The University of Minnesota Duluth continue on its diet of National Collegiate Hockey Conference competition this Friday and Saturday (Dec. 7-8) when the Bulldogs pay a visit to Kalamazoo, Mich., for a two-game series with Western Michigan University. The puck drops at 6:05 p.m. (CT) both nights at Lawson Ice Arena (4,575) on the Western Michigan campus.

THE RECORDS: The defending NCAA champion Bulldogs are 10-3-1 overall and 4-2-0-0 in NCHC play while Western Michigan sports a 8-6-0 record in all games to go with a 3-3-0-0 NCHC mark.

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

	USCHO.com	USA Today
UMD	No. 4	No. 3
UMD	RV	RV

  
ON THE AIR: The two Bulldog-Bronco clashes this weekend will be carried on KDAL-Radio (610 AM and 103.9 FM) with Bruce Ciskie on the call. The broadcast can also be heard at: kdal610.com.

This weekend's series will be televised locally on My9, which has been the Bulldogs' television home for the last 11 seasons. Zach Schneider will serve as the on-air talent. The two telecasts are available on-line at: nchc.tv/umd.

THE RIVALRY: UMD and Western Michigan have butted heads on 27 occasions previously, including six times during 2017-18 season in which the Bulldogs went 5-1-0 against the Broncos. That included a two-game sweep (5-0 and 2-0) of Western Michigan in the opening round of the NCHC playoffs last March at AMSOIL Arena.

LAST WEEK: The Bulldogs returned from a bye week to split a two-game NCHC series with visiting North Dakota. UMD, behind sophomore left winger Kobe Roth's two goals and a shutdown performance from junior goaltender Hunter Shepard, throttled the Fighting Hawks 5-0 on Friday night. The Bulldogs, who erupted four goals in the second period, also got two-point nights from sophomore defenseman Mikey Anderson (one goal and one assists), sophomore center Justin Richards (two assists) and senior right winger Parker Mackay (one goal and one assist). In the rematch, North Dakota struck twice in a 91 second span early in the first period and hung on for a 2-1 triumph. Freshman right winger Tanner Laderoute accounted for the lone UMD goal (his second of the weekend).
 
Western Michigan swept Niagara University (3-2 Friday and 7-3 the following evening) in a pair of non-conference bouts at Lawson Arena. Sophomore Josh Passolt paced the Bronco scoring attack over the weekend with four points, including a hat trick and in assist in the 7-3 victory.

YOU'RE KILLING ME: UMD will come into its final NCHC series of 2018 ranking first in the nation in penalty kill efficiency at .907. The Bulldogs haven't given up a power play goal in their last three games, holding the opposition scoreless on 14 straight opportunities with the man advantage. Opponents are a mere 5-for-54 on the power play this season, with those five goals coming in five separate games.

BRONCO BUSTERS: Not only did the Bulldogs prevail five times in their six matchups with Western Michigan one year ago, but they posted shutouts in four of those five wins (all by current junior netminder Hunter Shepard) and outscored their NCHC rivals 24-6.

On the flip side, Western Michigan's only win at the Bulldogs' expense in 2018-19 was also a shutout -- 5-0 on Nov. 11 in Duluth.

BRONCO BUSTERS II: Western Michigan ended its 2017-18 season in Duluth, having been ousted from the NCHC playoffs with back-to-back shutouts by the Bulldogs (5-0 and 2-0). That extended the Broncos goal-less skid against UMD to 148:51 minutes.

BRONCO BUSTERS III: In addition to posting four shutouts, junior goaltender Hunter Shepard has generated a 1.00 goals against average, a .954 saves percentage and a 5-2-0 record in seven lifetime appearances against Western Michigan.

GREAT SCOTT!: Sophomore All-American Scott Perunovich will come into the weekend with a NCHC-best 15 assists to his credit. He is tied for fourth nationally in that department and is fifth in scoring among NCAA I defensemen with 17 points.

THE EARLY GOAL GETS THE WIN: The Bulldogs are a perfect 9-0-0 when they've drawn first blood this season. UMD has now won 14 straight games in which it has gotten on the scoreboard first, a run that began on March 9, 2018 versus visiting Western Michigan

BETTER THAN BEFORE: Sophomore center Justin Richards is the first -- and thus far only -- 2018-19 UMD veteran to set a career best for scoring this season. Richards, who has skated in all 58 games since joining the Bulldog program last fall, ranks third on the team scoring charts with 13 points, which is four more than he collected all of last winter.

TAKE IT TO THE BANK: Since falling 4-3 at Denver in the NCHC playoff opener on March 13, 2015, the Bulldogs are 63-0-3 when taking a lead into the third period. (They were 23-0-1 in that situation one year ago and are 8-0-0 this season).

TOP 'DOG: Last Friday's triumph over North Dakota was the 350th of head coach Scott Sandelin's Bulldog career and that gave him a share of the title as the winningest head coach in UMD men's hockey history. In 18-plus seasons with the Bulldogs, Sandelin has amassed a 350-303-86 overall record while his predecessor, Mike Sertich, was 350-328-44 from 1982-2000.

