THE SERIES: Toting an 11-game unbeaten streak, the University of Minnesota Duluth will put the wraps on one of its most proficient regular seasons in program history this Friday and Saturday (March 3-4) with a pair of key National Collegiate Hockey Conference bouts at Western Michigan University. The puck drops at 6:05 p.m. (CT) both nights at Lawson Arena (3,667) on the Western Michigan campus.

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THE RECORDS: UMD, which has gone 11 straight games without a loss (8-0-3), is 20-5-7 overall and occupies second place in the NCHC standings (four points back of league-leading University of Denver) at 14-4-4-3 while Western Michigan owns a 19-8-5 record in all games to go with a 12-8-2-1 NCHC mark (third place).

HOW THEY RANK: Here is how the Bulldogs and Broncos stacked up in this week's USCHO.com and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine polls as well as the PairWise rankings.
 

	uscho.com	USA Today	Pairwise
UMD	No. 3	No. 2	No. 2
WMU	No. 8	No.8	No. 5

 
ON THE AIR: The two UMD-Western Michigan clashes will be carried live on 92.1 FM The Fan with Bruce Ciskie handling the play-by-play responsibilities. The broadcast can also be heard at: network1sports.com/station/kqds.

Both ends of this week's series will also be televised on My9 (KBJR DT 6.2/KRII DT 11.9), which has been the Bulldogs' television home for the last nine seasons. KBJR-TV sports director Zach Schneider will be on the call and those two telecasts are available on-line for a fee at: nchc.tv/umd.
 
THE RIVALRY: UMD and Western Michigan have butted heads on 18 occasions previously, including twice earlier this winter at AMSOIL Arena (Nov. 11-12) where the two clubs traded wins. The Bulldogs lead the all-time series 11-6-1 and are 7-6-1 against Western Michigan since the two clubs joined the NCHC ranks in 2013-14. They also sport a 5-1-0 lifetime record in Kalamazoo.

LAST WEEKEND: The Bulldogs concluded their regular season home schedule by claiming four of a possible six points in a two-game set against Miami University. The two NCHC rivals battled to a 3-3 draw on Friday (with the RedHawks picking up the extra league point by scoring in the 3 x 3 overtime) after UMD had downed Miami 4-3 one night earlier. Four different Bulldogs scored in the series opener, including junior center Avery Peterson, who broke a 3-3 deadlock by striking on the power play with 1:21 to go in the third period.  Sophomore center Adam Johnson, who scored once and assisted on another goal in the 4-3 victory, senior center Dominic Toninato and sophomore right winger Parker Mackay accounted for the Bulldogs' three goals on Friday.

Likewise, Western Michigan salvaged four points in its two road NCHC engagements with Colorado College, following up a 2-2 tie (with the Tigers prevailing in the 3 x 3 overtime) on Friday with a convincing 5-1 triumph 24 horus later.

ONE FOR THE BOOKS: The 2016-17 Bulldogs have a chance to post the second-best regular season record since they joined the NCAA ranks in 1965-66. They'll already finish with the fewest regular season losses of any of their predecessors. Here are UMD's top 10 regular season winning percentages:
 

Year	Record	Win Pct.
1984-85	29-7-2	.789
2016-17	20-5-7	.734
1983-84	24-9-2	.714
1992-93	23-9-2	.706
2011-12	22-8-6	.694
2003-04	23-10-4	.675
1985-86	25-12-1	.671
2010-11	20-9-6	.657
1982-83	25-13-1	.654
1978-79	21-11-4	.639

This year marks the first time in the 73-year history of UMD hockey that the Bulldogs have accumulated only five losses in the first 32 games of the season. The only club to come close to that feat was the 1992-93 WCHA regular season champion Bulldogs, who had five setbacks through their first 27 outings.

ENCORE, ENCORE: After kicking off 2017 by landing the NCHC Rookie of the Month award for January, goaltender Hunter Miska repeated that feat in February. In his six appearances during the past month, Miska compiled a 1.76 goals against average and an NCHC-leading .933 saves percentage while going unbeaten (3-0-3). He also posted his school record-tying fifth shutout of the season on Feb. 4 -- a 5-0 takedown of of Omaha at AMSOIL Arena -- and wound up allowing just seven even-strength goals in 375:00 of work.

Of the five NCHC Rookie of the Month citations that have been awarded in 2016-17, three have gone to Bulldogs (right winger Joey Anderson claimed the honor in November).
    
