Games 14-15
Friday, Nov. 29 • 4:05 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 30 • 4:05 p.m.
XL Center (8,089) • Hartford, Conn.

Miami RedHawks (4-6-3, 2-3-1-1 NCHC) at UConn Huskies (3-6-3, 2-4-2 Hockey East)
TV/Stream: UConn Athletics Stream
Radio: 1450 AM-WMOH (Greg Waddell-pbp)

MATCHUP
Miami continues its four-game road stretch with a non-conference series at UConn this weekend.
THE SERIES: These teams have played just two games against each other with Miami sweeping a pair of meetings in Oxford during the 2017-18 season by a combined score of 10-1.

PUCK POINTS
• Miami's trio of Gordie Green, Karch Bachman and Casey Gilling has combined for 36 points through 13 games. Green himself leads the team with 15 points (6g, 9a) while Bachman (5g, 6a) has 11 and Gilling (2g, 8a) 10.

• A win on Friday will give Miami its first two-game winning streak of the season and extend its unbeaten streak to a season-high three games.

• Gordie Green is riding a five-game point streak that ties the longest of his career and is six points away from becoming the 53rd Miami player to record 100 career points.

• Ryan Savage has six points (2g, 4a) in November, tied for the team lead. His seven overall points (3g, 4a) are tied for the most among Miami freshmen.

• Miami's power play has scored in five-straight games, going 6-for-18 (33.3 percent) in that span. Prior to that, MU had scored on the power play in three of eight games, going 3-for-31 (9.7 percent) on the man advantage.

• The RedHawks' freshman class has put up 24 points (t-12th nationally) on 11 goals and 13 assists this season with both Ryan Savage and Jack Clement notching seven apiece.

LAST WEEKEND
Miami posted an impressive road weekend at Omaha, coming away with five of six points and winning its first road NCHC series since January of 2016. Friday night saw the RedHawks rattle off three-straight goals after falling behind 1-0 early on. Goals by Casey Gilling, Ryan Savage and Alec Mahalak put Miami ahead 3-1 in the late stages, but Omaha scored twice in the final minute to force a 3-3 tie. Savage netted a goal during 3-on-3 play to give MU two points on the night however, and the Red & White came out with a vengeance on Saturday. After Gordie Green gave Miami a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes, Green opened the scoring of a three-goal second period that ended with MU holding a 4-1 lead and winning by that score. Ben Kraws picked up his first career win by stopping 32 of 33 shots a night after Grant Valentine made 24 saves in his first collegiate start on Friday.

COACH BERGERON
Chris Bergeron (Miami '93) returns to his alma mater for his first season as head coach. Before returning to Oxford, Bergeron went 171-154-44 in nine seasons as Bowling Green's head coach, leading the Falcons to their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1990 in his final season in 2018-19. BGSU posted 20 or more victories in Bergeron's final five seasons at the helm. Prior to going to Bowling Green, Bergeron spent 10 seasons as an assistant coach at Miami and helped the Red & White go an astounding 226-139-37 during his tenure. The RedHawks qualified for six NCAA Tournaments and reached the Frozen Four in Bergeron's last two seasons as an assistant, including a national runner-up finish in 2009. As a player, Bergeron spent two years as team captain and helped Miami capture its first CCHA title in 1992-93, posting 61 of his 120 career points that season.

ABOUT UCONN: The Huskies enter Thanksgiving with a 3-6-3 record, although they are 1-1-2 over their past two weekends against ranked Hockey East foes UMass Lowell and Providence. Eighteen of UConn's 24 rostered players are freshmen or sophomores and as a unit it ranks 42nd in scoring offense (2.33 goals per game) and 48th in scoring defense (3.33 goals against per game). The trio of Jachym Kondelik (4g, 3a), Alexander Payusov (2g, 5a) and Yaz Kuznetsov (1g, 6a) are tied for the team lead with seven points apiece while five more skaters have six points on the year. The net has been tended by Tomas Vomacka in all 12 outings and he holds a 3.33 goals against average with a .900 save percentage.

OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS: Miami is coming off its best road conference weekend in years as it picked up five of six points at Omaha for its first NCHC road series win since Jan. 22-23, 2016 when it swept Omaha. The RedHawks achieved the series victory without the services of Ryan Larkin in net as he missed the series due to injury. In his stead, Grant Valentine and Ben Kraws each started a game, with Valentine making 24 saves in a 3-3 tie and Kraws turning away 32 shots in a 4-1 win. This marks the first time since 2003-04 (Brandon Crawford-West, Steve Hartley and Nick Petraglia) that three different Miami netminders posted a decision in the same season.

GROWING UP FAST: Miami's freshman class has been developing at a quick rate. All five of the team's freshman skaters have seen the ice for at least seven games with two of them playing in all 13 contests. That group broke out in a tie with New Hampshire on Oct. 12, combining for six points on three goals and three assists. In a Nov. 23 win at Omaha, the newcomers combined for five points on two goals and three assists while freshman Ben Kraws stopped 32 of 33 saves in a 4-1 victory. Overall this season, MU's freshmen have totaled 24 points (t-12th nationally) on 11 goals and 13 assists as all five have recorded at least one point thus far. Jack Clement and Ryan Savage lead all newcomers with seven points apiece on identical 3-4-7 lines.

