Men's Ice Hockey | February 17, 2017

THIS WEEK
No. 8/9 Western Michigan returns home to host No. 13/12 North Dakota on Friday and Saturday. Friday's game can be seen live on CBS Sports Network and Saturday's live on NCHC.tv. Friday the Broncos will honor the Mid-American Conference Championship football team during the first intermission. On Saturday the team hosts its annual Ice Duchenne benefit game.

LAST WEEKEND
WMU went on the road and earned three points in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference standings after a split at Omaha. On Friday the Broncos beat the Mavericks 7-6 in one of the wildest games of the season. Griffen Molino recorded a hat trick, Sheldon Dries scored twice and the Broncos also got goals from Frederik Tiffels and Colt Conrad. WMU built an early 5-2 lead in the first period but UNO came roaring back to take a 6-5 lead in the third period. Dries set up Molino for his second short-handed goal of the game to tie it up at 6-6 and then minutes later set him up again for the game-winner. 

On Saturday, Western Michigan battled back from a 3-0 deficit to tie it up at 3-3 in the third period on a power play goal by Aidan Muir. Omaha then scored three straight goals to finish the game off. 

AT A GLANCE // NORTH DAKOTA // 15-11-3, 8-9-1 NCHC
- THE SERIES: North Dakota leads the all-time series 16-2-0. Western Michigan has yet to beat the Fighting Hawks in Kalamazoo and are 0-8-0 lifetime against them at Lawson Ice Arena. 

- THE FIRST TIME AROUND: The two teams matched up in Grand Forks back on Dec. 9 and 10. UND opened the series with a 5-1 win but the Broncos answered back the next night with a 3-1 win. 

Freshman forward Wade Allison had a hand in every WMU goal scored in the series with two goals and an assist in the win and an assist in the loss. 

- SCOUTING THE FIGHTING HAWKS: No. 13/12 North Dakota is 3-5-0 in its last eight games, all NCHC contests, and currently sit in fifth place in the conference standings. The Fighting Hawks were off last weekend and were last in action against St. Cloud State on Feb. 3-4. UND split with the Huskies, losing the opener 3-1 and then winning 2-1 in overtime. 

North Dakota's offense ranks 17th in the nation at 3.14 goals scored per game, and is led by sophomore forward Shane Gersich with 33 points. Gersich also leads the team with 18 goals to go with his 15 assists. Freshman Tyson Jost is second on the team with 24 points on 11 goals and 13 assists. Reigning NCHC Freshman of the Year Brock Boeser is third on the team with 23 points on 11 goals and 12 assists in 12 games played. Boeser missed six games, including the series against WMU back in December, due to an upper body injury.  Junior Tucker Poolman is the team's top scoring defenseman with 22 points on five goal a team-high 17 assists. 

Defensively, the Fighting Hawks rank 14th in the nation and allow just 2.45 goals per game. Cam Johnson has seen the majority of the time in net for UND. The junior holds a 14-8-3 record with a 2.25 goals against average and a .908 save percentage. Johnson has also recorded three shutouts on the season. 

North Dakota's power play ranks in at 23rd in the nation at 19 percent (24-for-126). Jost and Gersich each have four power play goals to lead the team, while Poolman and Rhett Gardner each have three. In total, 12 different players have tallied with the man advantage this season. The penalty kill ranks slightly lower at 24th at 83.6 percent (102-for-128).

BACK ON TOP
Western Michigan sophomore forward Matheson Iacopelli has led the Broncos in scoring for the majority of the season. After a big scoring outburst from Wade Allison against Arizona State, the freshman forward took over the top spot from Iacopelli. At Omaha, Iacopelli tallied two assists in the 7-6 win and then scored a goal in the 6-3 loss to retake the scoring lead. The Chicago Blackhawks' draft pick now sits at 25 points, just one ahead of Allison. 

DYNAMIC DUO
Linemates and long-time friends Wade Allison and Colt Conrad have taken advantage of their hockey playing past to produce good chemistry, and points, on the ice this season. Allison has 11 goals on the season and has been set up by Conrad four times, Conrad has 10 goals on the season and has been set up by Allison seven times.  Combined they have produced 41 points on 21 goals and 20 assists. Freshman Hugh McGing has also been matched up with the two, contributing three goals and nine assists on the season. 

COMING OUT SHOOTING
Western Michigan heads into the weekend series ranked 16th in the nation in shots on goal per game at 32.21. It's the highest per-game average under a WMU team coached by Andy Murray. The previous high was 29.9 during both the 2011-12 and 2012-13 seasons. WMU has eclipsed 30 shots on goal in 17 of its 28 games, reached 40 in five games and once over 50 this season.