Games 27-28
Friday, Feb. 1 • 8:07 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 2 • 7:07 p.m.
Herb Brooks National Hockey Center (5,159) • St. Cloud, Minn.

Miami RedHawks (9-13-4, 3-9-2-1 NCHC) at No. 1/1 St. Cloud State Huskies (18-4-2, 10-2-2-1 NCHC)
TV/Stream: NCHC.tv
Radio: 1490 AM-WKBV/Tune In Radio (Greg Waddell-pbp)

MATCHUP
Miami starts a stretch playing six of eight games on the road when it heads to first-place St. Cloud State this weekend.
THE SERIES: Miami tied St. Cloud State twice in a home series back on Nov. 30-Dec. 1 and MU leads the all-time series 17-16-4.

PUCK POINTS
• Miami's freshman class has combined for 55 points (14g, 41a), 13th most in the country.

• Graduate transfer goaltender Jordan Uhelski has a .925 save percentage in his last seven appearances (four starts).

• All 27 of senior blue liner Grant Hutton's career goals have come since his sophomore year and his goal total is tied for the third most all-time among Miami defensemen.

• Miami has allowed 30 or more shots on goal in 15 of its last 17 games, something that only happened twice in its first nine games.

• The RedHawks have allowed the first goal in 10-straight games and held the lead just twice in that span.

• Miami has been tied or within a goal at some point in the third period in nine of 12 games during its current winless streak.

• Senior forward Josh Melnick has missed the past six games (all losses) after missing only one game his first three seasons. He was riding a career-best seven-game point streak (3g, 5a) and became the 52nd Miami player to clear 100 career points on Jan. 5.

LAST WEEKEND
The RedHawks' losing streak reached six games as they suffered their third-straight conference series sweep, this to the hands of Colorado College. CC scored three times in the first period of Friday's opener and eventually walked out of Steve 'Coach' Cady Arena with a 6-1 victory. After falling behind early on Saturday, Miami got goals from Scott Corbett and Derek Daschke to take a 2-1 lead into the third period. The Tigers would rally, however, tying it up 1:26 into the third and scoring on a 5-on-3 with 3:22 remaining to pull out a 3-2 win and finish the weekend sweep. Jordan Uhelski started the second game after relieving Ryan Larkin in the opener, finishing with 31 saves in the series finale as Miami suffered its first loss of the season when it led entering the third period.

COACH BLASI
Enrico Blasi (Miami '94) is in his 20th season behind the RedHawk bench. He is a five-time CCHA Coach of the Year and was named National Coach of the Year in 2005-06. He is the RedHawks' all-time winningest coach with a 396-301-76 record at his alma mater, which he has taken to 10 NCAA Tournaments, including two Frozen Four berths, a National Championship game appearance, a trio of CCHA regular-season titles and two conference tournament titles.

ABOUT ST. CLOUD STATE: The Huskies have a five-point lead on first-place in the NCHC with a record of 18-4-2 (10-2-2-1 NCHC). SCSU is the nation's third-highest scoring team (3.75 goals per game) and is also in the top 10 in scoring defense (2.17; 8th), power play (23.7%; 9th) and penalty kill (89.6%; 2nd). St. Cloud's offense is paced by Patrick Newell's 12 goals and 23 points while defensemen Jimmy Schuldt (6-13-19) and Jack Ahcan (2-17-19) are among its 12 players with 11 or more points. The Huskies split their latest series at North Dakota last weekend, with Saturday's loss snapping their four-game winning streak.

THERE WHEN YOU NEED HIM: Graduate transfer goaltender Jordan Uhelski has provided depth in net of late. After starting just two of the RedHawks' first 15 games, Uhelski has appeared in eight of MU's past 11 games (five starts). He has been particularly sharp in his past seven appearances (four starts), making 30 or more saves three times and posting a 2.42 goals against average along with a .925 save percentage.

BIG LOSS: Senior forward Josh Melnick has missed the last six games due to injury after missing just one game in total over his first three years. He had perked up since a slow start, notching 17 of his team-best 19 points in his last 14 contests. He became the 52nd player in school history to reach 100 career points in his last game played on Jan. 5 and was riding a career-best seven-game point streak before the injury. His next point will tie him with Pat Leahy and Mitch Ganzak for 50th in program history with 101 career points.

COMING SOON: The RedHawks added to their roster over the winter break with an eye towards bolstering their 2019-20 roster. Now on MU's roster is forward Matt Barry, who spent the first half of this season at Holy Cross, where he finished tied for the team lead with 11 points (4g, 7a) in 13 games. He finished his juniors career in the USHL with Youngstown last year, where his 54 points (17g, 37a) led the Phantoms. He'll be eligible to play in the second half of the 2019-20 season.

