The University of Minnesota Duluth will make its fourth National Collegiate Hockey Conference Frozen Faceoff appearance in as many years this Friday (March 22) when the No. 2-seed Bulldogs take on the fourth-seeded University of Denver in a semifinal round clash. The puck drops at 7:38 p.m. at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn. No. 1 seed St. Cloud State University and No. 6 seed Colorado College will hook up in the other semifinal that afternoon with the two winners advancing to Saturday night's championship bout (7:38 p.m.). The third place game is set for 3:38 p.m. that day.

THE RECORDS: The defending NCAA champion Bulldogs are 23-11-2 overall and finished second in the final NCHC standings at 14-9-1-0. The Pioneers own a 21-10-5 record in all games to go with a 11-10-3-3 league mark (fourth place).

HOW THEY RANK: Here is how UMD and Denver stacked up in the most recent USCHO.com and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine polls as well as the PairWise rankings:
 

	USCHO.com	USA Today	PairWise
UMD	No. 4	No. 4	No. 4
Denver	No. 5	No. 5	No. 6

ON THE AIR: The two UMD games this weekend 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.

Both Frozen Four semifinals -- as well as the title bout -- 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 third place game will available only online at: nchc.tv/umd.

THE RIVALRY: UMD and Denver have collided on 217 occasions previously -- mostly (191 times) while both were members of the WCHA. The Pioneers hold a 126-79-12 lead in the rivalry, which began on Dec. 28, 1961 in Denver. The two clubs traded wins in their two series earlier this season in both Denver (Nov. 16-17) and in Duluth (Feb. 15-16).

In the first two-game set, the host Pioneers, despite being outshot 38-14, prevailed 2-0 in the opener (and putting the skids on the Bulldogs' eight-game wining streak) before UMD rallied for a 4-3 overtime victory the following night.

Two months ago at AMSOIL Arena, UMD returned from its final bye week of the 2018-19 regular season and toppled the Pioneers 5-2, but Denver rebounded in the rematch with a 1-0 triumph.

LAST WEEKEND: The Bulldogs nailed down a spot in the NCHC Frozen Faceoff by sweeping the University of Nebraska Omaha in a best-of-three quarterfinal round series at AMSOIL Arena. On Friday night, the Mavericks, with their goalie pulled for an extra attacker, scored with 56 seconds to go in regulation to force overtime, but sophomore right winger Nick Swaney's goal 13:42 into sudden death propelled the Bulldogs to a 2-1 victory. Junior left winger Riley Tufte accounted for the other UMD goal. In Game 2, Omaha jumped to a 1-0 lead midway through the first period, but it was all Bulldogs after that as UMD went on to take down the visitors 4-1. Senior center Peter Krieger, in his final collegiate appearance ever at AMSOIL Arena, scored once and assisted on another tally for the Bulldogs, who outshot the Mavericks 33-19 on the night.

Denver made quick work of visiting North Dakota -- 2-0 and 4-2 -- last Friday and Saturday in its NCHC first round playoff assignment.

YOU AGAIN?: This marks the second straight year the Bulldogs and Pioneers will tangle in the NCHC Frozen Faceoff semifinals. Denver got the better of UMD (3-1) in the 2018 event to push its all-time conference postseason record to 19-8-2 against UMD (1-0-0 in NCHC playoff activity and 18-8-2 in the WCHA).

FROZEN IN TIME: In its six previous visits to the NCHC Frozen Faceoff, UMD has compiled a 3-3-0 record:
 

Year	Round	Result
3/18/16	Semifinals	UMD 4, North Dakota 2
3/19/16	Championship	St. Cloud State 3, UMD 1
3/17/17	Semifinals	UMD 5, Western Michigan 2
3/18/17	Championship	UMD 4, North Dakota 3
3/16/18	Semifinals	Denver 3, UMD 1
3/16/18	Third Place	North Dakota 4, UMD 1

FROZEN IN TIME II: Two years ago, the Bulldogs captured their first NCHC Frozen Faceoff championship -- and first conference playoff title of any kind since the 2008-09 season. That was the year they won an unprecedented three games in three nights to claim the WCHA Final Five title at the Xcel Energy Center.

