The University of Minnesota Duluth takes its show back on the road this Friday and Saturday (Feb. 20-21), paying its second-ever visit to Oxford, Ohio, for a National Collegiate Hockey Conference showdown series with Miami University. The puck drops at 6:35 (CT) on Friday and 6:05 p.m. the following night at Steve Cady Arena (3,642) on the Miami campus.

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THE RECORDS: UMD is 18-11-1 overall and 10-7-1-0 in the NCHC (fourth place with 31 points) while St. Cloud State comes into the weekend sporting a 18-9-1 record in all games to go with a 11-6-1-1 league mark (first place tie with the University of North Dakota and the University of Nebraska-Omaha, all with 35 points).

HOW THEY RANK: Here is how the Bulldogs and RedHawks stacked up in the latest USCHO.com and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine polls as well as the PairWise rankings:

    USCHO.com    USA Today    PairWise
UMD    No. 7    No. 7    No. 4
MIAMI    No. 6    No 6    No. 6
    
ON THE AIR: The two UMD-Miami bouts will be carried on 94X (94.1/104.3 FM) with Bruce Ciskie handling the play-by-play duties. The broadcast can also be heard on KQ 105.5 FM in Grand Rapids/Hibbing; KQ 106.7 FM in Ely/Virginia; Red Zone Sports Radio 1350 AM in Pine City; and KKIN-AM 930 in Atkin as part of the Bulldog Radio Network and at: 94xrocks.com.

Each night's game is being streamed at: nchc.tv/umd. Saturday's series finale will also be televised nationally on Fox College Sports.

THE COACH: The runnerup for the 2010-11 Spencer Penrose Award (American Hockey Coaches Association NCAA Division I Coach of the Year) and recipient of that honor in 2003-04, Scott Sandelin is in his 15th season behind the UMD bench where he has compiled a 265-256-68 overall record -- including a 143-96-31 mark since the 2008-09 opener. Besides capturing the school's first NCAA championship four years ago, his Bulldogs have won 22 or more games in four of the last six seasons while advancing to four NCAA tournaments (2004, 2009, 2011 and 2012), two Frozen Fours (2004 and 2011) and seven of 11 Western Collegiate Hockey Association Final Five playoff events between 2002-13. He has also helped produce a pair of Hobey Baker Memorial Award winners (Jack Connolly in 2011-12 and Junior Lessard in 2003-04), six NCAA All-Americans and 17 different All-WCHA selections. In addition, Sandelin has seen 16 of his UMD pupils go on to do time in the National Hockey League and one take part in the Winter Olympic Games (Justin Faulk for Team USA in last winter). During the course of the 2011-12 season, the Bulldogs set a team record by going unbeaten in 17 straight games and were ranked first in both major weekly polls (USCHO.com and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine for a program-best nine consecutive weeks. In March 2009, UMD became the first play-in game participant to ever claim the Final Five title and, later that spring, strung together a school-record six-game postseason winning streak before it fell to Miami University 2-1 in the NCAA West Regional final. Nine years ago, Sandelin, 50, turned UMD into a NCAA Frozen Four participant for the first time in nearly a generation, marshaling his troops to their most victories (they were 28-13-4 overall) and highest WCHA finish (second place on a 19-7-2 mark) since 1992-93. For his efforts, the Hibbing, Minn., native was chosen the WCHA Coach of the Year as well as the national coach of the year by both insidecollegehockey.com and uscho.com. In 2002-03, Sandelin's charges went 22-15-5 overall and captured fifth place in the WCHA with a 14-10-4 mark while experiencing the greatest one-season turnaround of any league member that winter. One year earlier, he guided UMD to a 13-24-1 record in all games -- nearly doubling the number of victories from the previous season (7-28-4). Sandelin officially signed on with the Bulldogs on March 31, 2000 following six years of assistant coaching deployment at North Dakota (which won two NCAA titles during his tenure). Prior to that, Sandelin spent the 1993-94 season head coaching the Junior Elite Hockey League's Fargo-Moorhead Junior Kings after working in that same capacity (and doubling as general manager) the previous winter with the Fargo-Moorhead Express of the American Hockey Association. He capped off his four-year playing career at North Dakota in 1985-86 by being named one of 10 finalists for the Hobey Baker Memorial Award. An All-American second team selection and All-WCHA first team pick as a senior, Sandelin went on to play professionally for seven years, which included National Hockey League stints with the Montreal Canadiens (1986-88), Philadelphia Flyers (1990-91) and Minnesota North Stars (1991-92). Sandelin, one of just two active NCHC coaches to do time in the NHL (Denver's Jim Montgomery is the other), was the Montreal Canadiens' second-round pick in the 1982 NHL draft (40th choice overall). He served as Team USA's head coach at the 2005 International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Championships, directing that club to a fourth-place finish, and was an assistant coach for the U.S. entry at that same event in 2011-12.

