UND played its first 10 games this season in the NCHC pod in Baxter Arena
#2/3 North Dakota at #9 Omaha
Jan. 29-30, 2021
Baxter Arena
7:06 PM CT Fri
6:07 PM CT Sat
All-time Series: UND leads 24-13-1 (.645)
RADIO
PxP: Tim Hennessy
Analyst: Steve Olson
790 AM 104.7 FM & Home of Economy Radio Network
Web: FightingHawks.com
ON TAP
North Dakota makes a return trip to Baxter Arena to play Omaha for the first time this season. This series with the Mavericks will start a regular-season-ending stretch that sees the teams meet six times over the final eight games.
BROADCAST INFORMATION
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.
ABOUT LAST WEEK…
UND swept Colorado College convincingly in its home-opening series last Saturday and Sunday. In the opener, North Dakota outshot visiting Colorado College, 40-19, in a decisive 4-1 win. Four different players tallied goals including: Cooper Moore, Shane Pinto, Jordan Kawaguchi and Gavin Hain. Sunday, Pinto scored twice more and Adam Scheel registered his third shutout of the season to tally a 5-0 victory.
ALL-TIME AGAINST OMAHA
North Dakota is 24-13-1 all-time against the Mavericks, including wins in eight of the last 11. Last season, the teams split the season series, 2-2. Omaha’s 6-3 win at the REA on Jan. 10 was UND’s lone blemish to its home record last season (18-1-0).
WILD 2020-21
More schedule changes abound as UND’s series with Denver has been shifted back a week. All four NCHC West teams had shakeups in their schedule for the next two weeks. North Dakota will now have an off week after the Omaha series, then host Denver Feb. 12-13.
POLL POSITION
Five NCHC teams are nationally ranked in the newest polls released Monday with four of them in the top 10. North Dakota, moved to No. 2 in the USCHO.com poll and stayed at No. 3 in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll. St. Cloud State (5th), Minnesota Duluth (6th) and Omaha (9th) all sit in the top ten in both polls with Denver at 20 in the USCHO.com poll.
SUNDAY SIX
In an unusual season, North Dakota has wound up playing a bulk of its games on Sundays this season. The Fighting Hawks have played six Sunday games this season, going 5-1-0. This Friday’s game vs. Omaha will be just the second Friday game for UND this season (1-0-0).
SCHEEL GOALIE OF THE WEEK
Adam Scheel picked up his second NCHC Goalie of the Week in the last three weeks after his performance in the sweep of Colorado College. Scheel squandered just a single goal the entire weekend and ran his record to 11-2-1 on the season.
ONE or NONE
Scheel held CC to zero or one goal in all four meetings this season. This year, Scheel has allowed one goal four times and posted three shutouts, giving him half of his starts (7-of-14) where the opposition has one goal or fewer.
ADAM GOOD STAT
Adam Scheel has been rock solid in his career and has made a habit of giving his team a chance to win with just two goals. In his career, Scheel has now either shutout an opponent or only allowed one goal in nearly half of his appearances (31 of 67 appearances).
MOORE, PLEASE
Freshman Cooper Moore registered his first career goal in the first period of North Dakota’s 4-1 win vs. Colorado College Saturday evening.
JUDD AND HIS BUDS
Judd Caulfield scored his first goal of the season in the Jan. 24 win over Colorado College. He became the 18th different UND player to light the lamp this season.
EIGHT IS ENOUGH
Three different players pace North Dakota in goals after Shane Pinto’s three-goal weekend last week. Pinto, Grant Mismash and Riese Gaber each have eight goals on the season, part of a balanced scoring attack that has six Fighting Hawks with double-digit points on the season.
KAWAHOBEY
Jordan Kawaguchi has tallied four points in his last three games to give him 18 on the season. He sits second on the team in points after his goal and assist in Saturday’s win.
PENALTY KILLERS
UND’s penalty kill has been elite in the last nine games. Since starting the season with kills in 19 of the first 26 opportunities (73.1%), UND has successfully killed off the penalty in 41 of the last 42 chances (97.6%). North Dakota’s season PK is now at 88.2%, second-best in the NCHC and 10th in the NCAA.
POWER PLAY PROFICIENCY
North Dakota’s power play has operated at an NCHC-best 24.6 percent (17/69) so far this season. UND has a power-play goal in 14 of 16 games this season.
QUICK DRAW
North Dakota’s centermen have been great in the faceoff dot, currently third in the NCAA in faceoff win percentage (.562). Shane Pinto’s .627 win percentage is among the leaders in the country and his 227 draws won are the most in NCAA D1.
Men’s Hockey 1/28/2021 10:45:00 AM Mitch Wigness, FightingHawks.com