X MARKS THE SPOT: The Bulldogs are 15-9-1 in 25 lifetime outings -- all under current head coach Scott Sandelin -- at the Xcel Energy Center. In its last visit  to that downtown St. Paul facility (April 7, 2018), UMD defeated Notre Dame 2-1 in the NCAA Frozen Four title game to capture the program's second national championship (following up its 2011 title conquest also at the Xcel Energy Center).

THOSE PESKY PIONEERS: Going back to the 2017 NCAA Frozen Four title game, the Pioneers are 8-2-0 against UMD (and all but one of those 10 outings have been decided by two goals or less). In 2017-18, Denver became the first opponent to post a 5-0 record against the Bulldogs in season since Minnesota went 6-0 back in 1994-95.

TWO OF A KIND: UMD and Denver are both locks to qualify for the NCAA I tournament, which starts next week. Nationally, here is how those two clubs rank in terms of consecutive NCAA tournament appearances (heading into the 2018-19 season):
 

	Team	Appearances
1.	Denver	11
2.	Providence	5
3.	UMD	4
4.	Boston U.	4

RALLY TIME: UMD's 4-3 overtime takedown of Denver on Nov. 17, 2018 not only snapped a six-game losing skid to the Pioneers, but it marked the first time a Bulldog club had overcome a three-goal deficit to win since Feb. 21, 2004 (5-3 over host Colorado College, which had jumped to a 3-0 first-period lead). It also was the first time UMD won after trailing by three goals in the third period since they turned that trick on Minnesota in 1998 WCHA playoffs in Duluth. (The Gophers led 4-0 with 13:46 remaining in regulation only to fall 5-4 in overtime.)

CONSISTENTLY CONSISTENT: The Bulldogs (23-11-2 overall) have now reached the 20-win plateau for the eighth time in the last 11 seasons.

PUCK HUNTER: Junior Hunter Shepard has been selected as a Top 10 semifinalist for the Mike Richter Award (most outstanding NCAA I goaltender) for second straight season. A 2018-19 All-NCHC first team honoree and NCHC Goaltender of the Month for both November and January this season, Shepard currently ranks ninth nationally in goals against average (1.95), is tied for second in wins (23) and for fourth in shutouts (5).

PUCK HUNTER II: Hunter Shepard has now made 75 consecutive starts (an ironman run that began on Oct. 21, 2017), which is one start shy of the team record set by current UMD volunteer goalie coach Brant Nicklin between Oct. 12, 1996 and March 15, 1998.

PUCK HUNTER III: Hunter Shepard owns UMD records for shutouts in both a season (eight in 2017-18 when he earned All-NCHC second team honors) and a career (13). His 48 wins as a Bulldog puts him sixth on UMD's all-time charts -- two back of Isaac Reichmuth (2002-06), who occupies the No. 5 spot.

NO WALK IN THE PARK: UMD ranked first in regular season strength of schedule in 2018-19. Here is how the Bulldogs have fared in that department since joining the NCHC:

  Year          Rank
2018-19        1st
2017-18        3rd
2016-17        1st
2015-16        2nd
2014-15        1st
2013-14        1st

YOU'RE KILLING ME: On March 2, the Bulldogs paced the nation in penalty killing efficiency at 90.7 percent but they head into the NCHC Frozen Faceoff ranking 14th nationally at 85.9 percent. Opponents are 10-for-26 (38.4 percent) on the power play over the last eight games after connecting at 7.8 percent (8-for-102) the first 28 outings of the season.

The Bulldogs did blank Omaha on all eight of its power play opportunities last weekend.

YOU'RE KILLING ME II: UMD has won only two of the last 12 games (2-9-1) in which it has given up multiple power play goals. Those triumphs came on March 2, 2019 against visiting Miami and at Colorado College on Jan. 12, 2018 (6-5).

