The University of Minnesota Duluth men's hockey team will come home to AMSOIL Arena in Duluth, Minn. for the last time in 2024 this Friday and Saturday when it hosts No. 9 Western Michigan University in National Collegiate Hockey Conference play. The series gets underway Friday night at 7:07 p.m. before wrapping up with an earlier puck drop time of 5:00 p.m. Saturday.
ADAM JOHNSON MEMORIAL NIGHT: UMD will honor the life of former Bulldog forward Adam Johnson Saturday night.
UMD will wear special jerseys during warmups and auction them as part as a "Jersey Off My Back" fundraiser. The jerseys were designed by UMD alum Kyle Osterberg, and the auction has been live online since Tuesday, with proceeds to go to the Adam Johnson Memorial Fund.
In addition to hundreds of Hibbing/Chisholm Youth Hockey Association in attendance and participating in Little Chippers between periods, Bulldog alumni and teammates of Johnson Avery Peterson and Parker Mackay will drop a ceremonial first puck with UMD hockey assistant equipment manager Dale "Hoagie" Haagenson.
The Adam Johnson Memorial Fund will also give away a commemorative Adam Johnson T-shirts to the first 1,000 fans, and the first 3,000 Bulldog fans will receive a memorial 5x7 Adam Johnson hockey card.
TOSS 'EM FRIDAY: UMD will host its annual Teddy Bear Toss game on Friday at AMSOIL. Fans will be able to throw a stuffed animal of any shape and size out on the ice after the first intermission. All toys will be collected on ice and brought to the Salvation Army for distribution throughout the community.
POINTS TAKEN: Anthony Menghini has scored six goals over his past four games, including three against the RedHawks last weekend. The sophomore forward has been on a serious scoring spree since NCHC play started and now, along with Dominic James, leads UMD with seven goals, he's not the only Bulldog to pour on points.
James led all scorers in the entire NCHC with five points last weekend (1g, 4a), while nine players recorded points in both games Miami, including James, Menghini, Ty Hanson (1g, 2a), Jack Smith (1g, 1a), Jayson Shaugabay (1g, 2a), Blake Bechen (2g, 1a), Kyle Bettens (2a), Aiden Dubinsky (1g, 2a) and Carter Loney (2g).
RETURN OF THE PLANTE: Freshman forward Max Plante, who was injured midway through UMD's season opener against Bemidji State University back on Oct. 10, will be back in action for the Bulldogs against the Broncos.
THE SERIES: UMD is 28-18-3 all-time against WMU in a series that had four games between it (all UMD wins) before they became NCHC foes in 2013. For the sake of history, he two sides first met on Oct. 17, 2008, a 5-2 UMD win at the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center.
Most recently, the Bulldogs are 13-9-2 all-time in Duluth and 11-9-2 at home in NCHC play. Both sides each scored eight goals last season, and they split in their lone series in Kalamazoo.
Returners vs Western Michigan
Carter Loney GP=9 G=0 A=7 P=7
Owen Gallatin GP=11 G=0 A=4 P=4
Jack Smith GP=6 G=0 A=4 P=4
Dominic James GP=9 G=2 A=1 P=3
In the first game of their series last season on Jan. 19, the Bulldogs pulled off a 6-3 win over WMU, with help from two goals from Anthony Menghini and a two assist effort from Jack Smith. In all, UMD got seven goals from six different players. The Broncos outshot the Bulldogs 40-29, but Matthew Thiessen had 37 saves in the skate.
In game two (Jan. 20), UMD went up 2-0 with two power play goals in the first period courtesy of Ben Steeves and Blake Biondi, but the Broncos struck twice in the second period and once at 16:43 of the third to take a 3-2 lead. WMU netted two empty net tallies in the final 1:13 of the skate for the 5-2 final. The Broncos outshot the Bulldogs 42-21 in the skate -- Thiessen had 37 stops in the setback.
Last 10 Games vs Western Michigan (5-5)
Jan. 20, 2024 2-5 Loss Away
Jan. 19, 2024 6-3 Win Away
Feb. 4, 2023 1-4 Loss Home
Feb. 3, 2023 2-3 Loss Home OT
Nov. 19, 2022 3-5 Loss Away
Nov. 18, 2022 5-4 Win Away
Mar. 19, 2022 3-0 Win Neutral*
Jan. 29, 2022 2-3 Loss Home OT
Jan. 28, 2022 5-4 Win Home
Nov. 6, 2021 3-0 Win Away
*NCHC Championship
LAST TIME OUT: UMD got back on the winning track in a big way Friday night in Oxford, Ohio with a 5-0 shutout of Miami (Ohio) inside Goggin Ice Center. Three players had two or more points in the skate, including Dominic James, who had a team-high three points on a goal and an assist and two points from Aiden Dubinsky (1g, 1a) and Jayson Shaugabay added a two assist night. In all, 11 players got on the scoresheet, and freshman goaltender Adam Gajan picked up his first collegiate shutout in the win.
