THE MATCHUP This weekend, the No. 7 Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs meet the No. 9 North Dakota Fighting Hawks for the first time since Nov. 20, 2021. During their last series in Grand Forks, the Bulldogs took game one from the Fighting Hawks by a score of 4-1. On Saturday night, two third-period goals helped North Dakota to a 2-1 victory and a series split with the Bulldogs. This weekend's series will be the first trip to AMSOIL Arena for North Dakota since Jan. 25, 2020.
LAST TIME OUT The Bulldogs are coming off of an impressive third-period comeback win over the No. 3 Denver Pioneers on Saturday night. After going down 2-1 midway through the third, UMD got goals from Kobe Roth and Darian Gotz to stun the Pioneers and earn a split in the series at Denver. North Dakota enters the weekend after a sweep of Colorado College in Grand Forks, N.D. The Fighting Hawks used 3-2 and 4-0 wins to earn a series sweep of the Tigers.
WELCOME BACK ZACH Playing in his first game since being diagnosed with Testicular Cancer earlier in the season, Zach Stejskal made 20 saves in relief on Saturday evening to help Minnesota Duluth to a 3-2 victory over the No. 3 Denver Pioneers. It was the first game action Stejskal had seen since Oct. 15 against the University of Michigan. The sophomore made numerous high-quality stops down the stretch to help the Bulldogs to their fifteenth win of the season. For Stejskal, the win is his second of the season, and sixth of his career.
BULLDOGS ON THE PK During their series at No. 3 Denver, the Bulldogs penalty-killing unit held the Pionners to one power-play goal in nine attempts. The Pioneers had entered the weekend series with the sixth-best power-play unit in the nation, which was clicking at 27%. UMD's solid penalty-killing weekend has improved their penalty-killing percentage to 87.5%, which is third-best in the NCHC and 19th-best in the country.
GAME-WINNING GOTZ UMD sophomore defenseman Darian Gotz scored his first collegiate goal during UMD's 3-2 win on Saturday evening. The third-period goal would also turn out to be the game-winner for the Bulldogs. Gotz has six points in 29 games on the season, while also tallying a +8 rating for UMD.
ROTH ON A ROLL Minnesota Duluth 5th-year senior forward Kobe Roth scored two goals for the Bulldogs on Saturday night in Denver, including a game-tying power-play goal in the third period. Roth now moves into second place on the Bulldogs in goals with nine on the season.
100 POINT CLUB UMD 5-year transfer Casey Gilling currently sits with 96 career points. On the weekend against Denver, Gilling registered a goal and two assists to help UMD to the road split. Since joining the Bulldogs, Gilling has secured 7 goals and 12 assists for 19 points in 27 games this season. Gilling joins UMD captain Noah Cates who is also closing in on 100 career points. Though he is still away from the team at the Olympics, Cates has 94 career points.
NODAK PENALTY-KILL The Fighting Hawks penalty-kill unit currently ranks 6th in the conference and 44th in the nation. During their game against Colorado College on Friday evening, North Dakota gave up two power-play goals to the Tigers.
GABER LEADS THE WAY North Dakota sophomore forward Riese Gaber currently leads the Fighting Hawks in goals, assists, and points. Through 29 games this season, Gaber has 14 goals and 20 assists for 34 points. Gaber is tied for seventh in the nation in points.
NO SANDERSON Though UMD will be without captain Noah Cates for their series against NoDak, the Fighting Hawks will also be without one of their top performers. Defenseman Jake Sanderson is currently with Cates at the Olympics for Team USA. In 21 games this season, Sanderson has 7 goals and 17 assists for 24 points for UND.
UND SCORING DEFENSE The Fighting Hawks enter the weekend series with the third-worst goals against average of any team in the NCHC. UND is giving up an average of 3.17 goals against per game. Only Colorado College and Miami are giving up more goals. On the other hand, UMD is giving up 2.72 goals per game, which is second best in the conference.
HAWKS FIGHTING FOR POINTS North Dakota currently sits in second-place in the NCHC standings, just two points back of first-place Denver. With Denver heading to Western Michigan this weekend, every point will be crucial against the Bulldogs. UMD is also looking to keep home-ice for the NCHC playoffs. The Bulldogs have a four-point lead on St. Cloud for the fourth and final home-ice slot in the NCHC standings.
GETTING TO DRISCOLL Fighting Hawks senior transfer goaltender Zach Driscoll has 15 wins and two shutouts on the season. During UND's last outing, Driscoll made 23 saves to earn a shutout and help North Dakota to a 4-0 win.
CHECK THE PAIRWISE The Bulldogs currently sit in seventh in the national pairwise rankings, while North Dakota comes in at 11th. Five teams from the NCHC sit within the top eleven spots, including Denver, Western Michigan, Minnesota Duluth, St. Cloud, and North Dakota.
BIONDI STAYS HOT UMD sophomore forward Blake Biondi continues to lead the Bulldogs in scoring this season. This past weekend at Denver, Biondi scored a power-play goal on Friday evening to tie the game. Biondi leads the team with 12 goals and 22 points. Last season as a freshman, Biondi had just two goals and five points in 26 games.