YOU'RE KILLING ME III: The Bulldogs' penalty kill of 87.1 percent (61-of-70) on the road is the eighth-best figure in the country while its .820 mark at home (49-of-58) ranks 23rd nationally. In addition, both of UMD's two shorthanded goals this season have been registered away from AMSOIL Arena.

BACK END BOOSTER: Sophomore defenseman and two-time All-NCHC first team honoree Scott Perunovich, who was sat out last weekend's NCHC playoff series with Omaha with a lower body injury, has generated a team-leading six points (three goals and three assists with one game-winner) in nine lifetime outings against Denver.

Perunovich's 27 overall points this season take a backseat to only two other NCHC defenseman (St. Cloud State's Jimmy Schuldt with 33 and Jack Ahcan with 32) while his 24 assists are the second-most of any league point man (Ahcan has 27).

Last winter, Perunovich became just the second UMD freshman to ever collar All-American first team honors (center Murray Keogan was the other in 1969-70) and 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 Offensive Defenseman of the Year honors (both UMD program firsts).Perunovich also became the second defenseman to ever lead UMD in scoring and the first rookie to do so 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 all NCAA newcomers, Perunovich ranked first in plus-minus rating (+22) and third in both points and assists.

BACK END BOOSTER II: Sophomore defenseman Mikey Anderson will enter Friday night's bout with the Pioneers armed with a career-high six-game scoring streak. He has 10 points (all assists) during that strech.

BONUS HOCKEY HAS BEEN A BONUS: UMD is unbeaten in 23 of the last 24 games that have required overtime, going 11-1-12, since falling 2-1 to host North Dakota on Feb. 19, 2016. That lone setback was inflicted by St. Cloud State two weeks ago (March 8) in St. Cloud.

BONUS HOCKEY HAS BEEN A BONUS II: Just three current Bulldogs -- Parker Mackay, Cole Koepke and Nick Swaney -- 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 potted his in a 4-3 triumph at Denver on Nov. 17, 2018 and Swaney did his damage in UMD's 4-3 overtime takedown of Minnesota State-Mankato in the 2018 Desert Hockey Classic semifinals and in Friday's 2-1 victory over Omaha.

'TOP DOG: Although he's been held off the scoresheet in eight of the last nine games, sophomore center Justin Richards continues to hold down the No. 1 spot on the UMD scoring charts with 10 goals and 18 assists. Richards, a 2018-19 All-NCHC second team pick, has taken shifts in all 80 games since joining the Bulldogs one year ago (when he went without a goal).

Earlier this season (Jan. 19) in a 3-0 win at Miami, Richards became the first Bulldog to successfully convert a penalty shot since Travis Oleksuk did so back on Oct. 15, 2010 against Providence College in Duluth.

LIFE OF RILEY: Junior left winger Tufte had his four-game goal-scoring streak snapped in last Saturday's 4-1 win over Omaha. That was the longest such run by a Bulldog since Dominic Toninato struck in five consecutive games during the 2016-17 season. Tufte is one of seven NHL draftees on the UMD 2018-19 roster and one of four first-round NHL draft picks in program history.

FLEXING SOME SOPHOMORE MUSCLE: UMD possesses the fourth-highest scoring sophomore class in the country (149 points on 48 goals and 101 assists) and that group has accounted for 48.2 percent of the Bulldogs' entire point production thus far and 41.7 percent of their goals.

IT'S MILLER TIME: Junior center Jade Miller had picked up at least one point in six straight outings (the longest scoring streak of his collegiate career) before being blanked by Omaha last Saturday.

GIVING IT THEIR BEST SHOT: UMD's shots allowed per game average (22.72) and its shot differential (+12.11) both continue to lead the country. The Bulldogs are averaging 34.83 shots per game to trail only Penn State (40.82 spg), the University of Michigan (35.58 spg) and the University of Massachusetts (35.36 spg) among NCAA I schools.

GIVING IT THEIR BEST SHOT II: UMD has been outshot in only four of its 36 games this winter.

