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The University of Minnesota Duluth will continue on its diet of National Collegiate Hockey Conference competition this Friday and Saturday (Feb. 2-3) when the Bulldogs pay a visit to Denver, Colo., for a two-game showdown series with the University of Denver. The puck drops at 8:05 p.m. (CT) both nights at Magness Arena (6,026).

THE RECORDS: UMD, which is unbeaten in eight of its last 10 outings (7-2-1), is 14-11-3 overall and an even 8-8-0-0 in NCHC play (tied for third place with the University of North Dakota and Western Michigan University) while Denver sports a 14-6-6 record in all games to go with an 8-4-4-3 NCHC mark (first).

HOW THEY RANK: This is how the Bulldogs and Pioneers 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. 9	No. 10	No. 10
DU	No. 4	No. 5	No. 4 (t)

ON THE AIR: The two UMD-Denver clashes will be carried live on KDAL-Radio (610 AM and 103.9 FM) with Bruce Ciskie handling the play-by-play responsibilities. This marks the 50th year KDAL has been the radio home for Bulldog hockey. The broadcast can also be heard at: kdal610.com.

Friday's series opener will be televised nationally on the CBS Sports Network with Ben Holden, Dave Starman and Shireen Saski serving as the on-air talent.

Saturday's game will be streammed at: nchc.tv/umd.

THE RIVALRY: UMD and Denver have collided on 210 occasions previously -- mostly (189 times) while both were members of the WCHA. The Pioneers hold a 121-77-12 lead in the rivalry, which began on Dec. 28, 1961 in Denver. The two clubs met earlier this year (Dec. 1-2) at AMSOIL Arena where UMD was upended twice by top-ranked Denver in a pair of low-scoring bouts. The Pioneers blanked the Bulldogs 1-0 in the series opener behind Tanner Jaillet's 28-save performance. His counterpart, UMD sophomore goaltender Hunter Shepard, was also stellar, making 25 stops and allowing just one second-period goal in the hard-luck loss. The Pioneers completed the weekend sweep the next night, breaking a 1-1 deadlock with a goal at 15:56 of the third period en route to shading UMD 2-1. Senior left winger Blake Young (8:32 in to the third period) accounted for UMD's lone score.

LAST WEEK: The Bulldogs dropped a 1-0 decision at then-No.7 Minnesota State University-Mankato on Tuesday night before trading NCHC wins over the weekend with intrastate rival St. Cloud State University in Duluth. Behind a pair of goals from senior right winger Karson Kuhlman, UMD throttled the No. 5 Huskies 5-1 on Friday night. Sophomore right winger Joey Anderson (one goal and one assist) and freshman Nick Swaney (two assists) also posted two-point nights. St. Cloud State then bounced back in the rematch 24 hours later, skating off with a 2-1 victory.

THE PIONEERS STAND ALONE: Denver is the only NCHC opponent UMD has not swept since that league began operations in 2013-14.

RECORD ALERT: UMD had reeled off a school-record six NCHC wins in a row before being taken down by St. Cloud State last Saturday night.

GREAT SCOTT!: UMD scoring leader Scott Perunovich is currently fifth among all NCAA freshmen in points (24 -- the highest total of any rookie defenseman in the country), tied for fourth in assists (18) and for eighth in plus-minus rating (a UMD-leading +11).

PUCK HUNTER: Sophomore Hunter Shepard, a three-time NCHC Goalie of the Week Honoree in 2017-18, has now made 23 straight starts going back to Oct. 21. In his last 10 appearances, the one-time North American Hockey League Goaltender of the Year (2015-16) is 7-2-1 with a 1.90 goals against average and a .934 saves percentage. Shepard's 14 overall victories this season (he is 14-10-1) places him in a tie for fifth nationally and first among NCHC puckstoppers.

POWER OUTAGE: UMD's opponents are just 2-for-29 with the extra man over the past six games (6.7 percent) and have been held scoreless on their last 21 power play opportunities.

FOR PETE'S SAKE: Junior center Peter Krieger, who is debuting with the Bulldogs this season after transferring from the University of Alaska Fairbanks one year ago and sitting out all of 2016-17, is currently tied for the NCAA lead in game-winning goals with five. That's still four shy of the program single-season record of nine set by Hobey Baker Memorial Award winner Chris Marinucci in 1992-93.

MORE POWER TO THEM: After cashing in on 13 of 24 power play opportunities (a sizzling 54.1 percent) during a six- game stretch from Dec. 29 to Jan. 20, the Bulldogs are 0-for-7 in the three outings since

MORE POWER TO THEM II: The Bulldogs have struck for two or more goals seven times this season. They are 6-0-1 in those seven games and, going back to Dec. 4, 2015, are 14-0-2 when striking multiple times with the man advantage.

BETTER THAN BEFORE: Seven veterans have already established or equaled career collegiate bests for points this winter:

TAKE IT TO THE BANK: Since falling 4-3 to host Miami in overtime on Feb. 21, 2015, the Bulldogs are 47-0-3 when taking a lead into the third period. They were 17-0-2 in that situation last season and 13-0-1 thus far in 2017-18.

NOT THEIR BEST SHOT: Over the past three games, UMD has put just 53 total shots on net -- an average of 17.6 per game. The 15 shots the Bulldogs mustered on Jan. 23 at Minnesota State were its lowest output since Jan. 11, 2014.