THE RIVALRY: UMD and Miami have met on just five previous occasions, the first coming at the 2008 West Regional title game in Minneapolis, where the RedHawks put the clamps on the Bulldogs' school-record six-game postseason winning streak with a 2-1 victory. UMD, which had captured its first WCHA playoff championship in 24 years one week earlier, was the regional's No. 2 seed while Miami was seeded fourth. The two teams squared off in a two-game NCHC set one year ago (Feb. 28-March 1) and the Bulldogs closed out the road portion of their 2013-14 regular season schedule in style that weekend by sweeping the RedHawks by 5-4 and 1-0 counts. Earlier this season (Oct. 31-Nov. 1), UMD and Miami traded one-goal wins at AMSOIL Arena with the Bulldogs taking the rematch 4-3 after dropping a 3-2 decision the previous night.

LAST WEEKEND: UMD rallied from a 1-0 second-intermission deficit by erupting for four third-period goals and went on to best visiting St. Cloud State University 4-2 on Friday night, but was derailed 4-1 by its intrastate rivals 24 hours later. Four different Bulldogs -- rookie center Jared Thomas, senior defenseman Derik Johnson, and senior right wingers Justin Crandall (on the power play) and Adam Krause (empty netter) -- collected goals in the opener while junior left winger Austin Farley (power play) accounted for UMD's lone score on Saturday, when the Bulldogs  had their four-game wining streak terminated.

Miami registered its first-ever NCHC regular season road sweep via a 3-1 and 2-1 triumph over last-place Colorado College last Friday and Saturday.

NCHC FORECAST: In the 2014-15 NCHC Preseason Media Poll, UMD was projected for a fifth-place finish in the second-year circuit while North Dakota received top billing among the conference's eight schools with 181 points and 12 first-place votes. North Dakota was followed by Miami (167 pts.; nine first-place votes), defending NCHC regular season champion St. Cloud State (151 pts. and the remaining four first-place votes), Denver (117 pts.), UMD (112 pts.), the University of Nebraska-Omaha (73 pts.), Western Michigan University (67 pts.), and Colorado College (32 pts.).

AYE, AYE, CAPTAIN: For the second straight season, Adam Krause has been entrusted with the Bulldogs' captaincy duties (he shared that role with the since-graduated Joe Basaraba in 2013-14) while fellow senior right winger Justin Crandall and junior defenseman Andy Welinski are serving as assistant captains.

THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE ROAD: The Bulldogs have posted more away wins this winter than any other NCHC club, going 10-6-0. Four of UMD's five lifetime NCHC sweeps have been registered on the road -- St. Cloud State (Nov. 7-8, 2014), Miami (Feb. 28-March 1, 2014), Western Michigan (Jan. 31-Feb. 1, 2014) and Omaha (Jan. 10-11, 2014). The other sweep turned in by the Bulldogs came on Dec. 5-6 against Colorado College in Duluth.  

HOME ICE  AIN'T SO BAD EITHER: Even with last weekend's split, the Bulldogs are unbeaten in eight of their last 10 homes home games, mustering a 7-2-1 record at AMSOIL Arena since Nov. 1.

CHART TOPPER:  Dominic Toninato had occupied the top spot on the UMD scoring charts from the opening night until last Friday before left winger Alex Iafallo supplanted the injured sophomore center. Iafallo has racked up a career-high seven goals and 16 assists for 23 points -- one more that Toninato, who has been sidelined the past three games with an upper body ailment.

THEIR BEST YET: Seven out of a possible 17 Bulldog veterans have already established or matched career bests for points this winter:
 

Name	Year	Points	Previous High
Alex Iafallo	So.	23	22 (2013-14)
Dominic Toninato	So.	22	15 (2013-14)
Adam Krause	Sr.	16	13 (2013-14)
Cal Decowski	Jr.	14	6 (2013-14)
Carson Soucy	So.	8	6 (2013-14)
Austyn Young	Jr.	5	2 (2013-14)
Willie Raskob	So.	13	12 (2013-14)

Senior defenseman Derik Johnson, meanwhile, is one point away from equaling his career-high in that department (5 points in 2011-12).

FIRE AWAY: Miami and UMD currently rank 1-2, respectively, among NCHC schools in shots for (35.50 and 33.53), shots against (25.14 and 25.93) and shot margin (+9.32 and +7.60). The Bulldogs have been outshot in just five of their 30 engagements this winter. One of those five games was against Miami (in Oct. 31 when the RedHawks held a 38-28 advantage).