GREAT SCOTT: Over the past five seasons, only three NCAA I head coaches have generated more victories than UMD's Scott Sandelin:
 

Name	School	Win	Loss	Tie	Pct.
Mike Hastings	Minn. State	132	51	17	.704
Nate Leaman	Providence	121	55	21	.668
Rand Pecknold	Quinnipiac	119	58	19	.656
Scott Sandelin	UMD	116	66	20	.624
Chris Bergeron	BGSU	114	64	24	.624
Bob Motzko	SCSU/Minn.	110	72	13	.597
Norm Bazin	UML	109	65	19	.614

Sandelin, incidentally, has never finished a season (there have been six) with a sub-.500 NCHC record.

GREAT SCOTT II : 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.

GREAT SCOTT III: Earlier this season, Scott Sandelin became the NCHC's all-time winningest coach (league games only). Here are the top six individuals on that list through the 2018-19 season.
 

Name	School	Win	Loss	Tie	Pct.
Scott Sandelin	UMD	76	55	13	.573
Jim Montgomery	Denver	70	35	15	.646
Bob Motzko	SCSU	69	41	10	.617
Andy Murray	WMU	58	74	12	.444
Brad Berry	UND	50	37	9	.567
Enrico Blasi	Miami	45	84	15	.364
Dean Blais	Omaha	42	45	9	.484

GREAT SCOTT IV: Even though he wasn't in Glendale, Ariz. to witness it, Scott Sandelin became the winningest coach on Dec. 28 when the Bulldogs defeated Minnesota State University-Mankato 4-3 in overtime at the Desert Hockey Classic. That gave Sandelin, who was in Victoria, British Columbia that night assistant coaching the U.S. at the IIHF World Junior Championships, his 351st career victory with the Bulldogs (he's now 363-311-86 during his 18-plus seasons). Sandelin's predecessor, UMD Athletic Hall of Famer Mike Sertich, was the previous kingpin, having amassed a 350-328-44 record from 1982-2000.

GETTING BETTER ALL THE TIME: Nine UMD veterans have established or equaled career collegiate bests for points this winter:
 

Player	Year	Pts.	Previous High
Justin Richards	So.	28	9 (2017-18)
Parker Mackay	Sr.	26	19 (2017-18)
Mikey Anderson	So.	23	23 (2017-18)
Nick Swaney	So.	23	22 (2017-18)
Nick Wolff	Jr.	18	13 (2017-18)
Dylan Samberg	So.	17	13 (2017-18)
Kobe Roth	So.	13	9 (2017-18)
Louie Roehl	So.	9	9 (2017-18)
Koby Bender	Fr.	4	1 (2017-18)

... while two other Bulldogs are knocking on the door:
 

Player	Year	Pts.	Previous High
Matt Anderson	So.	5	6 (2017-18)
Jade Miller	Jr.	10	13 (2017-18)

POWER SURGE: UMD is connecting at 23.8 percent with the man advantage -- the ninth best average in the country and second highest figure in the NCHC.

POWER SURGE II: The Bulldogs' 31 power play goals to date have been generated by 12 different players, including junior left winger Riley Tufte, who has a team-leading seven tallies (which ties him for the NCHC lead with Omaha's Mason Morelli).

POWER SURGE III: Going back to Dec. 4, 2015, UMD is 23-2-2 when scoring multiple times with the man advantage. The lone two losses came earlier this year -- on Oct. 7 at Minnesota when UMD went 2-for-5 with the man advantage in a 7-4 setback and March 9 (UMD was defeated 4-3 by host St. Cloud after going 2-for-4 on the power play.

SECOND-HALF SPURT: Of sophomore Nick Swaney's team-leading 14 goals, 10 have come in the 20 games since Dec. 28 -- including a hat trick on Jan. 26 against Omaha). Only one other league skater (St. Cloud State's Robby Jackson with 11 each) has scored more times during that stretch than Swaney, the NCHC Player of the Month for January, and no one has put more shots on target (82).

THE EARLY GOAL GETS THE WIN: The Bulldogs are 20-2-0 when they've drawn first blood this season and have won 24 of the last 26 games in which they have gotten on the scoreboard first (going back to March 9, 2018). Their two losses in that situation were inflicted by St. Cloud State on March 9, 2018 and Jan. 12, 2018.

