Men's Ice Hockey | January 09, 2020

THIS WEEK
Western Michigan resumes National Collegiate Hockey Conference play, traveling to No. 9 Minnesota-Duluth for a pair of games on Friday and Saturday at 8:07 p.m. Friday's game will be on both NCHC.tv and Fox Sports North, with NCHC.tv having the lone stream on Saturday. Both games will be on the Bronco Radio Network, with Saturday's broadcast being on WKZO 590 AM/106.9 FM (wkzo.com) due to a conflict with WMU men's basketball. 

LAST WEEKEND
The Broncos battled No. 15 Notre Dame in a home-and-home series, tying the first game 1-1 and falling in the second 4-1. 

The series opened in South Bend with a goaltending battle between WMU's Brandon Bussi and Notre Dame's Cale Morris. Bussi made 32 saves, while Morris made 42 on the night. Both goals came in the second period, with Cam Morrison giving the Fighting Irish a 1-0 lead at 9:49. Luke Bafia tied it up just 43 seconds later at 10:42 on his first goal of the season, coming from the right circle on a pass from behind the net by Rhett Kingston. 

The scoreline appeared to be mimicking Friday's game on Sunday after the teams battled to a scoreless tie after the first period. Notre Dame broke the game open in the second period, scoring all four of its goals. 

Matt Hellickson gave UND a 1-0 lead at 10:41 before Alex Steeves scored the first of his two goals, this one on the power play a 13:15. Morrison got his second of the weekend to push the lead to 3-0 at 16:59 before Steeve's tallied his second of the night at 18:28. Jason Polin cut the lead to 4-1 with a power play goal late in the third period. 

MINNESOTA DULUTH BULLDOGS | 11-6-1, 6-1-1-0 NCHC
• THE SERIES: Minnesota Duluth leads the all-time series at 18-9-2 after the Broncos won and tied against the Bulldogs in the lone series last season in Kalamazoo. All nine of WMU's wins have come since the creation of the National Collegiate Hockey Conference. Hugh McGing leads all Broncos with seven points on three goals and four assists against UMD. Lawton Courtnall has four points in 12 career games on two goals and two assists, while Cam Lee, Wade Allison and Luke Bafia each have three points. 

• SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS: The reigning back-to-back National Champions currently sit in second place in the NCHC with 19 points, just four behind leaders North Dakota and seven in front of third-place Denver. UMD's lone conference loss came at Miami back in November. Minnesota-Duluth heads into the weekend on a four-game winning streak and are 8-2 in its last 10 games. 

Junior defenseman Scott Perunovich leads the team in scoring with 23 points on two goals and 21 assists. Sophomore forward Noah Cates is second on the team with 18 points on a team-high 10 goals and eight assists. Sophomore forwards Cole Koepke and Jackson Cates each have 16 points. UMD averages 3.11 goals per game, tying for 16th-best in the nation. That output increases to 3.88 per game in conference play. 

Hunter Shepard has started every single game and is the lone goalie to play for Minnesota Duluth this season. He boasts a 11-6-1 record, a 2.29 goals against average with two shutouts and a .906 save percentage. UMD's scoring defense ranks 19th in the nation at 2.39 goals allowed per game. 

The Bulldog power play ranks fourth in the nation at 28.4 percent (21-for-74). Perunovich leads all UMD players with 16 of his 23 points coming on the power play, including both of his goals. Jackson Cates has five power play tallies to lead the team, while Kobe Roth sits just behind him with four. Minnesota Duluth's penalty kill sits at 78.9 percent (56-for-71) and ranks 42nd in the nation. The Bulldogs are the 13th-most penalized team in the nation in terms of minutes per game, averaging 13.4 per game in the box. 

FULL STRENGTH, FINALLY
Friday's game against Minnesota Duluth is the first time this season that the Broncos will have everyone on the roster available to play. WMU has had several players out for extensive periods of time due to injury Cam Lee (10), Wade Allison (9), Ronnie Attard (6), Josh Passolt (4), Drew Worrad (4), Mattias Samuelsson (4), Ethen Frank (1) and Hugh McGing (1). WMU was close against Notre Dame but had Samuelsson missing due to duties with Team USA at the World Junior Championships. 

QUICK HITS
• ROAD WARRIORS: WMU is 4-3-3 away from Lawson Ice Arena this season, including 1-1 in NCHC play. The Broncos average 3.00 goals per game, while holding opponents to 2.70. 

• SECOND GAME STRUGGLES: WMU is 2-5-2 during the second game of a weekend series so far this season and has lost its last four. 

• MILESTONE WATCH: Senior forward Hugh McGing sits just five points away from the century mark. When the St. Louis Blues' draft pick reaches the milestone, he will be the 60th player in program history to do so and the fourth under head coach Andy Murray, joining Chase Balisy, Shane Berschbach and Colt Conrad. 

SEASON NOTES
• LEAGUE LEADERS
Western Michigan returns the most goals and total points in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference. The Broncos return 112 goals, 22 more than Minnesota-Duluth's 90. Combined, WMU also returns 271 total points, once again just head of the Bulldogs, who return 265. 

Western Michigan did lose its leading point scorer in Colt Conrad, who wrapped up his career with a 38 points season on 11 goals and 27 assists. From there, WMU returns its next six top scorers, including senior captain Hugh McGing and junior forward Josh Passolt, who tied for the team lead with 16 goals each. The Broncos also return double-digit goal scorers in junior forward Austin Rueschhoff (13) and junior forward Ethen Frank (15). Senior defenseman Cam Lee is the top returning assist man after dishing out a career-high 19 last season. 

• SUPER SENIORS
WMU has nine seniors this season, the most ever by an Andy Murray coached team and the most in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference. The class is tied for fifth nationally with Michigan, Michigan State, Dartmouth and Yale. Boston College leads the nation with 11 seniors, followed by Penn State, American International and Alaska Fairbanks each with 10. 

• 47 & 46
Western Michigan begins its 47th season of college hockey, with senior forward Hugh McGing being named the 46th captain in program history. McGing will be assisted by senior defenseman Luke Bafia, senior forward Wade Allison, junior forward Josh Passolt and sophomore defenseman Mattias Samuelsson.