Men's Ice Hockey | February 21, 2019

THIS WEEK
The eighth-ranked Western Michigan hockey team travels to Colorado College to take on the Tigers on Friday at 9:37 p.m. and Saturday at 6:37 p.m. EST. Both games can be seen live on NCHC.tv and heard live on the Bronco Radio Network. 

WATCH PARTY
The Bronco Hockey Blue Line Club will be hosting a watch party at Niskers' Char-Grill and Slap Shot Hockey Bar on the corner of W. Main and Drake for Saturday's 6:37 p.m. game. 

LAST WEEK
WMU hosted North Dakota, splitting with the Fighting Hawks. WMU dropped the opening game of the weekend, 5-1, but rebounded the next night to win 4-2.

UND jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead in the first 10:35 of the first period, including a goal just 18 seconds into the game. The lead reached 4-0 after an early goal in the second period before Mattias Samuelsson got the Broncos on the board at 9:16. North Dakota added an empty-net goal with 3:19 left to play. 

On Saturday, after a scoreless first period, the Broncos netted two goals in the second period to take a 2-0 lead. Michael Joyaux netted both goals on the power play, the first of his career. Josh Passolt extended the lead to 3-0 just 4:23 into the third period. UND netted two goals in 1:59 midway through the period to cut the lead to 3-2 but Hugh McGing netted a short-handed goal to seal the win for WMU. Trevor Goruch made 24 saves on the night to earn his 15th win of the season.

COLORADO COLLEGE | 11-14-4, 5-9-3-0 NCHC
• THE SERIES: Western Michigan leads the all-time series at 10-6-4 with the teams splitting the season series last year at 2-2-0. The Broncos are 10-3-4 against the Tigers since the creation of the National Collegiate Hockey Conference. This is the lone series between the two teams this regular season. 

• SCOUTING THE TIGERS: Since the holiday break, Colorado College has posted a 4-5-2 record, with six of those 11 games being decided in overtime. The Tigers have gone to over time eight times so far this season. 

CC is one of the most veteran teams in the nation and its scoring reflects that. Seniors hold the top four spots in scoring, led by Trey Bradley. Bradley has 23 points on a team-high 11 goals and 12 assists. Classmate Westin Michaud has 19 points on eight goals and 11 assists and Mason Bergh has 17 on five goals and 12 assists. Freshman defenseman Bryan Yoon has been the top point-man from the blue line with 16 points on one goal and a team-high 15 assists. Senior forward Trevor Gooch is second on the team in goals scored with 10. The team averages 3.03 goals per games, ranking 21st in the nation. 

As he has for most of his career, junior goalie Alex Leclerc has clocked the majority of the minutes in net for Colorado College. He has started all but one game this year, registering an 11-13-4 record with one shutout, a 2.74 goals against average and a .913 save percentage. The Tigers are allowing 2.86 goals per game, ranking 31st in the nation 

CC's power play ranks 29th in the nation at 18.1 percent (23-for-127). Freshman forward Grand Cruikshank leads the team with four power play goals, while Bradley, Michaud, Berg, Chris Wilke and Nick Halloran each have three. The penalty kill ranks 41st at 78.4 percent (69-for-88) but the 88 power plays allowed are tied for fifth-least in the nation. 

SHORTIES
Junior forward Hugh McGing netted his third short-handed goal of the season in Saturday's win over North Dakota. McGing's season tally currently ties him with five others for the most in the nation. It's also the most shorties by a Bronco since Griffen Molino potted three during the 2016-17 season. The last time a WMU player led the nation in short-handed goals was Mark Letestu back during the 2006-07. Letestu finished his lone year at WMU with five. 

SERIES-WINNER
WMU's win over North Dakota on Saturday handed them the season series over the Fighting Hawks, 3-1. It's just the second time since the NCHC started that the Broncos have taken the season series from UND. The other came in the 2016-17 season with Western Michigan also going 3-1. 

SNAPPING A STREAK
The Western Michigan penalty kill is currently on the wrong end of a five-game streak. The Broncos have given up a single power play goal in each of the last five games, going 21-for-26 (80.7 percent). Despite giving up the goals, WMU has actually raised its season percentage to 80.1. 

ON THE HORIZON
Western Michigan returns home to host No. 1 St. Cloud State on Friday and Saturday at 7:05 p.m. Tickets for both games are available by calling 1-888-4-WMUTIX and online at www.wmubroncos.com/tickets.