Games 23-24
Friday, Jan. 24 • 7:05 p.m.
Saturday, Jan. 25 • 7:05 p.m.
Steve 'Coach' Cady Arena (3,019) • Oxford, Ohio

Miami RedHawks (6-12-4, 3-7-2-1 NCHC) vs. No. 5/5 Denver Pioneers (15-4-5, 5-3-4-3 NCHC)
TV/Stream: NCHC.tv
Radio: 1450 AM-WMOH/100.9 FM-WKBV (Greg Waddell-pbp; Drew Davis-analyst)

MATCHUP
Miami finishes up its four-game home stand with a home series with Denver this weekend.
THE SERIES: Miami and Denver split their lone series in Denver last season and DU holds a 15-12-3 lead in the all-time series.

PUCK POINTS
• Miami's trio of Gordie Green, Karch Bachman and Casey Gilling has combined for 73 points. Green himself leads the team with 27 points (t-14th nationally) while Bachman (8g, 16a) has 24 and Gilling (7g, 15a) 22.

• Over the past 13 games, Miami is 10th nationally in scoring offense (3.23 goals per game) and first in power play efficiency (35.7%).

• Gordie Green leads the RedHawks with 27 points this season and is the NCHC's active career leader with 106 points.

• Ryan Larkin is second in Miami history with 2,967 career saves. He is nine saves shy of setting the school's all-time record held by David Burleigh.

• Karch Bachman has posted at least one point in 10 of his last 11 games and his 24 points this season are a new career best.

• Miami has been tied or ahead in the third period in 10 of its last 13 games, going 4-4-2 in those instances.

• Three of Miami's five freshman skaters have scored double digit points and the RedHawks' freshmen have netted 20 goals (t-eighth nationally) and 42 points (19th).

LAST TIME OUT
The RedHawks played a couple down to the wire games against No. 1/2 North Dakota over the weekend. Friday night saw Casey Gilling and Karch Bachman post four points apiece as MU raced out to an early 2-0 lead. Trailing 4-3 late, John Sladic netted a power play goal to even things up and the teams played to a 4-4 tie that saw UND earn the extra point by winning the shootout. The Red and White once again jumped ahead 2-0 midway through the first period in Saturday's finale thanks to power play goals by Derek Daschke and Phil Knies. After the Fighting Hawks evened things early in the second, Karch Bachman struck on the power play in the final minute to put the RedHawks up 3-2 after 40 minutes. UND would tie it up in the early portions of the third and snapped a 3-3 tie with two goals in the final 1:04 to pull out a 5-3 win and take the series.

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 DENVER: The Pioneers picked up four of six points at Omaha thanks to a pair of ties coupled with shootout/three-on-three victories to move within a point of second place in the NCHC standings at 5-3-4-3 (15-4-5 overall). Denver boasts a defense that is second in the NCHC and eighth nationally at 2.08 goals allowed per game while averaging 3.25 goals per game (t-13th) offensively. Since dropping a 4-1 decision at Arizona State on Dec. 6, Denver is an unbeaten 6-0-3. Eleven Pioneer skaters have double digit points, led by Emilio Pettersen's 22. Freshman goaltender Magnus Chrona has started 19 games in net and sports a 2.23 goals against average with a .920 save percentage.

GROWING UP FAST: Miami's freshman class has developed quickly. All five of the team's freshman skaters have seen the ice for at least 16 games. 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. MU's freshmen have scored 20 goals this season (t-eighth nationally) and totaled 42 points. Forwards Chase Pletzke (5g, 6a), John Sladic (6g, 5a) and Ryan Savage (5g, 5a) have all scored at least 10 points while defenseman Jack Clement (4g, 4a) has eight. 

MAKING PROGRESS: While Miami struggled in several areas in the early going, it has made huge improvements despite its 6-11-3 overall record. Since opening NCHC play by suffering a sweep at North Dakota, the RedHawks have made some remarkable progress in all areas.

	First Nine Games (rank)	Last 13 Games (rank)
Record	2-5-2	4-7-2
G/Gm.	2.78 (29th)	3.23 (10th)
GA/Gm.	4.22 (58th)	3.15 (35th)
Scoring Margin	-1.44 (53rd)	+0.08 (31st)
PP%	10.8% (50th)	35.7% (1st)
PK%	73.8% (53rd)	78.8% (t-40th)

CHASING SUCCESS: Freshman forward Chase Pletzke has quietly become a focal point of Miami's offense. He was a healthy scratch three times and posting just one goal in the team's first 10 games. Since then, Pletzke has notched 10 of his freshman-leading 11 points. That total ranks fifth on the team over Miami's last 12 games.

RESURGENT OFFENSE: Since winning the 2015 Frozen Faceoff and earning a No. 1 seed to the ensuing NCAA Tournament on the strength of the nation's 11th-best offense, goals have been hard to come by for Miami. That has changed in a big way through the first 20 games as MU is looking for its first season in the top half national finish in scoring since 2014-15.

Year	G/Gm (Rank)
2014-15	3.25 (11th)
2015-16	2.39 (t-43rd)
2016-17	2.53 (45th)
2017-18	2.78 (32nd)
2018-19	2.29 (52nd)
2019-20	3.05 (18th)

GETTING THE PUCK: An area that is still a work in progress for Miami is its puck management. The RedHawks have been outshot in 15 of their last 16 contests and have only outshot their opponents four times all season. MU has been perking up in generating its own chances as it has recorded at least 30 shots on goal in five of its past nine games, including a season-high 42 at Colorado College on Jan 10.

TOPPING OUT: Miami's experienced trio of Gordie Green, Karch Bachman and Casey Gilling have been carrying the mail for the RedHawks all season. After an eight-point opening night, the trio of Gordie Green (10g, 17a), Karch Bachman (8g, 16a) and Casey Gilling (7g, 15a) have totaled 73 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 15 of the team's 35 multi-point games this year.

NO SOPHOMORE SLUMP: 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 seven goals and 11 assists in his past 18 outings and his 18 points this year lead the Miami defense and are tied for 15th among all NCAA defensemen.

HE'S SEEN A LOT: Senior goaltender Ryan Larkin has been kept busy over his time in Oxford. Larkin's started 112 of the RedHawks' 133 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 40 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 2,967 career saves rank second in school history. He needs nine more saves this season to pass David Burleigh's school record of 2,975 saves.

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, and posted his eighth career game of three or more points when he put up a goal and two assists at Bowling Green on Dec. 30, becoming the 53rd member of Miami's 100-point club in the process. His 106 career points (t-47th in MU history) lead all active NCHC players.

Miami Rank	Player (Career Points)
40.	Pete Shipman/RobVanderydt (112)
42.	John Malloy (111)
43.	Brian Savage (109)
44.	Craig Fisher (108)
45.	Blake Coleman/Josh Melnick (107)
47.	Randy Robitaille/Greg Dornbach/Gordie Green (106)

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 84 shots on goal (t-ninth nationally) and he has a career-best 19 points on seven goals and 12 assists.

MID YEAR BOOST: With the first semester complete, Miami enters the second half able to enjoy the services of sophomore forward Matt Barry. As a mid-year transfer during the 2018-19 season, Barry had to wait until the first semester ended to be eligible to play. He 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. Since debutting on Dec. 30, Barry has posted two points in five games with both of his points coming to key a 6-1 victory at Colorado College on Jan. 10.