WELL DONE!: For his exemplary play in last week's regular season home finales with Miami, sophomore Neal Pionk was selected the NCHC Defenseman of the Week -- the fourth time this season he has been so honored. Pionk scored once on the power play early in the third period on Thursday night (which put the Bulldogs up 3-2) and then assisted on the game-winning goal with 1:21 to go in regulation. In the series rematch, he was credited a pair of third-period assists as the UMD and Miami played to a 3-3 overtime tie. For the weekend, Pionk accumulated four points, put six shots on target and was an integral part of a power play unit that went 3-for-7 and a penalty kill contingent that held Miami to one man advantage goal in nine chances.

ON A ROLL: UMD's current 11-game unbeaten streak is the third longest in the country at the moment. It's also the longest such run by a Bulldog club since they went a school-record 17 consecutive games without suffering a defeat between Oct. 21, 2011 and Jan. 13, 2012.

ROAD, SWEET ROAD,: UMD has generated a 11-1-3 record away from AMSOIL Arena in 2016-17 and that .833 road winning percentage is the best in the country while the one loss is the fewest of any NCAA club. The Bulldogs are unbeaten in 16 of their last 17 regular season road assignments, going 13-1-3 since being upended by North Dakota 2-1 on Feb. 20, 2016. The lone setback during that run came at the hands of Denver (4-3 on Dec. 9, 2016). UMD's all-time best road records (NCAA I-era) are as follows:
 

Year	Record	Win Pct.
1983-84	13-5-0	.722
2010-11	14-5-4	.696
2011-12	11-5-5	.643
1984-85	12-7-1	.625
2003-04	13-8-4	.600
2002-03	11-7-2	.600

STAYING ON POINT: In last month's 2-1 triumph at Colorado College, senior left winger Alex Iafallo assisted on UMD's first goal en route to becoming the 57th member of UMD's 100-point club. In 142 lifetime outings, the Eden, N.Y., product has generated 41 goals and 63 assists. He joins Miami's Anthony Louis (123 pts.) and Omaha's Austin Ortega (136 pts.) as the only three current NCHC combatants to reach the century point mark. Iafallo continues to top the 2016-17 Bulldogs in points ( a career-best 34, the third-highest total in the NCHC) and goals (14) and is second in assists (20). He's also one of 10 league skaters with a hat trick on his 2016-17 resume. In fact, by scoring three times in UMD's 5-2 home win over North Dakota on Oct. 28, 2016, Iafallo became the first Bulldog to record a hat trick since current Tampa Bay Lightning winger J.T. Brown struck for four goals at the University of Alaska Anchorage on Feb. 3, 2012.

NO WALK IN THE PARK: Colorado College (Jan. 6-7 and on Feb. 17-18) and Miami (last weekend) are the only opponents UMD has faced this season that, at the time they played the Bulldogs, was not ranked or received votes in the USCHO.com Poll. Then-No. 17 Michigan Tech paid a visit to AMSOIL Arena for the 2016-17 season openers back on Oct. 1-2 while No. 8 UMass Lowell hosted UMD the ensuing weekend. On Oct. 15-16, it was No. 5 Notre Dame's turn to take on UMD in Duluth and No. 1 North Dakota followed suit on Oct. 28-29. UMD then faced No. 8 St. Cloud State, Western Michigan (receiving votes), and Omaha (received votes) the ensuing three weekends, No. 2 Denver on Dec. 9-10 and No. 15 Bemidji State just before holiday break. St. Cloud State (received votes) came to town on Jan. 13-14 and one week later No. 8 North Dakota hosted UMD. Minnesota (No. 6) and St. Cloud State (received votes) were the Bullldogs' two North Star College Cup and on Feb. 3-4 Omaha (received votes) invaded AMSOIL Arena. UMD currently ranks second in the country in strength of schedule after placing second in that department during the 2015-16 regular season and first one year earlier.

THE COMEBACK KIDS: UMD has trailed the opposition 12 times at the second intermission this season and has suffered only three losses in those outings (4-3-5). The Bulldogs' four comeback wins are tops in the nation at the moment (Air Force, Miami, Princeton University and Union College also have four victories) while their .542 winning percentage in that situation is without rival among all 60 NCAA I clubs.

WHERE SHOTS GO TO DIE:.  Hunter Miska, who has now made 26 consecutive starts, currently is tied for first among all NCAA I puckstoppers in shutouts (five), is fifth in winning percentage (.768 off a 19-4-5 record), sixth in goals against average (2.00), ninth in victories and 11th in saves percentage (.926). The first Bulldog netminder to ever begin his career by going 6-0-0, Miska is a five-time NCHC Goalie/Rookie of the Week honoree and was the league's Rookie of the Month for both January and February. In his 14 roads starts this season, Miska is a 11-1-1.

