UND Looks to Lasso Broncos

Good Afternoon. After a week off, the University of North Dakota is back on the road. This week, UND takes on the third place Western Michigan Bronco in an important two-game NCHC series at Lawson Arena.

The Fighting Hawks will be looking for get some revenge after being swept by the Broncos (0-2 L, 2-6 L) on November 16-17, 2018. After winning eight games in a row against the WMU, UND is 2-5-0 in the last seven games against the Broncos. UND is 2-2-0 in the last four games at Lawson Arena in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

Programming note: Friday’s game is at 5:30 PM CT. This will be game one of a double header on CBS Sports Net.

Make no mistake about it, the Hawks need to string together some wins if they want to qualify for the NCAA tourney. Currently, UND is 21st in the Pairwise Rankings.

Updated Pairwise

1. St. Cloud State
2. Massachusetts
3. Ohio State
4. Minnesota-Duluth
5. Quinnipiac

Complete ratings: https://t.co/gfj17yVXiH

— College Hockey News (@chnews) February 11, 2019

In the KRACH ranking, UND is ranked 20th. Moreover, UND has played the 10th toughest schedule in college hockey. Here’s the strength of schedule of other teams in the NCHC: UMD 1, DU 2, UNO 3, WMU 8, SCSU 13, MU 16, and Colorado College 18.

Updated KRACH (CHN power ratings)

1. St. Cloud State
2. Massachusetts
3. Ohio State
4. Quinnipiac
5. Minnesota-Duluth

Complete ratings: https://t.co/WxFRpMHI4q

— College Hockey News (@chnews) February 11, 2019

       UND — WMU

Goals 68 / 2.52 (46)— 92 / 3.54 (6)
GAA 66 / 2.44 (28) — 74 / 2.85 (31)
Power Play 15.2% (48) — 17.9% (30)
Penalty Kill 81.6% (29)— 80.3% (33)

Since the first of the year, UND has improved its play on the penalty kill. Currently, UND’s penalty kill is ranked third in the NCHC at 81.6%. Even more impressive, UND has also killed 15 of the last 16 opponent power plays. That’s a percentage of 93.8 percent. During the past two series, the only power play goal came against the SCSU Huskies (Blake Lizotte on 1/25/2019).