The University of Minnesota Duluth will put its four-game winning streak on the line this Friday and Saturday (Feb. 21-22) when the Bulldogs pay a visit to Kalamazoo, Mich., for a two-game National Collegiate Hockey Conference series against Western Michigan University. Opening face off is set for 6:07 p.m. (CT) both nights at Lawson Ice Arena (4,575) on the Western Michigan campus.

THE RECORDS: The two-time defending NCAA champion Bulldogs are 17-9-2 overall and 12-4-2-0 in NCHC play (second place) while Western Michigan sports a 15-10-5 record in all outings and a 9-6-3-2 league mark (third place).

HOW THEY RANK: Here is how UMD and Western Michigan stacked up in the most recent USCH0.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
WMU	No. 19	RV	No. 15(t)

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 handling the play-by-play responsibilities. 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.

My 9, which has been the Bulldogs' television home for the last 12 seasons, will air Saturday's rematch.That game is available on-line as well at: nchc.tv/umd.

THE SERIES: UMD and Western Michigan have butted heads on 31 occasions previously. The Bulldogs hold a commanding 19-9-3 lead in the all-time series, which began on Nov. 17, 2008 at the Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center, and went 1-0-1 against the Broncos earlier this season (Jan. 10-11) in Duluth, taking the series opener 6-3 before settling for a 3-3 tie the ensuing evening (Western Michigan won the overtime shootout to pick up the extra NCHC point).

• UMD is 8-3-1 lifetime at Lawson Ice Arena
• Eight of the 31 previous UMD-Western Michigan matchups have resulted in a shutout  for the Bulldogs (six times) or Broncos (two times)

LAST WEEKEND: The Bulldogs have been idle since taking down the University of Nebraska Omaha twice on Feb. 7-8 at AMSOIL Arena. UMD opened the weekend by scoring once each period in a 3-2 triumph as three different Bulldogs -- junior right winger Kobe Roth, freshman left winger Quinn Olson and sophomore left winger Noah Cates -- collected a goal. In the rematch, sophomore right winger Tanner Laderoute scored once and assisted on another goal and senior goaltender Hunter Shepard stopped 31 of 32 shots to propel the Bulldogs past the Mavericks 4-1. Sophomore left winger Cole Koepke, junior center Justin Richards and senior center Jade Miller, also potted goals for the Bulldogs, who ran their winning streak over Omaha to nine games.

ON A ROLL: Both UMD and Western Michigan are in somewhat of a surge mode at the moment. The Bulldogs, who own a four-game winning streak, have won five of their past six outings while the Broncos are unbeaten in 10 of their last 11 assignments (8-1-2).

BRONCO BUSTER: Senior All-American goaltender Hunter Shepard has made 11 career appearances against Western Michigan, shutting out the Broncos in four of those. He's generated a 1.59 goals against average and a .937saves percentage while going 6-3-2 lifetime versus Western Michigan.

BRONCO BUSTER II: Junior defenseman Dylan Samberg's and sophomore center Jess Jacques' first collegiate goals came at the expense of Western Michigan (on Feb. 23, 2018 and Dec. 7, 2018, respectively) while junior left winger Kobe Roth registered his first point as a Bulldog against the Broncos (an assist on Nov. 10, 2017).

CONSISTENTLY CONSISTENT: UMD is now guaranteed of finishing with a .500 or above record in NCHC play for a seventh consecutive season (which is the entire existence of that conference).

NO POWER SHORTAGE HERE: The Bulldogs currently sit fifth nationally -- and first in the NCHC -- in both power play efficiency (.267) and in power play goals (31). UMD has collected more of its total goals on the power play this season -- 34.8 percent -- than all but four NCAA I clubs in the country (and none from the NCHC).

NO POWER SHORTAGE HERE II: UMD has scored at least once with the man advantage in all but seven of its 28 games to date, going 5-2-0 in those seven outings.

NO POWER SHORTAGE HERE III: The Bulldogs' 31 power play goals thus far have been generated by nine different players, including sophomore center Jackson Cates and junior left winger Kobe Roth, who both have struck a team- and career-high five times with the man advantage. Those five goals tie them for second in the NCHC.

