THE MATCHUP The Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs are back on the road and will meet RV North Dakota in Grand Forks this upcoming weekend. The teams last saw each other last season at AMSOIL where North Dakota left with a sweep. During the Friday game of that series, Dominic James scored a short handed goal to close the gap made in the second period by two power play goals, but ultimately the UMD fell 4-3. In Saturday's game the Fighting Hawks recorded two goals in the second to secure a 3-2 win over the Bulldogs. UMD currently has an overall record of 9-12-1 and has gone 4-8-0 in NCHC conference play. 
LAST TIME OUT The Bulldogs are coming off a road series with Omaha. The Bulldogs had a close game with the Mavericks on Friday. UMD was held scoreless until the third period where James tied the game with a short-handed goal. Despite the late effort, Omaha took a 3-2 win in the opening game. The Bulldogs then fell Saturday night with a 6-1 final decision. Scoring the lone goal on Saturday was Isaac Howard with assists from Luke Johnson and Luke Mylymok. Johnson's assist marked his first career point.  
BULLDOGS ON THE PP UMD currently ranks 17th in the nation and fifth in the NCHC with the man-advantage. The Bulldogs have had 72 power play opportunities this season. Having netted 17 power play goals, the Bulldogs have a conversion rate of .236. 
STEEVES LEADS THE WAY Freshman forward Ben Steeves has recorded 15 points over 12 goals and three assists. The rookie leads the team in goals, power play goals, points, and shots. With 79 total shots on goal, Steeves has a shot percentage of .152. Having scored six, Steeves ranks third in the NCHC and sixth in the nation for power play goals. He also ranks 10th in the country and sixth in the conference for goals per game, as he averages .60 per game.
IN THE CREASE Senior Matthew Thiessen has now seen action in 13 games. He holds a save percentage of .918 and a 2.21 goals against average. Thiessen has made a total of 280 saves this season, while only allowing 25 goals. Thiessen ranks fourth in the conference and 17th nationally for his goals against average.
DYNAMIC DEFENSE Back on defense, Derek Daschke has been blocking shots and putting up points. Daschke leads the team in assists with 10 and is third on the team with 12 points. Daschke also leads in blocked shots with a total of 28 shots. 
NEARING A MILESTONE Defenseman Derek Daschke is nearing his 100 career point milestone. Daschke has played in 155 games up until this point in his collegiate career where he has recorded 26 goals and 71 assists. Daschke will head into this weekend with 97 career points.  
FIGHTING FOR POINTS Going into this series UMD sits at sixth in the NCHC standings with 13 points. North Dakota is just right behind the Bulldogs in seventh with 12 points. Historically, UMD and UND have been highly ranked teams at the top of standings. Although going into this weekend both teams are below a .500 win percentage, something the teams have not seen since 2002. 
FAMILIAR WITH THE RALPH The Ralph Engelstad will be a familiar scene for freshmen Cole Spicer and Isaac Howard. Last year while playing for USNTDP, Spicer and Howard took the road to Grand Forks for an exhibition game against the Fighting Hawks. The USNTDP shutout UND 2-0. In the third period of that game, Howard recorded an even strength goal. Being a native to Grand Forks, the Ralph is a familiar space to Spicer. This upcoming series will be Spicer's first game back at the Ralph playing at the collegiate level. 
STAYING OUT OF THE BOX The Fighting Hawks have drawn 95 penalties this season, scoring on 30 of them. Their .316 power play percentage ranks them first in the NCHC and second-best in the country. 
FACING OFF WITH THE FIGHTING HAWKS Having gone 724-652 in the face-off circle this season, North Dakota ranks 16th in the nation and second in the NCHC. The Bulldogs have gone 632-672 in the circle, with a win percentage of .485. UMD ranks seventh in the conference and 43rd in the country. 
NORTH DAKOTA GOALTENDING The Fighting Hawks have played fifth year Drew DeRidder and sophomore Jakob Hellsten in 14 games each, having almost the same playing time. DeRidder has started in 13 games and has a record of 4-4-2 with two shutouts. He has made 262 saves while allowing 35 for a save percentage of .882 and averages 3.10 goals against.
SCOUTING THE FIGHTING HAWKS Going into the weekend North Dakota has an overall record of 9-10-4, 3-7-2 in conference play, and 6-6-1 at home. The Fighting Hawks are coming out of last weekend also being swept. UND was shutout 4-0 Friday by No. 12 Western Michigan. They then had a back and forth game Saturday but fell short 7-6. North Dakota averages 3.4 goals per game and 29.6 shots per game. Ranking them the 12th-best scoring offense in the country. On the defensive side of play UND ranks 48th in the nation, having an average goals against of 3.3. Junior Riese Gaber leads the Fighting Hawks in goals this season with 12, along with fifth year Chris Jandric who leads the team in assists with 20.