UMD scored two goals less than three minutes apart to open up its scoring late in the first period. Carter Loney netted his first of the season at the 16:08 mark, followed by Jack Smith's triumphant return to the line-up for his second tally of the fall.
After a five minute major was called on Anthony Menghini for kneeing in the waning minutes of the first period, the Bulldogs were forced to kill off the remaining 4:32 to open the second frame Fight it off they did, and midway through the second, James struck for his seventh goal of the season at 12:12 (Shaugabay and Dubinsky with the assists) to extend UMD's lead to 3-0.
Menghini added his fifth goal of the season and fourth in three games at 14:13 of the third before Dubinsky rounded out the scoring with 1:44 left in regulation to make it a 5-0 final.
Gajan, who made 21 saves in his first collegiate shutout, had some serious help from the Bulldogs penalty kill unit, who dismantled the RedHawks four power play chances and 11 minutes of an extra skater to keep the game scoreless. UMD had just one power play attempt on the night (0-of-1), and outshot Miami 29-21 overall in the game.
Saturday, After trailing for most of the first period, UMD captured a 3-2 lead before the first intermission and never looked back en route to a 7-2 win
After the RedHawks jumped out to a 2-0 lead with tallies at 7:41 and 14:04 of the first period, UMD struck three times in under two minutes to take a 3-2 lead – one that it would never relinquish. It started with Shaugabay's fifth goal of the season, followed by Ty Hanson's first goal as a Bulldog at the 17:43 mark. Menghini bookended the first frame scoring with the eventual game-winner at 18:33, and just like that, UMD had taken control of the game.
Menghini, on a scoring spree of epic proportions over his last four games (six goals in all), struck again, his second multiple goal game over the same span, at 4:28 of the second period. Menghini buried a pass from James on the doorstep for his seventh goal of the season. Less than four minutes later, Loney added his second goal of the series in his home state to make it a 5-2 game, and by the time rookie forward Blake Bechen netted his first career goal just 21 seconds after Loney, the route was well on.
Bechen added the second goal of his collegiate career for good measure late in the third period with 2:29 left in regulation to secure the 7-2 win and series sweep for the Bulldogs.
Gajan had 18 stops for UMD, who outshot Miami 32-20 in the contest. Five players had two or more points on the night.
NOTES FROM THE MIAMI SERIES: UMD is now 34-7-4 all-time against the RedHawks, and extended its winning streak to five games. The Bulldogs also improve to 7-2-1 in their last four games with Miami.
--Four rookies recorded firsts last weekend for UMD -- Blake Bechen and Ty Hanson both netted their first goals on Satuday (and Bechen registered his first multiple goal game), while defenseman Adam Kleber picked up his first collegiate point on an assist in the third period on Saturday ... Adam Gajan also gloved his first collegiate shutout on Friday.
--UMD has twice scored five or more goals this season through 11 games -- against Minnesota on Oct. 18, Stonehill College on Oct. 25 and against the RedHawks on Nov. 15-16.
--UMD seven goals last Saturday was the second most in the NCHC this year in a single game.
NCHC TOP DOGS: Dominic James and Anthony Menghini are tied for third in the NCHC with seven goals apiece. James ranks fourth for points (15), fourth in the NCAA in points per game 1.50 and tied for second with two game-winning tallies, while Jayson Shaugabay continues to own the best shot percentage in the league at 0.38 -- five goals on just 13 shots. James also ranks third in face-off wins (201) and second in percentage (61.7) and sits second with four power play goals.
--Five different players have scored two or more goals in a game so far this season: Anthony Menghini (three goals, North Dakota, Nov. 8 and two against Miami, Nov. 16), Blake Bechen (two goals vs. Miami, Nov. 16), Dominic James (two goals, twice, Stonehill), Aiden Dubinsky (two goals, Minnesota, Oct. 18) and Jayson Shaugabay (two goals, Bemidji State, Oct. 5).