NO POWER SHORTAGE HERE IV: Going back to Dec. 4, 2015, UMD is 29-3-2 when scoring multiple times on the power play. One of those losses occurred earlier this year -- on Oct. 18 at Wisconsin when UMD went 2-for-3 with the man advantage in a 6-2 setback.

PUCK HUNTER: Senior All-American Hunter Shepard has made a NCAA-record 109 straight starts, an ironman streak that dates back to Oct. 21, 2017.

• The NCAA record for consecutive appearances by a goalie is 122 held by Dan Murphy of Clarkson (1994-98).

PUCK HUNTER II: Hunter Shepard, the 2018-19 NCHC Goaltender of the Year, has a school-record 17 shutouts to his collegiate credit (more than any active NCAA puckstopper), including a pair this season. The only two NCHC clubs Shepard has yet to blank are Omaha and St. Cloud State.

PUCK HUNTER III: This past November, Hunter Shepard became UMD's career leader in victories (the old mark was 60 wins, held by both Rick Kosti, 1983-85, and Taras Lendzyk, 1992-96). Shepard now sports a 71-36-5 lifetime record as a Bulldog and those 71 triumphs trail one other current NCAA goaltender (Penn State University's Peyton Jones with 75).

PUCK HUNTER IV: Hunter Shepard has been bestowed with the NCHC Goaltender of the Week award a league-high six times times this season (Feb. 10, Jan. 13, Jan. 6, Nov. 25, Nov. 1 and Oct. 28) and on 15 occasions as a collegian. He is also the reigning NCHC Goaltender of the Month (January).

PUCK HUNTER V: Hunter Shepard, a two-time finalist for the Mike Richter Award (most outstanding goaltender in the nation), has amassed the most NCAA Tournament wins of any active goalie in the country (he's a perfect 8-0) and last April became the first goalie in a half century to backstop his team to back-to-back Frozen Four titles.

PUCK HUNTER VI: One year ago, Hunter Shepard became the first goaltender to appear in (and start) all of UMD's games since Alex Stalock, now a member of the NHL's Minnesota Wild, turned that trick in 2007-08.

THE EARLY GOAL GETS THE WIN: Going back to March 6, 2018, the Bulldogs have won 40 of the last 42 games in which they have gotten on the scoreboard first. Their two losses in that situation were inflicted by St. Cloud State on March 9, 2019 and Jan. 12, 2019. UMD is 13-0-0 when it has taken a 1-0 lead in 2019-20.

GREAT SCOTT: Two-time All-American junior Scott Perunovich currently occupies the No. 3 spot on the NCAA defensemen scoring charts with a UMD-best 33 points while his 29 assists and 20 power play points both rank second and third, respectively, among all NCAA skaters. Of Perunovich's 33 total points this season, 64.0 percent (18) have been registered in the third period, which places him at No. 1 nationally.

GREAT SCOTT II: Scott Perunovich, the two-time NCHC Offensive Defenseman of the Year, now occupies a share of the No. 6 spot on UMD's all-time scoring list for blueliners. His 98 career points are the sixth most of any current NCAA defenseman (Duluth native and Northern Michigan University senior Phil Beaulieu is first with 118) while his lifetime 0.90 points per game average is tops among the nation's point men.

GREAT SCOTT III: Perunovich needs just two points to become the 58th member of the UMD Century Club. The last Bulldog to crack the 100-point plateau for a career was All-American winger Alex Iafallo in 2016-17 while the last UMD defenseman to do so was three-time All-American Norm Maciver back in 1984-85.

GREAT SCOTT IV: Scott Perunovich has racked up more penalties (a NCHC-leading 20) and more penalty minutes (a NCHC-leading 62) than all but six players in the entire country.

TAKE IT TO THE BANK: Since falling 4-3 at Denver in the NCHC playoff opener on March 13, 2015, the Bulldogs are 89-1-3 when taking a lead into the third period. (They are 15-0-0 in that situation this season). The only loss during that stretch came at the hands of Western Michigan -- 3-2 on Dec. 7, 2018 in Kalamazoo, Mich.

OH, BROTHER: Sophomore left winger Noah Cates, who tops the 2019-20 Bulldogs in goals with a career-high 13, has collected at least one point in 11 of the past 14 games (picking up six goals and eight assists over that stretch). His older brother, Jackson, also has also marked in the scoring column in 11 of the last 14 outings, registering three goals and nine assists.

