Fighting Hawks vs. Bulldogs, a Series Preview

by | Dec 10, 2015

Fighting Hawks vs. Bulldogs, a Series Preview

by | Dec 10, 2015

This weekend, the University of North Dakota Fighting Hawks travels across highway 2, to take on the Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs in an important two-game conference matchup. This is the last series before the 2015 Christmas back.  After this series, UND will have a 20-day break before they return to action against the University of Alabama-Huntsville Chargers.

Series History

All-time, UND leads the series against the Bulldogs 140-77-9 (.639). In Grand Forks, UND leads the series 78-33-3 (.697). In Duluth, UND leads the series 57-39-5 (.589). At neutral sites, the series tied 2-2-1 (.500). Last 10 games against the Bulldogs, UND leads 6-3-1 (.650).

Under UMD head coach Scott Sandelin, the Bulldogs have a record of 13-35-4 (.288) against UND. Since opening Amsoil arena in 2010, UND has a 4-1-0 (.800) record against the Bulldogs at Amsoil Arena.

Tale of the Tape

#4 North Dakota Fighting Hawks (14-2-2, 7-1-0 NCHC) vs. #17 Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs
Date: Dec. 11-12, 2015
Time: 7:07 p.m. CT both nights
Place” AMSOIL Arena (6,756) Duluth, Minnesota
Radio: Home of Economy UND Sports Radio Network
Webcast: NCHC.tv
TV: Midco Sports Network2 (Ch. 322) both nights

North Dakota

UND Last Time Out: Swept Denver (5-1 W, 4-0W)
UND Offense: 9th, 3.56 GPG
UND Defense: 7th, 1.89 G/GM
UND Scoring Margin: 8th, 1.67
UND Power Play: 34th, (16/67, 17.9%)
UND Penalty Kill: 28th, (59/72, 81.9%)
UND Penalty Minutes: 14th, (12.8 PIM/G)
UND SOS: 24th
UND USCHO Ranking: 4
Corsi Ranking: 59.0%
UND Pairwise Ranking: 5th
UND Record during December: 2-0-0
UND Home Record: 6-1-0 (.857)
UND Away Record: 8-1-2 (.818)
UND Last 10 Games: 8-2-0 (.800)
UND Official Game Notes

Minnesota-Duluth

UMD: Last Time Out: Swept Western Michigan (7-0 W, 6-2 W)
UMD Offense: 16th, 3.28 GPG
UMD Defense: 11th, 2.07 GPG
UMD Scoring Margin: 12th, 1.13
UMD Power Play: 17th, (15/69, 21.7)
UMD Penalty Kill: 18th,  (47/55 85.5)
UMD Penalty Minutes: 40th, 9.8 (PIM/G)
UMD SOS: 17th
UMD USCHO Ranking: 17
UMD Corsi Ranking: 58.3%
UMD Pairwise Ranking: 18
UMD Record during December: 2-0-0
UMD Home Record: 4-2-1 (.642)
UMD Away Record: 3-3-2 (.500)
UMD Last 10 Games: 5-4-1 (.550)
UMD Official Game Notes

Players of Note

North Dakota Fighting Hawks: Forwards: Drake Caggiula (13g-12a—25pts), Nick Schmaltz (3g-21a—24pts), Brock Boeser (11g-8a—19pts), Bryn Chyzyk (6g-3a—9pts), Austin Poganski (5g-4a—9pts), Johnny Simonson (2g-6a—8pts), Defense: Troy Stecher (3g-10a—13pts), Tucker Poolman (1g-10a—11pts), Christian Wolanin (3g-5a—8pts), Keaton Thompson (1g-6a—7pts), Paul LaDue (1g-5a—6pts), Goaltenders: Cam Johnson (5-0-1, 1.53 GAA, .934 SV%), Matt Hrynkiw (9-2-1, 2.11 GAA, .911 Sv%). (UND Stats)
UND Injuries: Colten St. Clair.

Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs: Forwards: Austin Farley (10g-9a—19pts), Tony Cameranesi (5g-12a—17pts), Adam Johnson (2g-6a—8pts), Alex Iafallo (2g-6a—8pts), Karson Kuhlman (4g-4a—8pts), Kyle Osterberg (2g-5a—7pts), Austyn Young (5g-2a—7pts), Dominic Toninato (6g-1a—7pts). Defensemen: Andy Welinski (2g-8a—10pts), Neal Pionk (1g-7a—8pts). Goalies: Kasimir Kaskisuo (7-5-3, 1.82 GAA, .928 SV%), Matt McNeely (0-0-0, 6.00 GAA, .857 SV%). (UMD Stats)

Series Prediction

This weekend’s series should be billed as a clash of titans.  Both teams have a prolific high-powered offense and a solid defense backstopped by a very good goaltender. Coming into this weekend’s series, the Bulldogs are red hot and enter this series having won four games in a row.

Let’s take  a closer look at the Bulldogs. Those wins came against two teams with  a combined record of 7-23-1 (.241). Breaking it down further, UMD is 1-4-3 (.312) against teams with a winning record. Statistics aside, the Bulldogs are a good team and UND can’t overlook them or they will get buried.

The meat of the schedule continues for the Fighting Hawks. During the last 10 games, the Fighting Hawks have an 8-2-0 record and are coming off an impressive sweep of the Denver Pioneers. UND’s opponents during that time have a 31-32-11 (.493) record. For comparison sake, UND is 3-1-0 (.750) against teams with a winning record. You can see that UMD has played a tougher schedule than UND.

Finally, hockey is played on the ice and not on a piece of paper. UND wins 5-2 on Friday and 1-1 Tie on Saturday.  UMD wins the Shootout.

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