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The University of Minnesota Duluth will close out the non-conference portion of its 2018-19 home schedule this Friday and Saturday (Oct. 19-20) when the Bulldogs host the University of Maine in a two-game series. The puck drops at 7:07 p.m. both nights at AMSOIL Arena (6,756) in downtown Duluth.

THE RECORDS: The defending NCAA national champion Bulldogs are off to 2-1-1 start this year, won 11 of their final 14 games of the 2017-18 season to finish 25-16-3 overall while placing third in National Collegiate Hockey Conference at 13-11-0-0. Maine, which is 2-0-0 in 2018-19, was 18-16-4 in all games one year ago and 10-13-3 in Hockey East play (tied for fifth place with the University of Connecticut).

HOW THEY RANK: This is how UMD and Maine stacked up in this week's USCHO.com and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine polls:
 

	uscho.com	USA Today
UMD	No. 3	No. 2
MAINE	RV	NR

ON THE AIR: The two UMD-Maine bouts this weekend will carried on KDAL-Radio (610 AM and 103.9 FM) with Bruce Ciskie handling the play-by-play responsibilities and Bulldog hockey alumnus Kraig Karakas the color commentary. The broadcast can also be heard at: kdal610.com.

Both ends of this weekend's series will be televised locally on My9, which has been the Bulldogs' television home for the last 11 seasons. Tom Hansen and former UMD standout forward Judd Medak will serve as the on-air talent both nights. The two telecasts are available on-line at: nchc.tv/umd.

THE RIVALRY: UMD and Maine have met on 12 previous occasions, the most recent of those coming last year (on Oct. 27-28) on Orono, Maine, where the Bulldogs prevailed twice (2-1 and 2-0) in their road debuts. UMD holds an 8-4-0 lead in the all-time series, which began on Nov. 30, 1984 in Duluth.

LAST WEEK: The Bulldogs passed their first road series test of the 2018-19 season with flying colors by sweeping longtime rival Michigan Tech University. Buoyed by junior goaltender Hunter Shepard's 32-save performance, UMD turned back the Huskies 2-1 on Friday before skating off with a 5-2 triumph the following evening. Sophomore left winger Kobe Roth (on the power play) and senior right winger Parker Mackay (the eventual game-winner) accounted for the two UMD goals in the opener. Rookie right winger Tanner Laderoute scored twice to key the rematch win while Mackay (one goal and one assist), sophomore defenseman Scott Perunovich (two assists) and freshman center Noah Cates (two assists) all generated two-point nights for the Bulldogs, who outshot the hosts 38-13.

Maine kicked off its 2018-19 season last Friday and Saturday with a pair of non-conference takedowns (3-1 and 4-1) over visiting St. Lawrence University.

IT'S BEEN AWHILE: This weekend will mark Maine's first visit to Duluth since Jan. 7, 1989. That was the final year of the interlocking schedule agreement between the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (of which UMD was then a member) and Hockey East. Games between those two conferences then counted in the standings for each league.

POWER SURGE: UMD is connecting at 27.8 percent on the power power play (5 of 18) this season while killing off 91.7 percent of the opposition's man advantage opportunities (11 of 12). The Bulldogs have also potted at least one power play in each of their four games.

POWER SURGE II: The Bulldogs' five power play goals to date have been generated by five different players.

POWER SURGE III: Going back to Dec. 4, 2015, UMD is 18-1-2 when scoring multiple times with the man advantage. That lone loss came earlier this yea (Oct. 7) at Minnesota when UMD went 2-for-5 with the man advantage in a 7-4 home victory.

POWER SURGE IV: The last time UMD finished a season with a better power play percentage than it did in 2017-18 (23.2 percent) was in 2003-04 when the NCAA Frozen Four semifinalist Bulldogs compiled a 25.9 mark.

WE'RE ALL IN: With both rookies Jesse Jacques and Hunter Lellig making their UMD debuts last Friday night, the only remaining 2018-19 Bulldog yet to see ice time this season is redshirt freshman goaltender Ben Patt (who is currently injured).

PARDON THE ERUPTION: In last Saturday's 5-2 victory at Michigan Tech, UMD scored five times in the second period for just its second, five-goal period since Dec. 6, 2008. The other came on Oct. 21, 2017 against visiting Merrimack College (in the third period).

SLOW STARTERS: The Bulldogs have been outscored 4-0 in the first period thus far in 2018-19, but hold a commanding 8-3 second-period goal advantage.

A MILESTONE NIGHT: Senior right winger Parker Mackay, who was credited with both game-winning goals in last weekend's sweep of Michigan Tech, skated in his 100th collegiate game on Saturday in Houghton, Mich. Of current Bulldogs, only senior center Peter Krieger (117 games, including 69 with the University of Alaska-Fairbanks from 2014-16) has made more lifetime appearances than Mackay.

SOME CLOSE SHAVES: Going back to the opening of the 2018 NCAA Tournament, the Bulldogs won have each of their last five one-goal games.

LIFE OF RILEY: Junior right left winger Riley Tufte, one of seven NHL draftees on the UMD 2018-19 roster and one of just four first-round picks in program history, tops all current Bulldogs in career goals (26) and plus-minus rating (+22).

TAKE IT TO THE BANK: Since falling 4-3 at Denver in the NCHC playoff opener on March 13, 2015, the Bulldogs are 57-0-3 when taking a lead into the third period. (They were 23-0-1 in that situation one year ago and are 2-0-0 this season).

