#2 North Dakota (25-4-4, 16-3-3-2 NCHC) at Omaha (13-16-5, 7-12-3 NCHC)
Mar. 6-7, 2020
Omaha, Neb.
Baxter Arena (11,634)
Friday: 7:07 pm CT
Saturday: 7:07 pm CT
Series: UND leads 23-12-1 (.653)
This season with Omaha: Series tied, 1-1
RADIO
PxP: Tim Hennessy
Analyst: Steve Olson
Radio: AM 790 KFGO & Home of Economy Radio Network
LAST WEEK
Shane Pinto’s overtime goal three minutes into the extra session gave North Dakota a sweep of 16th-ranked Western Michigan and at least a share of the NCHC regular season title and the Penrose Cup.
BROADCAST INFORMATION
All UND men’s hockey games, home and away, can be heard on 790 AM & the UND Sports Home of Economy Radio Network, as well as . Longtime broadcaster Tim Hennessy, in his 41st season as the voice of UND men’s hockey, calls the action while Steve Olson provides color analysis.
SERIES HISTORY
North Dakota has won 23 of the all-time 36 meetings between the schools (23-12-1). Earlier this season, Omaha handed UND its only home loss with a 6-3 setback on Jan. 10 but North Dakota followed with a 4-1 win the next night.
THE LEAGUE
Four NCHC teams are ranked in this week’s USCHO.com poll. UND sits in second with Minnesota Duluth fifth and Denver sixth. Western Michigan re-entered the poll two weeks ago and remains 16th. St. Cloud State is also receiving votes in the poll.
THE SCENARIO
North Dakota needs just one point (or one point from St. Cloud State) to own the Penrose outright and grab the NCHC’s top seed in the upcoming league tournament.
AROUND THE LEAGUE
The quarterfinal round is starting to take shape with three games remaining. North Dakota and Minnesota Duluth have clinched home ice with Western Michigan, Denver and St. Cloud State all within four points of each other for the final two home playoff spots. The top four in the conference’s regular season standings will host the NCHC Quarterfinal round (Mar. 13-15).
HE’S FAMOUS, HE HAS HIS OWN WEBSITE AND EVERYTHING
Junior Jordan Kawaguchi is making strong case to be a Hobey Baker Award finalist. He has 45 points this season and has be a key cog in North Dakota’s resurgence this season. UND has put together a website for his Hobey Baker candidacy at fightinghawks.com/kawahobey.
OVERTIME AWESOME
Shane Pinto’s OT goal last Saturday against Western Michigan gave North Dakota its fourth win in the extra five-minute frame this season. Add two more games in which UND won an extra point (3-on-3 goal and a shootout win) and UND is 4-0-4 overall in OT and 3-0-3-2 in league play in extra-session games.
SHARING THE SPOTLIGHT
UND has played in eight overtime games this season. The Fighting Hawks have wins in four of those and has a 3-on-3 overtime goal as well. Here’s who has come up clutch with extra period tallies this season.
OT goals:
Michaud vs Bemidji State
Kawaguchi vs St Cloud State
Hain at Western Michigan
Pinto vs. Western Michigan
3-on-3 goal:
Poolman at Denver
Shootout goal:
Mismash at Miami
SWEET SIXTEEN
Pinto’s Saturday goal gave him 16 on the season to take the team lead. He has scored eight goals and 13 points in the 14 games since his return from the IIHF World Junior Tournament with the US Team.
MONTHLY HABIT
Pinto was named the NCHC Rookie of the Month Wednesday by the league office. That now makes five UND monthly honorees this season after Jordan Kawaguchi has won a pair of Player of the Month awards and Adam Scheel has two Goalie of the Month accolades.
WINNER, WINNER, CHICKEN DINNER
North Dakota picked up its 18th home win of the season Saturday against Western Michigan to tie the wins record (set by the 2003-04 team (18-3-2) at the Ralph Engelstad Arena. If UND runs the table the rest of the way at home, it would also secure the best home winning percentage in program history. The 1986-87 team went a staggering 26-2-0 at the old Ralph.
