Omaha (8-9-3, 2-5-1 NCHC) at #1 North Dakota (16-1-2, 7-0-1-1 NCHC)
Jan. 10-11, 2020
Grand Forks, N.D.
Ralph Engelstad Arena (11,634)
Friday: 7:37 pm CT
Saturday: 7:07 pm CT
Series: UND leads 22-11-1 (.662)
Last year: UND won 3 of 4
 
TV: Midco SportsNet
Web: nchc.tv
PxP: Alex Heinert
Analyst: Jake Brandt
Radio: 96.1 FM (Flagship) & Home of Economy Radio  Network
PxP: Tim Hennessy
Analyst: Steve Olson
Web: FightingHawks.com
 
THIS WEEK
North Dakota returns to National Collegiate Hockey Conference play, hosting Omaha this weekend. UND is looking to extend its REA-record home winning streak, which currently sits at 13 with an overall unbeaten stretch of 15 games, which leads the NCAA.
 
LAST TIME OUT
North Dakota out-shot Alabama-Huntsville, 74-28, for the weekend series en route to a pair of 5-2 wins at the Ralph Engelstad Arena, Jan. 3-4. Collin Adams (5 points) and Jordan Kawaguchi (4 points) led the way for UND with Adam Scheel picking up his 15th and 16th wins of the season in net.
 
BROADCAST INFORMATION
This weekend's games will both be telecast live on Midco Sports Network, the primary TV home of North Dakota hockey. Alex Heinert does the play-by-play, with former UND goalie Jake Brandt handling the color analysis with Katie Hale as the rinkside reporter. The series will also be available 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 22-11-1 edge in the all-time series with Omaha. Last season, UND won three of the four contests, including a home sweep to end the regular season which kick-started UND's current home winning streak.
 
WORLD JUNIORS UPDATE
Sophomore defenseman Jacob Bernard-Docker has helped Team Canada to a gold medal, becoming the 13th UND player to wear gold at the IIHF World Junior Championships. UND teammate Shane Pinto and Team USA made it to the quarterfinal round and was eliminated.
 
BACK WHERE WE BELONG
UND  has now spent an entire month atop both the USCHO.com poll and the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine polls. UND took over the top spot on Dec. 9, finishing its steady climb to the No. 1 position. North Dakota began the season at No. 18/RV. UND's No. 1 ranking was its first since Oct. 17, 2016.
 
THREE IN THE TOP 10
Three of the eight NCHC teams are ranked in the top 10 in this week's USCHO.com poll. UND tops the poll for the third straight week with Denver moving up two spots to 5. Minnesota Duluth also moved up one spot while  Western Michigan fell out of the Top 20 poll but is receiving votes.
 
NO, NO. WE'RE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER
UND has enjoyed having scoring production from the entire roster. 21 different players have scored this season, 17 have multiple tallies and eight different players have at least five goals on the year.
 
FRESHMAN FRISCH FIRST
Ethan Frisch score his first goal of his UND career in the 5-2 win over Alabama-Huntsville Jan. 4. He became the 21st North Dakota player to score this season.
 
WISH GRANTED
Grant Mismash scored a pair of goals in the Jan. 3rd 5-2 win over Alabama-Huntsville, including the game winner midway through the second period. It marked his second two-goal game of his career.
 
TWICE IS NICE
Mismash's two-goal effort marked the eighth different UND player to score two goals in a game this season. Three players have turned the trick twice: Kawaguchi (Pinto, Smith, Kawaguchi).
 
KAWAHOBEY UPDATE
Jordan Kawaguchi continues to pile up points, collecting four more points last week to give him 28 on the season, already surpassing last year's team-leading total.
 
FIFTEEN THERE'S STILL TIME FOR YOU...
North Dakota extended its unbeaten streak to 15 with the sweep of Alabama-Hunstville last week. It marks UND's longest unbeaten streak since 2010-11 when it also strung together 15 straight from Jan. 29 - Mar. 27.
 
FEARSOME FOURSOME
North Dakota has already scored four goals in a game 12 times this season, going 11-0-1 in those contests. Last weekend's pair of 5-goal outputs gave UND eight such games this season (8-0-0).
 
BACK-To-BACK
Adam Scheel is the NCHC Goalie of the Month for the second consecutive month after a two-game sweep at 17th-ranked Western Michigan in December. He set a career high with 41 saves in a thrilling 1-0 overtime shutout. He followed it up with 27 stops in an 8-2 win in the Saturday game.
 
CHRISTMAS LIGHTS
UND has been illuminating the lamp with regularity in 2019-20. The Fighting Hawks have 81 goals in just 19 games, just over four per game, the highest per-game average in the country and the highest in Coach Berry's tenure as head coach.
 
That's pretty low, mister!
Scheel's career 1.87 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 (.915) ranks fifth in the UND record books.
 
SIMPLY THE BEST
North Dakota leads the country in win percentage (.895) goal margin (+50) and goal margin per game (+2.63) and shots on goal against per game (21.5).
 
Additionally, the Fighting Hawks lead the NCHC in goals for (81) and fewest goals against (31).
 
Individually, UND has the leading point-getter (Jordan Kawaguchi- 28), freshman scorer (Shane Pinto- 8), game-winning goals (Kawaguchi- 5), goals against-average and save percentage (Adam Scheel, 1.61 and .922).
 
HOME SWEET HOME
UND is 11-0-0 at home this season and has been good offensively and defensively. North Dakota is out-scoring its opponents, 50-16 at home this year through 11 games and leads the nation in goal margin (+34), shots on goals allowed/game (16.3) and wins (11).
 
CLUTCH-AGUCHI
Jordan Kawaguchi has five game-winning goals this season including in four of the last seven games. Kawaguchi has scored or assisted on the game winner 10 times in UND's 16 wins. He leads the NCAA in primary assists (16). He has six multi-assist games, including a pair of three-helper games.