TOP 'DOGS: UMD has spent a school-record 11 weeks slotted first in the USCHO.com Poll during the course of the 2016-17 season.

BETTER THAN BEFORE: Ten out of a possible 18 Bulldog veterans have already established or equaled career bests for points this winter:
 

Player	Year	Pts.	Previous High
Billy Exell	So.	6	4 (2015-16)
Alex Iafallo	Sr.	34	25 (2014-15)
Adam Johnson	So.	27	18 (2015-16)
Brenden Kotyk	Sr.	9	6 (2014-15)
Parker Mackay	So.	7	6 (2015-16)
Dan Molenaar	Sr.	7	3 (2013-14)
Neal Pionk	So.	28	17 (2015-16)
Carson Soucy	Sr.	15	14 (2014-15)
Sammy Spurrell	Jr.	4	4 (2013-14)
Blake Young	Jr.	3	1 (2015-16)

... while another is knocking on the door:
 

Player	Year	Pts.	Career High
Karson Kuhlman	Jr.	17	20 (2015-16)

FREE HOCKEY: UMD is unbeaten in its last 10 games that have gone beyond regulation, having gone 0-3-7since falling 2-1 to North Dakota on Feb. 19, 2016 in Grand Forks, N.D. Just three active Bulldogs -- senior left wingers Kyle Osterberg (three) and Alex Iafallo (one) and junior right winger Karson Kuhlman (one) -- have a sudden death goal on their collegiate resume. Osterberg, Miami's Josh Melnick, Union College's Mike Vecchione and Holy Cross's Johnny Coughlin are the only four players in the nation with two overtime goals in 2016-17. This season, UMD has outshot the opposition 34-12 in eight overtime sessions and those 34 shots and +22 shot margin leads all NCAA I schools.

MAKING A POINT ON THE POINT: Sophomore Neal Pionk, who has set personal bests for goals (seven) and assists (21), currently ranks eighth on the NCAA defensemen scoring charts with 28 points. Five of Pionk's seven goals this year have been registered in the third period.

FIT TO BE TIED: The Bulldogs need one more tie to equal the program record of eight set during the 2008-09 season.

STREAKING DOWN THE STRETCH: Senior center Dominic Toninato will come into this Friday's series opener at Western Michigan armed with a career-high six-game scoring streak. He has five goals (including one in each of the past three games) and three assists over that stretch.

PLENTY LEFT IN THE TANK: The Bulldogs have outscored the opposition 34-15 in the third period this season and that +19 goal differential is the second-best figure in the country (Notre Dame is at +20). UMD has also given up the fewest third-period goals (just 0.47 per game) of any NCAA club to date.

BRONCO BUSTERS: Brenden Kotyk (Jan. 16, 2015 in Duluth) registered his first Bulldog goal against Western Michigan while fellow senior Dan Molenaar's initial collegiate point came at the expense of the Broncos (an assist on Dec. 14, 2013). In addition, senior left winger Kyle Osterberg set career bests for both goals (two) and points (four) when UMD and Western Michigan butted heads on Jan. 31, 2014 in Kalamazoo.

HITTING HIS STRIDE: After being held pointless in his first 14 collegiate games, freshman left winger Riley Tufte has accumulated 10 points (five goals and fiveassists) in the 14 outings since.

THEY'LL BE BACK: The Bulldogs have clinched a home NCHC playoff berth for the third time in the league's four-year history. UMD has also racked up a program-best 14 NCHC victories and are guaranteed a first-ever top two finish in the NCHC standings as well. Since they last captured a regular season conference title (WCHA) in 1992-93, UMD has twice taken a league regular seasons runner up honors (2003-04 and 2011-12 in the WCHA).
GOOD LUCK CHARMS: The Bulldogs are 10-0-1 this season when senior left winger Kyle Osterberg has collected a goal and 7-0-3 when senior center Dominic Toninato has done so.

TAKE IT TO THE BANK: Since falling to host Miami 4-3 in overtime on Feb. 21, 2015, the Bulldogs are 28-0-2 when taking a lead into the third period. They were 14-0-0 in that situation last winter and 12-0-2 so far in 2016-17.

TAKE IT TO THE BANK II: Going back to a 5-4 loss to visiting Minnesota on Oct. 15, 2011, the Bulldogs are unbeaten in 75 of the 76 games -- including the last 42 in a row -- they've struck for more than three goals (69-1-6). The sole setback during that stretch was inflicted by Minnesota State-Mankato on Oct. 17, 2014 in Duluth (5-4 in overtime).

