No member of the the University of Minnesota Duluth hockey program -- past or present -- knows what it's like to lose at the Lawson Ice Arena and this current band of Bulldogs certainly doesn't want to find out.

No. 6 UMD pushed its lifetime record at that venerable facility to a perfect 5-0-0 after knocking off Western Michigan University 6-3 Friday night in the front end of a two-game National Collegiate Hockey Conference series. With the win, its league-leading 12th of the year on the road, UMD remained firmly in the hunt for a home berth in the NCHC playoffs, which get underway next week.

After going scoreless for the opening 23-plus minutes, the two clubs let off some serious offensive steam in the second period, combining for seven goals -- including five in a two-minute stretch shortly before the intermission break. UMD (20-12-3 overall; 12-8-3-0 NCHC) got goals from five different players, including sophomore center Dominic Toninato, who closed out the evening's scoring by striking at 12:12 and 19:59 (empty netter) of the third period. Toninato was also one of six Bulldogs to post a two-point night, joining junior center Tony Cameranesi, junior defenseman Willie Corrin, senior right winger Justin Crandall, junior left winger Austin Farley and freshman right winger Karson Kuhlman.

Rookie goaltender Kasimir Kaskisuo finished with 25 saves as did Western Michigan's Frank Slubowski. Both teams also went 1-for-4 on the power play.

UMD will put the wraps on the 2014-15 regular season tomorrow night when it faces the Broncos (12-16-5-5; 5-13-5-4) again.

Notes: Dominic Toninato leads the Bulldogs in goals with a career-high 16 but had scored just once in his previous 10 games heading into this weekend. All but five of Toninato's 24 points this season have come on the road ... UMD is now assured of doing something it has done only one other time in 54 years of competing at the NCAA I -- go through an entire regular season without being swept. The Bulldogs also accomplished that feat in 2010-11 ... senior right winger Justin Crandall, who trails only Toninato on the team's goal scoring list (12), has generated a UMD-high 20 of his 22 points in NCHC games ... After going without a goal in his first 58 games as a Bulldog, junior defenseman Willie Corrin has scored three times in the nine games since ... UMD's 12 victories away from home (12-7-0)  are bettered nationally only by Boston University's 13 ... sophomore left winger Alex Iafallo, who ranks second among 2014-15 Bulldogs in points (a personal-best 25), did not make the trip to Kalamazoo, Mich. due to an illness that also sidelined him for both nights of last weekend's home series with the University of Nebraska-Omaha.