SHOOTOUT STATS: UMD is 2-1 lifetime in NCHC shootouts (all of which have been contested at AMSOIL Arena) and sophomore left winger Alex Iafallo is the lone current Bulldog to score in a the post-overtime event  (he's done it twice). The following are all-time NCHC shootout statistics for current Bulldogs:
 

Player	Att.	Made	Missed	Pct.
Alex Iafallo	3	2	1	.333
Kyle Osterberg	2	0	2	.000
Cal Decowski	1	0	1	.000
Austin Farley	1	0	1	.000
Andy Welinski	1	0	1	.000

 

Player	Att.	Saves	Pct.
Kasimir Kaskisuo	3	1	.333

THAT'S A PLUS: Senior right winger Adam Krause, UMD's first two-time team captain since the 2008-09 season,  continues to pace the NCHC and is tied for sixth nationally in plus-minus (+20). Sophomore left winger  Alex Iafallo is second (+18) and sophomore center Dominic Toninato (+16) is tied for third in that department. Krause has finished with a negative plus-minus rating in just one of his 22 games to date while rookie defenseman Nick McCormack has yet to do so as a collegian (eight outings thus far).

LET'S KEEP IT THAT WAY: UMD is one of just three NCHC clubs (North Dakota and Omaha are the two others) that have not been swept in a series -- league or non-conference -- this season.

THIS DEFENSE NEVER RESTS: Minutes muncher Andy Welinski has generated the second-most goals (a career-high seven) and shots (2.60 per night) of any NCHC defenseman thus  He and fellow junior Willie Corrin have both scored shorthanded once this season -- no other NCHC team has two pointmen who can make that claim. (Welinski's shortie -- the one of his career -- came at the expense of Miami in UMD's 4-3 triumph on NOv. 1). Collectively, UMD's eight-member blue line corps has combined for 16 goals this year -- after mustering just five (all of which came off the stick of Welinski) during the entire 2013-14 season -- and 54 points.

QUITE THE GRIND: Only nine (St. Cloud State last weekend, Northern Michigan University on Feb. 6-7, Bemidji State University on Jan. 23, Western Michigan on Jan. 16-17 and Colorado College on Dec. 5-6) of UMD's 30 games thus far have been against unranked opponents. The Bulldogs, who continue to lead the nation in strength of schedule, are 13-8-0 against nationally-ranked clubs this winter (3-2-0 vs. No. 1s) and 5-3-1 versus the rest.

ROOKIES ON THE RISE: Among NCHC newcomers, right winger Karson Kuhlman is third in shots on goal (61), fifth in goals (seven) and eighth in scoring (14 points), and remains the only league rookie with a shorthanded goal on his 2014-15 stat line. First-year center Jared Thomas, who was promoted from the fourth to first line three games ago in the absence of Dominic Toninato, has won the second most faceoffs (111) of any league novice and is 11th in  rookie plus-minus (+5). Thomas, whose father, Mike, was an All-American offensive lineman for the Bulldogs and mother, Kelli, was a seven-time All-Northern Sun Conference basketball and softball player at UMD, will bring a four-game scoring streak into this weekend's series. That's the longest such run of any Bulldog at the moment.  

THE MAGIC NUMBER: Going back to a 5-4 loss to visiting Minnesota on Oct. 15, 2011, the Bulldogs are unbeaten in 51 of the 52 games they've struck for more than three goals (46-1-5). The sole setback during that stretch was inflicted by Minnesota State-Mankato earlier this year (5-4 in overtime on Oct. 17 in Duluth).

A COUPLE OF WAR HORSES: Of the eight NCHC head coaches, only one (Miami's Enrico Blasi with 16 seasons) has been behind the bench at his current school longer than Scott Sandelin (15 years).

ALL ALONE: Kasimir Kaskisuo, the Hockey Commissioners' Association Rookie of the Month, and North Dakota junior Zane McIntyre are the only two NCHC netminders who have played in every minute of their team's conference outings thus far. Among the nation's first-year goalies, Kaskisuo is second in victories (15 -- one less than the leader  St. Lawrence University's Kyle Hayton), fifth in saves (593) and seventh in goals against average (2.31). Kaskisuo, whose 15 victories this season are the most by a Bulldog since Kenny Reiter went 23-9-6 as a senior in 2011-12, picked up his second assist of the year (tops among all NCAA goalies) in Friday night's 4-2 triumph over St. Cloud State. The Vantaa, Finland, native and former Minnesota Wilderness (North American Hockey League) puckstopper is the sixth European to enlist his services with the Bulldogs and the first non-North American to play for 15th-year head coach Scott Sandelin.