QUALITY NOT QUANTITY: The 2018-19 Bulldog roster includes only three seniors -- right wingers Billy Exell and Parker Mackay and center Peter Krieger, who transferred to UMD two years ago from the University of Alaska-Fairbanks. That's UMD's smallest senior class since it moved to the NCAA I ranks in 1961-62. It also ties the Bulldogs for the NCAA I lead with nine other schools: American International College, Boston University, Clarkson University, the University of Connecticut, Denver, the University of Michigan, Michigan State University, St. Lawrence University and the University of Vermont.

PUCK HUNTER: Junior Hunter Shepard, a 2017-18 All-NCHC second team selection and semifinalist for the Mike Richter Award (most outstanding NCAA goaltender), has now made 43 consecutive starts -- a run that began on Oct. 21, 2017. Shepard, who came into 2017-18 with just two collegiate appearances to his name, finished the year with a 1.91 goals against average, a .925 saves percentage and eight shutouts (all program single-season bests) while going 25-14-1 in 41 outings.

PUCK HUNTER II: The last time the Bulldogs and Maine butted heads (Oct. 27-28), Hunter Shepard stopped 52 of 53 shots in UMD's series sweep en route to claiming the first of his league-high NCHC Goalie of the Week citations in 2017-18. In the finale that weekend, he registered his first collegiate shut out (in just his sixth lifetime start) -- a 2-0 triumph.

BONUS HOCKEY HAS BEEN A BONUS: The Bulldogs are unbeaten in the last 19 games that have gone into overtime, going 8-0-11 since falling 2-1 to host North Dakota on Feb. 19, 2016. That includes a 2-0-3 mark in five extra sessions last season. Just one current Bulldog -- senior team captain Parker Mackay -- has an overtime goal to his collegiate credit. Mackay has two, striking in the 2017-18 season opener against Minnesota and in the 2018 NCAA West Regional semifinals versus Minnesota State.

GREAT SCOTT!: Scott Perunovich, who owns a share of the 2018-19 Bulldog scoring lead with four points, became just the second UMD freshman to ever collar All-American first team honors last year (center Murray Keogan was the other in 1969-70). He was the recipient of the 2017-18 Tim Taylor Award (Hockey Commissioner's Association National Rookie of the Year) as well as both NCHC Rookie of the Year and NCHC Offensive Defenseman of the Year honors (both UMD program firsts). The Hibbing, Minn., product and All-NCHC first team pick also became the second defenseman to ever lead UMD in scoring and the first rookie to do it in 15 years. He racked up 36 points (a record for a first-year Bulldog blueliner and the most of any freshman defenseman in the country) on 11 goals and a team-leading 25 assists in 42 games. Among NCAA rookies, Perunovich ranked first in plus-minus rating (+22) and third in both points and assists.

MY, HOW TIME FLIES: This marks Scott Sandelin's 19th season of presiding over the Bulldog hockey program, making him the longest-serving bench boss in team history (UMD Athletic Hall of Famer and one-time Michigan Tech coach Mike Sertich spent 18 years in that role). Sandelin, whose tenure is also the second longest of any NCHC head coach. (Enrico Blassi is in his 20th year at Miami), currently ranks 12th among all active NCAA I coaches in career victories (he's now 342-301-86 overall).

IT'S MILLER TIME: Junior center Jade Miller's lone game-winning goal to date came at the expense of Maine on Oct. 27, 2017 when the Bulldogs toppled the host Black Bears 2-1.

GIVING IT THEIR BEST SHOT: The 46 shots UMD put on net in its 7-4 setback to the Minnesota on Oct. 7 were its most since a 56-shot effort against Providence College in the NCAA Northeast Region semifinals (a 2-1 double-overtime Bulldog triumph).

GIVING IT THEIR BEST SHOT II:  The Bulldogs gave up only 13 shots to Michigan Tech last Saturday night and that's just one shy of the program record for fewest shots in a game set against Air Force in last March's NCAA West Regional finals and visiting Army on Oct. 12, 1996.

YOUNG GUNS: In the last UMD-Maine meeting (Oct. 28, 2017), the Bulldogs dressed five freshmen defensemen - believed to be a program first (NCAA I era).

GET SHORTIE: Senior right winger Parker Mackay (one -- on Jan. 26, 2018 against St. Cloud State), and sophomore defenseman Mikey Anderson (in the 2018 NCHC Frozen Faceoff against North Dakota) are the only two active Bulldogs who have ever scored while a man down as a collegian.

TAKING CARE OF SOME NON-CONFERENCE BUSINESS: The last time the Bulldogs dropped two non-conference games on back-to-back nights was to Bemidji State University on Jan. 22-23, 2010 (4-1 in Bemidji, Minn. and 5-4 in overtime in Duluth). UMD also has not been swept at home by a non-league opponent since Oct. 7-8, 2005 when those same Beavers prevailed 3-2 and 5-1.

THREE OF A KIND: Freshmen defensemen Hunter Lellig (Iowa) and Jake Rosenbaum (California), and sophomore center Justin Richards (Ohio) all hold the distinction of being the first individuals from their respective states to enlist their services with the Bulldog hockey program.

UP NEXT: UMD will hit the road next weekend (Oct. 26-27) for a two-game series with the University of Notre Dame in a rematch of last year's NCAA title bout.