TOPPING OUT: Miami's experienced trio of Gordie Green, Karch Bachman and Casey Gilling have been carrying the mail for the RedHawks through the first 13 games. After an eight-point opening night, the trio of Gordie Green (6g, 9a), Karch Bachman (5g, 6a) and Casey Gilling (2g, 8a) have totaled 36 points. All three of them notched a multi-point game on opening night against Bowling Green, paced by Green's four, and the trio has seven of the team's 17 multi-point games thus far.

SAVAGE SCORING: The start of conference play has been bringing out the best of freshman forward Ryan Savage. The son of former Miami standout and 11-year NHL veteran Brian Savage, Ryan has erupted in six NCHC contests this month. The center has notched six points in November on two goals and four assists, notching multi-point games at North Dakota on Nov. 9 and at Omaha on Nov. 23. His six points this month are tied with Gordie Green for the team lead.

BALANCING IT OUT: Head coach Chris Bergeron mentioned needing to do some scoring by committee this season and that has been bearing out of late. The RedHawks have netted 31 goals in the past 11 games and 14 different players have found the net in that span. Overall, 15 players have scored goals for the Red & White, led by Gordie Green's six.

QUITE A DEBUT: Sophomore defenseman Derek Daschke enjoyed quite the debut season on the RedHawks' blue line. His 22 points (6g, 16a) led all Miami defensemen while ranking third on the team overall. Daschke was the first MU freshman blue liner to record at least 20 points in a season since 2012-13 season and his point total was the highest for a Miami freshman defenseman since Chris Wideman had 26 in 2008-09. Daschke has three goals and six assists in his past 11 outings and his nine points this year leads the Miami defense.

MAKING SPECIAL TEAMS, SPECIAL: While Miami's special teams struggled mightily in the early going, both units are showing signs of progress. The RedHawks' power play has scored in five-straight games, going 6-for-18 (33.3 percent) in that span to improve to 18.4 percent on the season. MU's penalty kill was a catalyst last weekend against Omaha, killing off all six UNO power plays.

GOING GREEN: Senior forward Gordie Green is once again back in the mix to help anchor Miami's attack. The RedHawks' leading goal scorer the past two seasons opened the year with a bang, scoring twice and notching four points on opening night against Bowling Green. Green also added a three-assist game on Oct. 25 at Colgate, his seventh career game of three or more points. In his last 107 games dating back to December of 2016, Green has 89 points on 39 goals and 50 assists. He is riding a career-best five-game points streak and needs six points to become the 53rd member of Miami's 100-point club.

HE'S SEEN A LOT: Senior goaltender Ryan Larkin has been kept busy over his time in Oxford. Larkin's started 107 of the RedHawks' 124 games since his 2016-17 freshman campaign. The Clarkston, Mich., native debuted with a strong .910 save percentage as a freshman and despite seeing a lot of pucks come his way a year ago, recorded a respectable .907 save percentage in 2018-19. In his career, Larkin has 36 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 2,733 career saves rank third in school history. He needs 175 more saves this season to catch David Burleigh's school record of 2,975 saves.

SHAKING SOPHOMORE SLUMPS: If Miami is to put more pucks in the net this year, two players who could go a long way towards helping that are junior forwards Casey Gilling and Phil Knies. As freshmen, the duo helped lengthen MU's attack by combining for 37 points on 20 goals and 17 assists. Gilling contributed nine goals and 19 points while Knies chipped in 11 goals and 18 points in 2017-18. Both had tougher sledding in their second go round through college as Gilling's production dropped to 12 points (4g, 8a) while Knies dipped to nine (6g, 3a). So far this season Gilling has 10 points (2g, 8a) in 13 games while Knies has six (2g, 4a).

CAUSING HAVOC: Entering his senior season, Karch Bachman has never lacked for generating scoring opportunities in his career. The Florida Panthers' draft choice netted a career-best 10 goals in 2018-19 and his ability to create shots makes further strides in the goal column possible. Bachman led the RedHawks with 120 shots on goal last season after putting 97 shots on net in 2017-18 and he finished third on the team in shots on goal as a freshmen with 72 in 2016-17. This year, Bachman leads the Red & White with 59 shots and he has 11 points on five goals and six assists.

COMING THIS WINTER: While it will take time to pay off, Miami is looking towards sophomore forward Matt Barry for some additional offense this season. As a mid-year transfer during the 2018-19 season, Barry has to wait until the first semester ends to be eligible to play. Barry spent the first half of 2018-19 with Holy Cross and tied for the team lead with 11 points at the time of his departure. In his final USHL season in 2017-18, Barry notched 54 points in 57 games to help Youngstown reach the Clark Cup finals and he put up 59 points in 59 NAHL games with Bismarck the year before.