THAT'S A PLUS: Four of the NCHC's top eight plus-minus leaders are Bulldogs -- senior center Dominic Toninato and junior right winger Karson Kuhlman (both tied for third at +18) and senior left winger Alex Iafallo and sophomore defenseman Neal Pionk (both tied for sixth at +. Of the 23 Bulldog forwards and defensemen who have taken a shift this season, only junior center Jared Thomas (-2) owns a negative plus-minus rating.

LENDING A HAND: Right winger and IIHF World Junior Championship gold medalist Joey Anderson currently leads all NCH rookies in assists with 17 and is tied for fourth in scoring (24 pts.). The Roseville, Minn., native and NCHC Rookie of the Month for November, has scored more of his pints in losses this season (five) than any other Bulldog.

BLOCK PARTY: UMD has blocked more shots this season (14.19 per game) than any NCHC member and ranks 13h nationally after finishing 54th out of 60 NCAA I squads one year ago (10.9 bpg). Senior defenseman Brenden Kotyk paces the Bulldogs in the blocks department (1.94 a night -- the fifth highest total in the NCHC at the moment).

FOR PETE'S SAKE: Junior center Avery Peterson, who transferred to UMD from the University of Nebraska-Omaha one year ago and sat out the next two semesters, took his first shift as a Bulldog on Dec. 17 at Bemidji State. In 13 outings, the Grand Rapids, Minn., native has contributed eigtht points (six goals -- including three game winners -- and two assists) to the UMD scoring coffers and is a +10 to boot.

A SENIOR MOMENT: UMD sports the country's fifth-highest scoring senior class as that seven-member ensemble has combined to rack up and 108 points on 44 goals and 70 assists -- all NCHC bests.

THREE'S A CHARM: The Bulldogs are 2-3-2 all-time in 3-on-3 NCHC overtimes with sophomore defenseman Neal Pionk (on Jan. 6, 2017 vs. Colorado College) and Tony Cameranesi (on Nov. 14, 2015) being the lone Bulldogs to score during that session. Cameranesi's goal, which came against Denver at AMSOIL Arena, was the NCHC's first 3-on-3 tally ever.

THE BIG 3-0-0: Two months ago (Jan. 14) in a 4-3 overtime triumph over St. Cloud State, UMD's Scott Sandelin became the 16th active NCAA I coach to reach the 300-win mark. Of all-time Bulldog bench bosses, only Mike Sertich served longer and has rolled up more victories than Sandelin (he closed out his 18-year UMD career in 1999-200 with a 350-328-44 lifetime record). Sandelin's 17 seasons is also the second longest continuous tenure of any NCHC head coach. (Enrico Blasi is in his 18th year at Miami).

BULLDOG BITS: Eight of the last 10 meetings between UMD and Western Michigan (including this upcoming weekend) have been contested in Duluth.

• UMD's opponents are connecting at 23.1 percent away from Duluth this season, which ranks the Bulldogs 52nd out of 60 schools in penalty kill efficiency.

• Junior right winger Karson Kuhlman, who is a team-leading +39 for his career, has hit the ice in all 112 games over the last three seasons -- a claim no other Bulldog can make.

• The Bulldogs have converted at least once on the power play in 10 of their last 11 games and are 12-for-45 with the man advantage during that stretch (26.7 percent)

• All three of Willie Raskob's goals this season have come on the power play. He is one of 13 Bulldogs who has scored with the man advantage in 2016-17

• UMD has collected five shorthanded goals this winter, three of which have come at the expense of North Dakota. That includes a school record-tying two in the Bulldogs' 3-0 victory over the Fighting Hawks on Oct. 29. The most recent shortie came at Colorado College on Feb. 18 off the stick of senior left winger Alex Iafallo -- the first of his career.

• Conversely, the Bulldogs have given up just one shorthanded goal since Dec. 12, 2015 (a run of 55 games) and that was to Colorado College's Sam Rothstein on Jan. 6, 2017.

• UMD has more senior defensemen (four) on its 2016-17 roster than any other program in the country (It shares that distinction with Princeton University and St. Lawrence University)

• Sophomore center Adam Johnson has picked up at least one point in 12 of the past 16 games.

• Nine different Bulldogs have received some kind of NCHC Player of the Week honor in 2016-17 with rookie goalie Hunter Miska (five) and sophomore defenseman Neal Pionk (four) both being multi-recipients.

• Senior left winger Alex Iafallo has been credited with five of UMD's last 10 empty net goals (dating back to the 2014-15 season) while freshman right winger Joey Anderson has two.