PLAYING CATCHUP: Miami has found itself chasing the game during its 12-game winless streak (0-8-4). MU has trailed at some point in all 12 of those contests and surrendered the first goal 11 times, including 10-straight outings. The Red & White have led for just 37:53 out of a possible 620 minutes of hockey in this stretch.

TOUGH ROAD AHEAD: As usual, the meat of the NCHC schedule has done no favors to Miami as it has played eight of its last 10 games against teams in the top 10 of the Pair Wise. That doesn't figure to change as eight of the last 10 games come against schools that are ranked in the top eight of the PairWise. MU is 0-6-3 against teams in the PairWise top 10 this year. Miami's remaining slate has two road games each at No. 1 St. Cloud State, No. 3 Minnesota Duluth and No. 6 Denver along with a home set against No. 8 Western Michigan. 

SHOTS GETTING FIRED: More rubber has been getting to the Miami net since the first month of the calendar switched to November, although Ryan Larkin and Jordan Uhelski have proven equal to the task of being the last line of defense. MU has been outshot in 15 of its last 17 games, giving up at least 30 shots on goal 15 times after outshooting its foes in eight of its first nine outings when it was ninth nationally in shots on goal allowed per game (23.33).

STUCK ON NINE: For whatever reason, Miami has found itself struggling once it's hit nine wins the last few seasons, something that has continued since the RedHawks moved to 9-5 with a Nov. 17 win at Colorado College.

	Record at 9th W	Record after	Final Record
2016-17	9-11-6	0-9-1	9-20-7
2017-18	9-8-2	3-12-3	12-20-5
2018-19	9-5	0-8-4	N/A

OFFENSIVE BLUE LINE: Miami's defense has been an area of strength and that has gone beyond keeping the puck out of its net. The RedHawks' blue line has posted 51 points this season (13g, 38a). That group is led by Derek Daschke's 17 points (5g, 12a) and Grant Hutton's 14 (5g, 9a).

FRESH FACES LEADING THE WAY: With eight freshmen on the roster, the opportunity was going to be there for new players to make an impact and that's what has happened. The RedHawks' freshman class has combined for 55 points (14g, 41a), which is the 13th most nationally. Derek Daschke paces the newcomers with 17 points along with a +9 rating.

HE'S SEEN A LOT: Junior goaltender Ryan Larkin has been kept busy over his time in Oxford. Larkin's started 88 of the RedHawks' 98 games since his 2016-17 freshman campaign. The Clarkston, Mich., native debuted with a strong .910 save percentage as a freshman and made 30 or more saves 12 times that year. In his career, Larkin has 27 games where he has recorded at least 30 stops. He already owns two of Miami's top eight seasons in total saves with 905 as a freshman (third) and 863 in 2017-18 (eighth). His 2,256 career saves rank fourth in school history.

HUTTON FOR GOALS: Senior defenseman Grant Hutton provided Miami with a boom on defense thanks to his return. A year ago, Hutton led all NCAA defensemen with 13 goals, a total that was one off Miami's overall team lead. All 27 of Hutton's goals have come since his sophomore season and his career total is tied with Andy Greene and Joe Cook for third all-time among Miami blue liners. Hutton has 14 points on five goals and nine assists this season.

CAUSING HAVOC: One player who has shown a knack for creating scoring chances with the potential to lengthen the Miami attack is junior forward Karch Bachman. Despite only scoring nine goals in his first two seasons, the Florida Panthers' 2015 draft pick has finished third in shots on goal in each of his first two campaigns with his 97 shots leading all Miami forwards in 2017-18. Bachman has scored seven goals, including three game-winners, this season and leads the team lead with 94 shots on goal.

CHANGE OF VENUE: Among the newcomers to Miami this year are a pair of fifth-year transfers in defenseman River Rymsha (Dartmouth) and goaltender Jordan Uhelski (Alabama Huntsville). The duo are believed to be only the second and third postgraduate transfers in Miami hockey's history as they add another layer of experience to the roster. Uhelski was Alabama Huntsville's starting goaltender his last two years, logging 52 combined starts in 2016-17 and 2017-18. Rymsha played a career-high 28 games at Dartmouth last year and logged 69 games in four years with the Big Green. Uhelski holds a 2.40 goals against average and .918 save percentage in 10 games and Rymsha has six points (3g, 3a) in 25 games.

A LOOK INSIDE THE BROTHERHOOD: A partnership with the NCHC and Miami hockey's equipment provider, STX, has led to the creation of The Season (Miami Hockey). This six-episode documentary series promises to take fans inside the RedHawks' preparation for the 2018-19 season. The first episode aired on Oct. 4 and fans can check out all six episodes on TheSeason2018.com.