FOR PETE'S SAKE: Senior center Peter Krieger has racked up more collegiate points (86 in team-high 148 games) than any other Bulldog, with 53 of those coming during his time at UMD (2017-present) and the rest while he was a member of the University of Alaska-Fairbanks program (2014-16).

NOT VERY COOLEY: Denver's Devin Cooley has shut out the Bulldogs twice in 2018-19. The only netminder to turn that trick against UMD on more occasions in one season was Colorado College's Richard Bachman (three times in 2007-08)

CLAP FOR THE WOLFFMAN: Junior Nick Wolff, who has taken shifts in a team-high 109 straight games, is a +17 on the year. Wolff's career plus-minus rating (+39) tops all current Bulldogs.

CLAP FOR THE WOLFFMAN II: Nick Wolff is the NCHC overall leader in overall penalty minutes (78).

CLAP FOR THE WOLFFMAN III: No player in the country has scored more goals (two) or points (three) in the opening two minutes of play this year than Nick Wolff

TAKE IT TO THE BANK: Since falling 4-3 at Denver in the NCHC playoff opener on March 13, 2015, the Bulldogs are 73-1-3 when taking a lead into the third period. (They were 23-0-1 in that situation one year ago and are 18-1-0 this season). The only loss during that stretch was inflicted by Western Michigan -- 3-2 on Dec. 7, 2018 in Kalamazoo, Mich.

LOCKDOWN: UMD has allowed the fewest third-period goals (20) of any NCAA I club in the country. It shares that top billing with Clarkson University.

A TWO-FER: Both senior center Peter Krieger (at North Dakota on Feb. 23) and sophomore right winger Kobe Roth (versus North Dakota on Nov. 30) have scored twice with the man advantage in games this season. Prior to this year, the last Bulldog to turn in a multiple-power play goal outing was Austin Farley against Western Michigan on Dec. 5, 2015.

WE'LL SECOND THAT: The Bulldogs have outscored the opposition 53-22 in the second period this season. UMD's +31 second-period goal differential tops all NCAA I schools while its goals per game average (1.47) ranks second. In addition, 47.8 percent of the Bulldogs' goal scoring has taken place in the second period, a figure unmatched in the country.

In contrast, UMD has been outscored 31-29 in the first period thus far and has generated 25.2 percent of its goals in the opening 20 minutes of play (to rank 48th nationally).

OH, BROTHER: The rookie brother tandem of Jackson and Noah Cates have both struck for goals in the same game three times this season.

GET SHORTIE: Sophomore right winger Nick Swaney has both of UMD's two shorthanded goals in 2018-19 (at Miami on Jan. 18 and at Notre Dame on Oct. 26). Swaney, sophomore defenseman Mikey Anderson (one) and senior right winger Parker Mackay (one) are the only other two Bulldogs with a man down goal to their collegiate credit.

NOT SO SWEEP: UMD has been swept only four times in its last 58 regular season series overall (going back to Feb. 19-20, 2016) -- twice to both St. Cloud State(4-3 in overtime and 4-3 on March 8-9, 2019 and (5-3 and 5-0 on Nov. 3-4, 2017) and against Denver (1-0 and 2-1 on Dec. 1-2, 2017 and 1-0 and 4-3 on Feb. 2-3, 2018).

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

The Bulldogs have now cracked every USCHO.com Top 20 Poll since March 7, 2016.

SOME CLOSE SHAVES: Going back to the opening round of the 2018 NCAA Tournament, the Bulldogs have won 12 of the last 16 games decided by one goal.

HEADING TO THE DANCE: The Bulldogs will learn of their NCAA Tournament fate on Sunday (March 24) when the 16-team field is officially announced at 6 p.m. (CT) on ESPNU. UMD has advanced to the NCAA postseason in seven of the past ten years, including the last four in a row. No Bulldog team has ever competed in five straight NCAA tournaments.