THE MATCHUP The Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs are set for a series against No. 1 St. Cloud State this weekend at AMSOIL Arena. This will be the first time the teams are meeting since they saw each other in the St. Cloud for the first round of the NCHC playoffs. UMD advanced to the Frozen Faceoff after sweeping the Huskies. UMD trails the all-time record against SCSU 59-78-11, though in the last two series UMD has gone 3-1. The Bulldogs will enter the weekend against the top-ranked team with an overall record of 10-13-1 and a conference record of 5-9-0. 
LAST TIME OUT The Bulldogs return home after a split with North Dakota. UMD fell short Friday, despite the two goals scored by Kyle Bettens. Bettens' goals put the Bulldogs at a one goal margin and was enough for UMD to pull the goalie in an effort to tie the game. UND scored an empty net goal to finish Friday's game 4-2. During Saturday's game Isaac Howard struck first in the second period giving UMD their first lead of the weekend. Both teams battled till the end but Luke Loheit sealed the deal with two minutes left for a 2-1 final. 
UMD IN CONFERENCE PLAY With the loss on Friday, UND added three points to jump UMD in the NCHC standings by one point. That loss also marked the first time UMD has ever lost five straight conference games. Although with their bounce back Saturday, UMD also gained three points in the standings and jumped UND to hold their spot in sixth.  
BULLDOGS ON THE PP UMD currently ranks 20th in the nation and sixth in the NCHC with the man-advantage. The Bulldogs have had 76 power play opportunities this season. Having netted 17 power play goals, the Bulldogs have a conversion rate of .224. With just 76, UMD has had the least amount of power play opportunities in the NCHC.
STEEVES LEADS THE WAY Freshman forward Ben Steeves has recorded 16 points over 12 goals and four assists. The rookie leads the team in goals, power play goals, points, and shots. With 83 total shots on goal Steeves has a shot percentage of .142. Having scored six, Steeves ranks third in the NCHC and seventh in the nation for power play goals. He also ranks 17th in the country and seventh in the conference for goals per game, as he averages .55 per game.
IN THE FACEOFF CIRCLE Sophomore Dominic James continues to lead the team in face-off wins. In the circle James has gone 218-162 for a win percentage of .574.
IN THE CREASE Senior Matthew Thiessen has now seen action in 14 games. He holds a save percentage of .914 and a 2.28 goals against average. Thiessen has made a total of 298 saves this season, while only allowing 28 goals. Thiessen ranks fifth in the conference and 24th 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 11 and is third on the team with 13 points. Daschke also leads in blocked shots with 32.
NEARING A MILESTONE Defenseman Derek Daschke is nearing his 100 career point milestone. Daschke has played in 157 games up until this point in his collegiate career where he has recorded 26 goals and 72 assists. Daschke will head into this weekend with 98 career points.  
HOME SWEET HOME After two weeks on the road, the Bulldogs are back in Duluth for two weekends. UMD has found most of their success this year while on home ice. At AMSOIL Arena, the Bulldogs have gone 7-6, with their most recent home win against Bemidji State earlier this month. 
STAYING OUT OF THE BOX The Huskies have drawn 92 penalties this season, scoring on 23 of them. Their .250 power play percentage ranks them fourth in the NCHC and ninth in the country. 
ST. CLOUD GOALTENDING The Huskies have consistently played senior Jaxon Castor on Friday nights, then putting Dominic Basse in the crease Saturday night, despite the outcome the night before. Castor, with a .927 save percentage and 1.85 goals against average, has gone 9-4-0 with two shutouts. Basse, with a .934 save percentage and 1.74 goals against average, has gone 9-2-0 with three shutouts. Basse's and Castor's save percentage ranks them second and sixth in the country, respectively. 
SCOUTING THE HUSKIES The Huskies, having gone 18-6-0 this season, will enter this weekend ranked first in the country and is tied for first in the NCHC standings. SCSU is coming off a series with No. 3 Denver, where the Huskies won 7-3 Friday and polished off the sweep with a 2-0 shutout Saturday. St. Cloud averages 3.5 goals a game. Averaging just 1.9 goals against per game, the Huskies are ranked second-best in the country and lead the NCHC for scoring defense. Leading the team in goals is fifth year Grant Cruikshank, who has netted 16 this season. Leading the team in points and plus/minus rating is Jami Krannila. Over 13 goals and 16 assists, Krannila has racked up 29 points and has a +21 rating. 

HOBEY NOMINEES Three Bulldogs have been named as nominees for the Hobey Baker Memorial Award. The Bulldogs include freshman Ben Steeves, sophomore Dominic James, and junior Wyatt Kaiser. Voting can be done daily at https://hobeybaker.com/awards/vote-for-hobey/ till March 26.