THE MATCHUP The Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs will head to St. Cloud this weekend for their final regular season series. The Bulldogs saw the Huskies just a couple weeks ago when SCSU made the trip to Duluth as the top-ranked team in the nation. Although UMD went into that series as the underdogs they came out on top with an 11-goal weekend sweep. In the opening game Friday, Carter Loney got an early first period lead for the Bulldogs. Ben Steeves would then go on to score a natural hat trick with three power play goals and Kyle Bettens secured the win 5-3 with UMD's fourth unanswered goal. The Bulldogs carried the momentum into Saturday's game where they scored two power play and one short handed goal in the first for another early lead. UMD dominated the rest of the game after six different Bulldogs scored and finished the sweep with a 6-3 win. In the all-time record against St. Cloud, UMD trails 61-78-11. 
LAST TIME OUT The Bulldogs split last weekend with the Miami Redhawks, taking Friday's opening game. Luke Loheit got the game started early Friday with a goal in the first period. Darian Gotz and Owen Gallatin then netted two more unanswered goals before the half-way point of the game. Although Miami scored twice in the third, UMD held them off for a 3-2 win.  The Bulldogs were looking for the sweep Saturday but the Redhawks came back and gave the Bulldogs a challenge. Although shots were 51-24 in UMD's favor, Miami took the game 4-1. The lone goal scorer was Isaac Howard, with assists from Derek Daschke and Luke Mylymok. 
UMD IN CONFERENCE PLAY With the split against the Redhawks, UMD picked up an additional three conference points. With 29 points and a 9-13-0 conference record, UMD holds their spot at fifth. 
BULLDOGS ON THE PP The Bulldogs have found a great deal of success this season with the man-advantage. Their 26 power play goals account for over a quarter of their total goals. With a .243 conversion rate, the Bulldogs are ranked the 10th-best in the nation and fourth in the NCHC. 
CONSISTENCY IS KEY In the last eight games, Quinn Olson has recorded seven points, with three goals and four assists. The senior is currently the team assist leader with a total of 15.    
THAT'S A PLUS Freshman Aiden Dubinsky continues to lead the plus minus category for the Bulldogs with a +4 rating. 
STEEVES IS ON A ROLL Freshman Ben Steeves continues to lead the team in multiple categories including goals, power play goals, game winning goals, points, and shots on goal. Over the last nine games, Steeves has tallied 10 points. And with his .63 goals per game average, Steeves is ranked fifth in the country and third in the NCHC.  Of his 19 total goals, 11 have come on the power play, ranking him first in the nation. 
ON THE ROAD AGAIN The Bulldogs have struggled on the road this season with a 4-8-1 record. Although the last seven games UMD has played in St. Cloud they have gone 3-2-2. 
POTENTIAL ON THE POWER PLAY UMD, a top-10 ranked power play team, will be going head-to-head with SCSU who has struggles on the penalty kill. The Huskies are ranked 53rd in the nation and seventh in the conference with their .764 penalty kill percent. The last time UMD played SCSU, the Huskies gave up six power play goals. 
STAYING OUT OF THE BOX Reversing the roles, the Huskies have the nation's third-best and conference's second-best power play unit. With 130 opportunities, SCSU has scored 35 goals with the man-advantage for a .269 conversion percent.  As the Bulldogs are ranked 47th with a .777 penalty kill percent, it will be crucial for UMD to minimize their time in the box. 
SCSU GOALTENDING The Huskies have continued their pattern of switching off their two goalies. Both Dominic Basse and Jaxon Castor have started in 16 games. Castor, with a .919 save percentage and 2.14 goals against average, has gone 10-6-1 with two shutouts. Where Basse, with a .915 save percentage and 2.24 goals against average, has gone 9-4-2 with three shutouts. Castor's and Basse's goals against average ranks them 12th and 19th in the nation, respectively. 
SCOUTING THE HUSKIES St. Cloud State will enter the weekend ranked sixth in the nation with their 19-10-3 overall record.  Having gone 11-8-3 in conference play, the Huskies are currently fourth. The Huskies are coming off a road series against Omaha. They split the series, taking the win on Friday's game 6-2, but falling 6-2 Saturday. SCSU averages 3.4 goals per game. While averaging just 2.3 goals against they are ranked 10th nationally for scoring defense. Out of their 108 total goals a third of them have come with the man-advantage. Grant Cruikshank, with 20, leads their team in goals. Their assist leader is Jack Pear with 21, and Jami Krannila leads in points with 36. 

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.