Game 19-20
Friday, Jan. 10 • 9:37 p.m.
Saturday, Jan. 11 • 8:07 p.m.
World Arena (7,380) • Colorado Springs, Colo.

Miami RedHawks (5-10-3, 2-5-1-1 NCHC) at Colorado College Tigers (7-8-1, 2-5-1-0 NCHC)
TV/Stream: NCHC.tv
Radio: 1450 AM-WMOH (Greg Waddell-pbp)

MATCHUP
Miami jumps back into conference play when it takes on Colorado College in a weekend series in the team's only regular season meeting this year.
THE SERIES: Colorado College posted a 3-1 record against the RedHawks last year and the all-time series is all even at 10-10-2.

PUCK POINTS
• Miami's trio of Gordie Green, Karch Bachman and Casey Gilling has combined for 55 points. Green himself leads the team with 22 points (t-16th nationally) while Bachman (7g, 11a) has 18 and Gilling (5g, 10a) 15.

• Karch Bachman is riding a career-best seven-game point streak and his 18 points this season are already a career best.

• Gordie Green leads the RedHawks with 22 points this season and is the NCHC's active career leader with 101 points.

• Miami has fired at least 30 shots on goal in three of its last five games after doing so just twice in the season's first 13 contests.

• The RedHawks have been outshot in 12 straight games and have only outshot their opponents three times this season.

• Ryan Larkin is second in Miami history with 2,877 career saves. He is 99 saves shy of setting the school's all-time record.

• Miami has been tied or ahead in the third period in seven of its last nine games, but is just 3-3-1 in those instances.

LAST TIME OUT
Miami came out of its 23-day layoff with a strong performance at No. 11 Bowling Green last Monday. The RedHawks enjoyed three-point nights from Gordie Green and Karch Bachman and a 3-0 lead early in the second period turned into a 4-2 road victory. Ryan Larkin turned aside 35 shots and helped Miami's penalty kill go a perfect 5-for-5 on the evening. MU got on the board with a pair of quick goals late in the first as Ryan Savage struck on the power play and Christian Mohs made it 2-0 after 20 minutes. Green's 100th-career point was a power play goal early in the second to make it a 3-0 contest. While BGSU clawed within 3-2 early in the third, MU held it without a shot in the final six minutes to secure the victory.

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 COLORADO COLLEGE: The Tigers are amongst a logjam of teams in the NCHC in the 3-8 range that are separated by a mere five points as league play resumes. CC was last in action at the Ledyard Classic, where it went 1-1 by dropping a 5-2 decision to host Dartmouth and topping St. Lawrence, 7-3. Chris Wilkie, a Florida Panthers' draft pick, leads the NCHC with 13 goals while his 20 points paces Colorado College. Nick Halloran (7-9-16) and Bailey Conger (4-7-11) have also scored in double figures to balance the attack. The Tigers have struggled defensively, yielding 3.25 goals per game and 35.31 shots on goal per contest. CC's defensive woes start with its penalty kill, which is dead last in the NCAA at 67.2 percent. The goaltending duties have been relatively split between Matt Vernon (3.03 GAA, .915 SV%) and Ryan Ruck (3.25 GAA, .905 SV%).

IN IT, CAN THEY WIN IT?: While Miami's record hasn't been what it has wanted overall, the RedHawks have been in games to the end as of late. Over the past nine games, Miami has been ahead or tied at some point in the third period seven times, going 3-3-1 in those instances. Overall, the RedHawks have been tied or ahead in the third period in 11 of 18 contests this season.

GETTING THE PUCK: An area that is still a work in progress for Miami is its puck management. The RedHawks have been outshot in each of their last 12 contests and have only outshot their opponents three times all season. MU has been perking up in generating its own chances, however, as it has recorded at least 30 shots on goal in three of its past five games.

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 eight games with one playing in all 15 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 33 points on 15 goals and 18 assists as all five have recorded at least two points thus far.  Ryan Savage leads the freshman class with nine points.

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 half. After an eight-point opening night, the trio of Gordie Green (8g, 14a), Karch Bachman (7g, 11a) and Casey Gilling (5g, 10a) have totaled 55 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 11 of the team's 25 multi-point games this year.

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 earned NCHC Rookie of the Month honors in November. The center recorded seven points that month on two goals and five assists, posting multi-point games at North Dakota on Nov. 9 and at Omaha on Nov. 23. His seven points in November were the most among all NCHC freshmen.

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 46 goals in the past 16 games and 14 different players have found the net in that span. Overall, 16 players have scored goals for the Red & White, led by Gordie Green's eight.

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 four goals and 10 assists in his past 14 outings and his 14 points this year leads the Miami defense.

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. In his last 112 games dating back to December of 2016, Green has 96 points on 41 goals and 55 assists.

HE'S SEEN A LOT: Senior goaltender Ryan Larkin has been kept busy over his time in Oxford. Larkin's started 109 of the RedHawks' 129 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 38 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 2,877 career saves rank second in school history. He needs 99 more saves this season to pass 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 15 points (5g, 10a) 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 77 shots and he has a career-best 18 points on seven goals and 11 assists. He is riding a career-best seven game point streak.

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. He fired two shots on goal in his Miami debut at Bowling Green on Dec. 30.