THE MATCHUP No. 4 University of Minnesota Duluth will head to Mankato for a series against No. 5 Minnesota State. UMD has been competing against Minnesota State since 1997, where the Bulldogs lead the all-time record of 29-24-6. Minnesota Duluth will go into the weekend with a 2-0 record, while Minnesota State is currently 1-1. UMD and MSU last played a home-and-home series where the Bulldogs were shutout 3-0 at home on Jan. 1, 2022.
NO. 4 VS. NO. 5 The Mavericks will enter the weekend ranked No. 5 in the USCHO National Poll. MSU moved down from their original spot of No. 3 after they split their series with the University of Minnesota Gophers. Minnesota State took the win Saturday night with a late goal in the third to pull ahead 3-2. The Bulldogs have moved up one rank to No. 4 after their sweep of Arizona State. 
AMONG THE BEST Matthew Thiessen, a senior transfer from Maine, sits among the top five in the nation for save percentage. During Thiessen's debut with the Bulldogs, he made 29 saves and had only one goal against, giving him a save percentage of .967. 
NOTHING SHORT OF STYLISH The first round draft pick to Tampa Bay made his collegiate debut with UMD in style. Freshman forward Isaac Howard scored his first collegiate goal on opening night. Howard scored a power play goal late in the third period to tie the game up and send teams to over-time. On the weekend, Howard led UMD in shots on goal with 11. With 11 shots on goal, Howard sits at third in the conference and holds a 5.5 average shots per game.
DOUBLE TIME The Bulldogs opening weekend was full of firsts for the team, along with some seconds. Freshman forward Ben Steeves recorded not only his first collegiate goal, but his second collegiate goal just 57 seconds apart. Steeves was named NCHC Rookie of the Week after his collegiate debut. Additionally during the series, Quinn Olson, Carter Loney, and Tanner Laderoute all notched their first two assists of the season.
NEW 'DOGS ON THE BLOCK Minnesota Duluth welcomed 12 new faces to the ice this season, including 10 freshmen and two transfers. Concluding the weekend, five of the 12 new faces recorded at least one point each. Transfer defenseman Derek Daschke scored the OT game winner Saturday, giving me his first goal as a Bulldog. 
POWER PLAYERS UMD is tied for second in the nation for power plays efficiency with 50%. The Bulldogs capitalized on three of their six power plays against ASU. Minnesota Duluth also has a 83.3% for penalty kills, which ranks them eighth in the nation. As for Minnesota State, they had six power plays against the Gophers but were unsuccessful on all six.