PUCK HUNTER: Hunter Shepard, who owns the fourth lowest goals against average (1.75) and is tied for the NCAA lead in wins (10), has now made 53 consecutive starts -- an ironman run that began on Oct. 21, 2017. With last Friday's 5-0 takedown of North Dakota, the 2017-18 All-NCHC second team selection and Mike Richter Award semifinalist (most outstanding NCAA goaltender), took over sole possession of first place on UMD's career shutout list with 10 (he had previously shared the top spot with Alex Stalock, 2006-09).

PUCK HUNTER II: The first of Hunter Shepard's two collegiate assists came in his Lawson Ice Arena debut (Feb. 23, 2018).

POWER SURGE: UMD has struck on the power play at least once in 10 of its 14 games thus far and is connecting at 24.0 percent with the man advantage -- the 11th best average in the country.

POWER SURGE II: The Bulldogs' 12 power play goals to date have been generated by six different players, including junior left winger Riley Tufte, who has a team-leading four tallies (his entire 2018-19 goal harvest).

POWER SURGE III: Going back to Dec. 4, 2015, UMD is 19-1-2 when scoring multiple times with the man advantage. That lone loss came earlier this year (Oct. 7) at Minnesota when UMD went 2-for-5 with the man advantage in a 7-4 home victory.

ROAD NUGGETS: Of sophomore right winger Nick Swaney's nine points this season, a team-leading seven (two goals and five assists) have been accumulated away from AMSOIL Arena.

ROAD NUGGETS II: In their seven road appearances this season, the Bulldogs have outscored the opposition 21-18, yet has collected just lone goal (vs. Notre Dame on Oct. 27) in the first period.

GIVING IT THEIR BEST SHOT: The Bulldogs are averaging 36.21 shots per game to trail only Penn State University (40.47 spg) among NCAA I schools. UMD's shot differential (+13.71) is tops in the country while its 22.50 shots allowed per game average ranks third nationally.

A TWO-FER: Sophomore right winger  Kobe Roth turned in the second two-goal night of his career last Friday and the first multiple-power play goal outing by a Bulldogs since Austin Farley struck twice with the man advantage against Western Michigan on Dec. 5, 2015.

MAKING HIS POINT: Senior team captain Parker Mackay has marked in the points column in 10 of the 14 games to date -- a claim no other Bulldog can make.

BONUS HOCKEY HAS BEEN A BONUS: UMD is unbeaten in the last 20 games that have gone into overtime, going 9-0-11 since falling 2-1 to host North Dakota on Feb. 19, 2016. Just two current Bulldogs -- senior Parker Mackay and rookie left winger Cole Koepke -- have an overtime goal as a collegian. Mackay has two, striking in the 2017-18 season opener against Minnesota and in the 2018 NCAA West Regional semifinals versus Minnesota State. Koepke did his damage in UMD's 4-3 win at Denver on Nov. 17.

LIFE OF RILEY: 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 (29) and power play scores (10).

FLEXING SOME SOPHOMORE MUSCLE: UMD possesses the 4th highest scoring sophomore class in the country (60 points on 18 goals and 42 assists) and that group has accounted for 46.5 percent of the Bulldogs' entire point production this far.

TOURNAMENT TOUGH: Scott Sandelin's career winning percentage in the NCAA Tournament (.739 off a 17-6 record) is the best of any active head coach (minimum eight games) and trails only the late Herb Brooks (.889 at Minnesota), Vic Heyliger (.800 at Michigan) and Gino Gasparini (.789 at North Dakota) among all NCAA head coaches.

A PLUSS FOR WOLFF: Junior defenseman and assistant team captain Nick Wolff, who has taken shifts in a team-high 87 straight games, is a +15 on the year -- the second best mark in the country at the moment.

WE'LL SECOND THAT: The Bulldogs have outscored the opposition 24-9 in the second period this season. Those 24 second-period goals are the second most among all NCAA teams (Penn State is first with 31).

GET SHORTIE: Sophomore right winger Nick Swaney's shorthanded goal on Oct. 26, 2018 at Notre Dame was the first of his career and the first by a Bulldog since March 17, 2018 (current sophomore defenseman Mikey Anderson vs. North Dakota in the NCHC Frozen Faceoff semifinals). Anderson, Swaney and Parker Mackay are the lone three Bulldogs with a shortie to their collegiate credit (one each).

VIEW FROM THE TOP: UMD has sat atop the USCHO.com Poll on four occasions this season and its three -week stay at the No. 1 position (Oct. 29-Nov. 12) was the program's longest since a piecing together another three-week run between Jan. 30-Feb. 13, 2017.

THREE'S A CHARM: UMD is 2-3-2 in seven lifetime 3-on-3 NCHC overtimes. The Bulldogs' last 3-on-3 overtime was contested against Miami on Feb. 24, 2017 in Duluth (where the RedHawks prevailed).

OH SHOOT(OUT)!: The Bulldogs are 4-3 lifetime in NCHC shootouts, but haven't competed in one since Feb. 18, 2017 (when they won 1-0 at Colorado College). No current Bulldog has ever participated in that post- overtime event.

UP NEXT: UMD won't return to the ice until Dec. 28 when it will take on Minnesota State University-Mankato in the opening round of the Desert Hockey Classic in Glendale, Ariz.