TURNING THE POWER BACK ON: After entering last weekend having  connected on just five of its previous 56 power play opportunities (8.9 percent), UMD went 2-for-4 with the man advantage during its two-game set with St.  Cloud State.

BULLDOG BITS: Sophomore center Dominic Toninato, who has been out the past three games with an upper body injury, continues to lead the NCHC in road scoring (all but 17 of his career-high points have been registered away from AMSOIL Arena) and goals (10). His 14 overall goals this winter are a personal best and rank fifth among all NCHC combatants while his shooting percentage (.206) is bettered by only three other league skaters. In addition, the former Duluth East High School star is tied for ffith in the NCHC in even-strength scores (nine) and is one of five league combatants with two shorthanded goals to his 2014-15 credit. Toninato, a two-time NCHC Offensive Player of the Week honoree in 2014-15, has also struck for a goal a league-high 12 times. Of Toninato's 22 points, 18 have come in UMD victories but just eight have been registered against NCHC competition (four goals and four assists).

• UMD continues to possess both the NCHC's second-highest scoring junior (88 points) and sophomore (83 pts.) classes.

•  Eight different Bulldogs have claimed NCHC Player of the Week honors so far in 2014-15 -- no school has more. UMD is also the only program to have two goalies recognized this year (Kasimir Kaskisuo on Oct. 27 and Nov. 17 and Matt McNeely on Oct. 13).

• The seven shorthanded goals UMD has amassed this year are  second only to North Dakota's nine among NCAA clubs and are three more than its entire 2013-14 output. The school single-season record for shorties is 12 set by the 1992-93 Bulldogs. That club was captained by current UMD assistant coach Derek Plante (who scored four times that year while his team was a man down).  Four Bulldogs have bagged their first collegiate shorthanded goals this season -- senior right winger Justin Crandall, junior defensemen Willie  Corrin and Andy Welinski, junior center Tony Cameranesi and freshmen right winger Karson Kuhlman.

• The Bulldogs have drawn first blood in 26 of their 33 victories the last two seasons, going 26-7-2 in that situation -- 12-3-0 this winter). On the other hand, they are a mere 8-19-3 when the opposition has taken a 1-0 lead during that stretch (6-7-1 in 2014-15).

• Center Tony Cameranesi and defenseman Andy Welinski, who were both members of the WCHA All-Rookie Team in 2012-13, have taken a shift all 104outings since joining the Bulldog program two years ago. Cameranesi has picked up at least one point in 13 of the past 17 games.

• UMD is 9-3 when holding the opposition scoreless on the power play this season.

• Sophomore defenseman Carson Soucy, the only UMD product to ever be drafted by the Minnesota Wild (fifth round in 2013), has the best career plus-minus rating (+19) of any 2014-15 Bulldog.

• The Bulldogs' 18 overall victories (18-11-1) are two more than their entire 2014-15 total (16-6-4) while their 10 NCHC wins (10-7-1) are what they finished with last year (10-10-4).

• UMD has managed to win just three of its last 16 games that have gone beyond regulation, going 3-4-9. Those three three victories came at the expense of Colorado College on Dec. 6, 2014 (3-2), St. Cloud State on Nov. 7, 2014 (3-2) and Minnesota State-Mankato (5-4 in the North Star College Cup semifinals in St. Paul on Jan. 24, 2014). Only three active Bulldogs -- sophomore left wingers Alex Iafallo and Kyle Osterberg and junior center Cal Decowski -- have an overtime goal to their collegiate credit (one each).

• Senior  defenseman Derik Johnson, who picked up his second collegiate goal -- and first in 93 games going back to the third outing of his freshman year -- is expected to skate in his 100th Bulldog game this Saturday night.

• The Bulldogs have now rallied from a second-intermission deficit to win on three occasions in 2014-15 (last  Friday night vs. St. Cloud State, 3-2 at Omaha on Nov. 21 and 3-2 in overtime on Dec. 6 vs. Colorado College in Duluth). Coming into this year, the Bulldogs hadn't accomplished that feat since Nov. 10, 2010, going 0-43-3 in that situation prior to the Nov. 21, 2014 matchup with Omaha. This year, they are 3-9-1 when trailing at the start of the third period.

•UMD has outscored the opposition 41-25 in the third period this season. Those 41 goals pace all NCHC schools and are bettered by only four other clubs in the country.

UP NEXT: The Bulldogs will return to AMSOIL Arena on Feb. 27-28 to host Omaha in their 2014-15 regular season home finales.