OH, BROTHER II: The sophomore brother duo of Jackson and Noah Cates (the top vote getter on the 2018-19 NCHC All-Rookie Team) struck for goals in the same game three times last season and have done it once thus far in 2019-20.

NO WALK IN THE PARK: UMD ranked first nationally in regular season strength of schedule in 2018-19 and currently hold down that same spot this season. 

BONUS HOCKEY HAS BEEN A BONUS II: Just two 2019-20 Bulldogs -- junior right winger Nick Swaney and sophomore right winger Cole Koepke -- have scored an overtime goal as a collegian. Swaney has three (all coming in 2018-19, which tied him for the NCAA lead) while Koepke potted his overtime winner in a 4-3 victory at Denver on Nov. 17, 2018.

HE KEEPS GOING, AND GOING AND ...: Junior center Justin Richards, the reigning NCHC Defensive Forward of the Year, has skated in all 114 outings since joining the UMD program two years ago while sophomore left winger Cole Koepke also has yet to miss a game as a Bulldog (70).

RANK AND FILE: UMD is 8-5-1 against nationally-ranked teams (top 20 in the USCHO.com Poll), winning five of its last six matchups with those clubs.

A COUPLE OF GOOD LUCK CHARMS: Since Kobe Roth signed on with the Bulldogs in 2016-17, UMD is undefeated in 18 of the 21 games in which he has collected a goal (17-3-1). This season, the Bulldogs are 9-0-1 when sophomore right winger Cole Koepke has scored.

SAVING THEIR BEST FOR LAST: The Bulldogs have outscored the opposition 43-24 in the third period so far in 2019-20. (On the road, however, the opposition holds the upperhand, 15-14). A total of 48.3 percent of UMD's overall goals have been produced in the final 20 minutes of regulation, a figure unmatched by an NCAA I club this season.

MAKING HIS GOALS COUNT: Of Kobe Roth's 24 career goals, exactly one third (eight) have been game-winners and 11 have come on the power play.

STACKED IN THE MIDDLE: UMD possesses the nation's fifth-highest scoring junior class (115 points) and 11th-highest sophomore unit (90 pts.) while the senior and rookie groups (17 pts. each) rank 56th and 58th respectively, out of 60 NCAA schools.

THE NUMBERS DON'T LIE: Since Nov. 30, 2019, only one NCHC skater -- North Dakota's Jordan Kawaguchi with 22 points -- has generated a higher scoring yield than Cole Koepke. During that period, Koepke has nine goals (including two shorties) and nine assists in 15 games.

HUNGRY LIKE THE WOLFF: Senior defenseman Nick Wolff, who has taken part in more lifetime games (150) than all but three players in the country, had his streak of 127 consecutive appearances snapped when he sat out the Nov. 30 home clash against Minnesota State-Mankato with an upper body injury. That ironman run started on Nov. 19, 2016 in Omaha.

HUNGRY LIKE THE WOLFF II: Nick Wolff is currently third in the NCHC in blocks with 54 while his blueline partner, Scott Perunovich, is seventh with 47.

GET SHORTIE: Junior right winger Nick Swaney (three, including one this season and two in 2018-19), junior center Justin Richards (two, both in 2019-20) and sophomore right winger Cole Koepke (two, both in 2019-20) are the only three current Bulldogs with a shorthanded goal to their collegiate credit.

GET SHORTIE II: UMD has already equaled its entire 2018-19 harvest for shorthanded goals with and NCHC-leading five this winter.

NOT SO SWEEP: UMD has been swept only seven times in its last 72 regular season series overall (going back to Feb. 19-20, 2016) -- three times to St. Cloud State twice to Denver and once each (earlier this year) to both the University of Wisconsin and to Minnesota State University.

THREE'S A CHARM: UMD is 2-3-5 in 10 lifetime 3-on-3 NCHC overtimes (0-0-2 in 2019-20). The Bulldogs' last league 3-on-3 overtime victory came on Jan. 6, 2017 against visiting Colorado College.

POLL POSITION: UMD has cracked every USCHO.com Top 20 Poll since March 7, 2016 and spent the opening week of the 2019-20 season at No. 1.

ON TAP: The Bulldogs will engage in their final two road assignments of the 2019-20 regular season on Feb. 28-29 against Colorado College.