Games 33-34
Friday, March 1 • 8:07 p.m.
Saturday, March 2 • 8:07 p.m.
AMSOIL Arena (6,756) • Duluth, Minn.

Miami RedHawks (11-17-4, 5-13-2-1 NCHC) at No. 3/3 Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs (19-9-2, 12-7-1-0 NCHC)
TV/Stream: NCHC.tv
Radio: 1490 AM-WKBV/Tune In Radio (Greg Waddell-pbp)

MATCHUP
Miami wraps up its regular season road slate with a series at defending national champion Minnesota Duluth.
THE SERIES: Miami was outscored 7-0 in suffering a home sweep against UMD in January and the Bulldogs lead the all-time series 17-4-2. MU's last win at UMD was Oct. 31, 2014 (0-10-1 since).

PUCK POINTS
• Miami's freshman class has combined for 64 points (16g, 48a), t-14th most in the country.

• Freshman defenseman Derek Daschke (20 points in 31 games) is MU's first defenseman with 20 points in a season since Matthew Caito had 21 in 2012-13.

• Senior forward Josh Melnick is 48th in program history with 105 career points. His next point will tie him with Randy Robitaille and Greg Dornbach for 46th 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 20 of its last 23 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 13 of its last 18 games.

LAST TIME OUT
Miami posted a road split at previously No. 7 Denver over the weekend. Ryan Larkin opened the series on Friday with a masterful 46-save performance (a season-high) while Ryan Siroky scored twice in an eventual 3-1 win. Karch Bachman also netted a goal as MU scored on three of its first eight shots and picked up its second-straight victory despite getting outshot by a 47-21 margin. On Saturday, Miami quickly fell behind, but a shorthanded goal by Josh Melnick left the score all tied after two periods. The Pioneers fired the first seven shots on goal of the third and scored twice in 17 seconds to grab a 3-1 lead. A Zach LaValle goal pulled the Red & White within 3-2 with 11:47 to go, but the Pioneers countered with a power play tally to regain their two-goal lead with 7:46 on the clock. Miami pulled Larkin for an extra skater with just over four minutes remaining, but Denver capped things with an empty netter. Larkin ended up making another 38 saves as Miami got outshot 43-17 on the night.

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 398-305-76 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 MINNESOTA DULUTH: The Bulldogs have split their last three weekend series and scored four goals their past three games. Still, UMD holds the No. 2 spot in the NCHC standings with a 19-9-2 overall record (12-7-1-0 NCHC). Minnesota Duluth's 1.90 goals allowed per game leads the NCHC and ranks third nationally while it possesses the nation's top penalty kill (91.5 percent) and allows the fewest shots on goal in the country (22.6 per game). Hunter Shepard has started all 30 of UMD's games in net and holds a 1.78 goals against average with a .921 save percentage. Offensively, Justin Richards leads the way with 27 points (10g, 17a) while Parker Mackay (11-11-22) and Nick Swaney (13-8-21) have double digit goals. Scott Perunovich leads the defense with 26 points (3g, 23a).

QUITE A DEBUT: Freshman defenseman Derek Daschke has been enjoying quite the debut season for the Red & White. His 20 points (6g, 14a) lead all Miami blue liners while ranking third on the team overall and posting a team-best +6 rating. Daschke is the first MU freshman defenseman to record at least 20 points in a season since Matthew Caito notched 21 in 42 games during the 2012-13 season

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 88 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 are second on the team.

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	11-11-4	0-6
G/Gm	2.5	1.3
GA/Gm	2.6	3.8
SOG/Gm	28.1	30.2
SOGA/Gm	31.2	34.2
PP%	16.8% (17/101)	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 12 of its last 16 games against teams in the top 11 of the Pair Wise. That doesn't figure to change as MU's last four games come against schools that are ranked in the top 11 of the PairWise. The Red & White are 1-7-3 against teams in the PairWise top 10 this year (2-10-3 vs. the top 15). Miami's remaining slate has two road games at No. 3 Minnesota Duluth and a home set against No. 11 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 20 of its last 23 games, giving up at least 30 shots on goal 20 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	2-12-4	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 64 points (16g, 48a), which is tied for 14th most nationally. Derek Daschke paces the newcomers with 20 points.

HE'S SEEN A LOT: Junior goaltender Ryan Larkin has been kept busy over his time in Oxford. Larkin's started 93 of the RedHawks' 105 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 31 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 2,422 career saves rank fourth in school history, 18 behind Alain Chevrier for third.

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 17 points on six goals and 11 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 eight goals, including three game-winners, this season and leads the team lead with 113 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 seven points (3g, 4a) in 31 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.