith has three goals and three assists in the last six games.