YOU GET ONE AND THAT’S IT
UND has allowed one or zero goals in an incredible six-game stretch at home. UND started the season on a similar stretch, with its first six home games all featuring a shutout or just one goal allowed. Overall, North Dakota has 14 games with one or fewer goals at home in 19 games played.
YOU LOCK IT UP!
North Dakota has closed the deal with regularity this season, piling up an 18-0-1 record when leading after two periods.
ADAM FINE RETURN
Last week, Adam Scheel made his first starts since Jan. 24 at Minnesota Duluth, making 26 stops for his 18th win of the season Friday and then 15 more saves for win No. 19 Saturday. He allowed just one gaol each night and lowered his season GAA to 1.99.
TWO UNDER TWO
Scheel’s 1.99 GAA gives North Dakota TWO goaltenders with sub-2.00 GAAs this season. Peter Thome has played in 10 games and carries a 1.52 GAA in those games (6-1-1).
BRONC-NO
WMU came in as one of the hottest offensive teams in the new calendar year (4.00/goals per game), but scored just four goals total in the four games against North Dakota this season.
GOALS ON GOALS ON GOALS
Home goals have been prevalent for North Dakota this season. UND is outscoring its opponents, 78-28, in home games this season (18-1-0 record). UND is allowing just 1.5 goals per home game and has squandered just four power-play goals at home all season (55 opportunities) for a .926 percent kill percentage.
SCHEEL THING
Adam Scheel picked up his 14th win over a ranked team in his career in the win Saturday against No. 16/14 Western Michigan.
30 ROCK
Junior Jordan Kawaguchi has 15 goals this season to double his career total. He now has 30 goals in his three seasons at North Dakota to go along with 60 assists for 90 career points.
CHEERS
North Dakota has already clinched home ice for the first round of the NCHC playoffs after a one-year hiatus. UND had played host to the opening round of the league playoffs for 16 consecutive seasons before missing out last year and narrowly finishing fifth to head to the road for the first time since 2001-02.
EIGHT-TEEN IS ENOUGH
Collin Adams was named the NCHC’s Forward of the Week Feb. 17 (his first career honor) and Peter Thome picked up his second Goalie of the Week award. North Dakota has had a whopping 18 NCHC weekly awards this season by eight different players (Adam Scheel 4, Jordan Kawaguchi 3, Matt Kiersted 3, Shane Pinto 3, Thome 2, Adams 1, Jacob Bernard-Docker 1, Judd Caulfield 1).
THE ADAMS’ FAMILY
Junior Collin Adams has seen his goal production spike over the last month. He has goals in five of the last seven games and now leads the Fighting Hawks with 6 game-winners this season among his 12 goals.
RALPH-AGUCHI ARENA
Junior Hobey Baker Award hopeful Jordan Kawaguchi has been fantastic at the Ralph Engelstad Arena this season, tallying 30 total points in 18 games at home. He has 9 goals and 21 assists and recently had a 16-game home point streak snapped.
PENROSE RIGHTS
North Dakota clinched its third Penrose Cup. Saturday with the sweep of Western Michigan. All-time Penrose Cup (NCHC regular season champ) winners below
2020 North Dakota
2019 St. Cloud State
2018 St. Cloud State
2017 Denver
2016 North Dakota
2015 North Dakota
2014 St. Cloud State
POWER (PLAY) SURGE
Last season, UND’s power play operated at a .124 percentage in NCHC play with 11 goals in 89 man advantage opportunities. This year, North Dakota already has 23 PPGs on 84 chances in league play for a .274 percentage, second in the conference. Overall, North Dakota’s power play has gone from 52nd in the NCAA last year to 16th so far this year.
PC LOAD LETTER??
Jordan Kawaguchi trails only Providence College’s Jack Dugan in total points this season in the NCAA. Dugan has 52 points with 42 assists, 18 of those on secondary assists. Kawaguchi’s 30 assists feature an NCAA-leading 23 primary assists on passes leading directly to goals, second-most in the country.
YOU ARE…. SO BEAUTIFUL… THOMEEE
Peter Thome has already picked up his sixth win of the season, setting a new career best in season wins. He had five wins as a freshman and equaled that total last year.
