Games 31-32
Friday, Feb. 22 • 9:07 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 23 • 9:07 p.m.
Magness Arena (6,026) • Denver, Colo.

Miami RedHawks (10-16-4, 4-12-2-1 NCHC) at No. 7/7 Denver Pioneers (16-7-2, 8-7-2-2 NCHC)
TV/Stream: NCHC.tv
Radio: 1490 AM-WKBV/Tune In Radio (Greg Waddell-pbp)

MATCHUP
Miami begins a stretch of four-straight road games when it begins a two-game set at Denver this weekend in the team's lone meeting of the regular season.
THE SERIES: Miami went 1-2-1 against Denver last season and the Pioneers lead the series 14-11-3 all-time. MU is 0-2-3 in its last three games at Magness Arena since posting a 5-3 win there on Feb. 27, 2015.

PUCK POINTS
• Miami's freshman class has combined for 60 points (16g, 44a), 14th most in the country.

• Gordie Green has notched 72 points (32g, 40a) in his last 86 games dating back to midway through his 2016-17 freshman campaign.

• Senior forward Josh Melnick is 50th in program history with 103 career points. His next point will tie him with Andrew Miller and Justin Mercier for 48th all-time.

• All 28 of senior blue liner Grant Hutton's career goals have come since his sophomore year and his goal total is the third most all-time among Miami defensemen.

• Miami has allowed 30 or more shots on goal in 18 of its last 21 games, something that only happened twice in its first nine games.

• Miami has been tied or within a goal at some point in the third period in 12 of its last 16 games.

LAST TIME OUT
Miami has been idle since splitting a home series with Omaha back on Feb. 8-9. The series began with the Red & White outshooting the Mavericks by a 38-21 margin. MU's contest with UNO remained scoreless after 20 minutes, however, a power play goal by Teemu Pulkkinen put the Mavericks ahead 1-0 after two periods. Despite constant Miami pressure, it was unable to solve Evan Weninger and suffered an eventual 3-0 setback. The RedHawks bounced back in the series finale to snap their 15-game winless streak and nine-game losing skid by scoring the first three goals of the evening. Derek Daschke and Phil Knies found the back of the net in the first and Scott Corbett made it a 3-0 contest midway through the second before UNO scored twice to cut it to 3-2. Josh Melnick then capped the scoring with 3:44 remaining in regulation. Gordie Green paced the offense with three assists while Corbett (1g, 1a) and Melnick (1g, 1a) each had multiple points and Ryan Larkin's 33 saves gave MU the victory.

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 397-304-76 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 DENVER: The Pioneers are coming off a road split with Minnesota Duluth, winning the series finale by a 1-0 score. Denver is a middle of the pack scoring team (2.96 goals per game; 27th nationally), but its 2.26 goals against per game ranks 13th in the country. Devin Cooley (1.93 GAA/.934 SV%) and Filip Larsson (2.40 GAA/.919 SV%) have essentially split the duties in net. Offensively, junior forward Liam Finley paces DU with 27 points (12g, 15a) while Emilio Pettersen (6g, 17a) and Jarid Lukosevicius (13g, 8a) have over 20 points on the season. Ian Mitchell (3g, 13a) leads the defense in scoring.

GOING GREEN: Junior forward Gordie Green enjoyed a breakout sophomore campaign and hopes to build on that after leading the RedHawks with 33 points on 15 goals and 18 assists a year ago. Green's status as a go-to scorer started midway through his freshman campaign as he adjusted to the college level. In his last 86 games dating back to December of 2016, Green has 72 points on 32 goals and 40 assists and his 23 points (10g, 13a) this year lead the team.

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 nine of MU's next 12 games (six starts). He has been particularly sharp in his past seven appearances (four starts), making 30 or more saves three times and posting a .913 save percentage.

WELCOME RETURN: Senior forward Josh Melnick returned to the lineup on Feb. 1 after missing six games due to injury. He made his presence felt immediately by assisting on MU's lone tally at St. Cloud State to extend his career-best point streak to eight games at the time. His return was a sorely needed boost to the lineup given how MU performed without him.

	With Melnick	Without Melnick
Record	10-10-4	0-6
G/Gm	2.5	1.3
GA/Gm	2.5	3.8
SOG/Gm	28.9	30.2
SOGA/Gm	30.0	34.2
PP%	17.5% (17/97)	5.3% (1/19)

TOUGH ROAD AHEAD: As usual, the meat of the NCHC schedule has done no favors to Miami as it has played 10 of its last 14 games against teams in the top 15 of the Pair Wise. That doesn't figure to change as MU's last six games come against schools that are ranked in the top 10 of the PairWise. The Red & White are 0-6-2 against teams in the PairWise top 10 this year (1-9-3 vs. the top 15). Miami's remaining slate has two road games each at No. 5 Minnesota Duluth and No. 7 Denver along with a home set against No. 10 Western Michigan. 

SHOTS GETTING FIRED: More rubber has been getting to the Miami net since the first month of the calendar switched to November. MU has been outshot in 18 of its last 21 games, giving up at least 30 shots on goal 18 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	1-11-4	N/A

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 60 points (16g, 44a), which is the 14th most nationally. Derek Daschke paces the newcomers with 18 points.

HE'S SEEN A LOT: Junior goaltender Ryan Larkin has been kept busy over his time in Oxford. Larkin's started 91 of the RedHawks' 102 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 29 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 2,338 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 28 of Hutton's goals have come since his sophomore season and his career total is third all-time among Miami blue liners. Hutton has 16 points on six goals and 10 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 and his 97 shots led all Miami forwards in 2017-18. Bachman has seven goals, including three game-winners, this season and leads the team lead with 108 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 2.66 goals against average and .909 save percentage in 11 games and Rymsha has six points (3g, 3a) in 29 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.