LIFE OF RILEY: Sophomore left winger Riley Tufte, the only 2017-18 Bulldog to reach the double-digit mark for goals this season (12), has generated 11 points (six goals and five assists) over his last eight games.

SPREADING THE WEALTH: Some 14 different Bulldogs have scored a power play goal in 2017-18, including junior right winger Parker Mackay, who has a UMD-leading (and career-high) four.

IRONMAN KUHLMAN: Senior team captain Karson Kuhlman, who leads all current Bulldogs in career goals (33), assists (39), points (72) and plus-minus rating (+37), has not missed a game since joining the Bulldog program in 2014-15. His active ironman streak of 150 consecutive appearances is the longest in NCAA I hockey at the moment. Kuhlman is one of 20 candidates for the 2017-18 Lowe's Senior CLASS Award, which is presented annually to an NCAA I athlete in 10 different sports based on achievement in the "Four C's" -- classroom, character, community and competition.

OH SHOOT(OUT): UMD is 4-3 lifetime in NCHC shootouts, but no current Bulldog has ever participated in that post overtime event.

BLOCK PARTY: Defenseman Dylan Samberg has blocked 46 shots this season. That not only leads UMD but it's the fourth highest total of any NCAA rookie.

WORKING OVERTIME: The Bulldogs are unbeaten in the last 17 games that have gone beyond regulation, going 7-0-10 since falling 2-1 to North Dakota on Feb. 19, 2016 in Grand Forks, N.D. That includes a 1-0-3 in four extra sessions this season. Just two current Bulldogs -- senior team captain Karson Kuhlman and junior assistant team captain Parker Mackay (one each) -- have an overtime goal to his collegiate credit.

HITTING HIS STRIDE: After managing just two goals and three assists in his first 11 appearances of the season, Joey Anderson, a 2016-17 NCHC All-Rookie Team pick, has amassed 14 points (four goals and 10 assists) in his nine games since.

FIRST THINGS FIRST: UMD has struck for the game's first goal on 18 occasions this season, a number bettered by only one other NCAA I club -- the University of Notre Dame (19 times).

FIRST THINGS FIRST II: The Bulldogs have scored the fourth-most first period goals (29) in the nation this season and their +10 goal differential also ranks fourth among all NCAA schools (Denver is third at +13).

MY, HOW TIME FLIES: The 18 seasons Scott Sandelin has presided over the UMD puck program is the second longest tenure of any NCHC head coach. (Enrico Blasi is in his 19th year at Miami). It also ties him with Mike Sertich (1982-2000) as the longest serving bench boss in Bulldog history. Sandelin currently ranks 15th among all active NCAA I coaches in career victories He and Denver's Jim Montgomery are two of the three NCHC head coaches to do time in the NHL (North Dakota's Brad Berry is the other). Sandelin took part in 25 NHL games with Montreal, Philadelphia and the Minnesota North Stars before calling it quits in 1992 due to nagging injuries while Montgomery's NHL career spanned 121 outings between 1993-2003 with stops in St. Louis, Montreal, Philadelphia, San Jose and Dallas.

GET SHORTIE: The Bulldogs have allowed just two shorthanded goals in their last 93 games (at St. Cloud State on Nov. 4, 2017 and versus Colorado College on Jan. 6, 2017 in Duluth).

GET SHORTIE II: In last Friday's 5-1 triumph over St. Cloud State, the Bulldogs struck for two shorthanded goals (2:30 apart late in the second period) -- the first time that happened since Oct. 29, 2016 when they also scored twice while a man down in a 3-0 home takedown of North Dakota. Senior right winger Karson Kuhlman potted one of the two shorties last Friday -- his second of the season and fourth of his career -- while junior right winger Parker Mackay had the other (his first as a Bulldog. Kuhlman and Mackay are the only two 2017-18 Bulldogs who have ever scored while a man down as a collegian.

AT THE HEAD OF THEIR CLASS: The Bulldogs sport the NCHC's highest-scoring freshmen class at the moment as that ensemble has collectively amassed 80 points on 17 goals and 63 assists.

AT THE HEAD OF THEIR CLASS II: In addition to amassing the fifth most points in the country, the UMD rookie class also ranks second nationally in blocked shots (5.50 per game),third in power play points (30) and fourth in both shots (9.67 per game) and power play goals (nine).

COMING UP EMPTY: After entering the 2017-18 season having gone 66 straight games without being shut out, the Bulldogs have already been held scoreless by the opposition on five occasions this season. That's the most times a UMD club has been blanked since the 2007-08 season when the opposition posted a school-record seven shutouts.

KING OF THE ROAD: Freshman defenseman Scott Perunovich (12 games) and junior center Peter Krieger (14 games) lead the 2017-18 Bulldogs in road scoring with 13 points (three goals and 10 assists) each.

AIN'T THAT SWEEP: UMD has been swept only twice in their last 29 regular season series overall (going back to Feb. 19-20, 2016) and both of those have come this year -- at St. Cloud State (5-3 and 5-0 on Nov. 3-4) and against Denver (1-0 and 2-1 on Dec. 1-2). Last winter marked just the third time 56 years of competing at the NCAA I level that UMD went through an entire regular season without being beaten on back-to-back nights by the same opponent. UMD also accomplished that feat in 2010-11 (when it won its first, and only, NCAA championship) and in 2014-15.

ON DECK: The Bulldogs are off next weekend and will return to the ice for a two-game NCHC home series with Miami University on Feb. 16-17.