THIS WEEK
No. 16/14 Western Michigan heads out on the road for the final time of the regular season, traveling to No. 3/1 North Dakota on Friday and Saturday. Friday's puck drop is scheduled for 8:37 p.m. and Saturday's at 8:07 p.m. Both games can be watched live on NCHC.tv and heard live on the Bronco Radio Network.
 
LAST WEEK
The Broncos hosted No. 4 Minnesota-Duluth, splitting with the Bulldogs after winning 5-3 and falling 2-1.
 
In the series opener, UMD took an early 1-0 lead on a goal by Scott Perunovich at 7:27 in the first period. Dawson DiPietro tied it up on the power play at 18:10 to send the game into the first intermission tied up at 1-1. WMU took its first lead of the night on a goal at 2:52 in the second period on a goal by Ethern Frank. The Bulldogs scored on two straight power plays to take a 3-2 lead, with Cole Koepke scoring at 8:28 and Justin Richards at 11:05. Western Michigan rattled off three straight goals in the span of 1:49 to flip the game in its favor. The first came thanks to Austin Rueschhoff at 7:22 in the third period to tie the game up at 3-3. Hugh McGing netted the game-winner at 7:51 on a feed from Cam Lee. Jason Polin put the game out of reach with his fifth goal of the season, scoring at 9:11 to push the lead to 5-3.
 
UMD scored just 35 seconds into Saturday's game on a short-handed goal by Richards to take a 1-0 lead. Rueschhoff tied the game up at 14:02 in the first period on his 10th goal of the season. The game remained tied until the third period when a Bronco defenseman accidentally batted a rebound into his own net to give the Bulldogs a 2-1 lead. WMU pulled Brandon Bussi for the extra attacker in the final minutes but the comeback bid fell short. Western Michigan was held to just 21 shots on goal on the night.
 
THE NORTH DAKOTA FIGHITNG HAWKS || 23-4-4, 14-3-3-2 NCHC
• THE SERIES: North Dakota leads the all-time series at 21-7-0, including a sweep of Western Michigan back in early December. Wade Allison and Hugh McGing lead all Broncos in scoring against the Fighting Hawks with eight points each. Allison has four goals and four assists in nine career games, while McGing has two goals and six assists. Junior forward Josh Passolt has five points on four goals and one assist in eight games.
 
• THE LAST TIME AROUND: WMU was swept by UND back on Dec. 6-7 with a 1-0 loss in overtime and falling 8-2 in the second game.
 
It was a battle of goalies in the series opener. The Fighting Hawks' Adam Scheel outdueled Brandon Bussi by making 41 saves to Bussi's 33. Gavin Hain scored with 1:20 left in regulation overtime to win the game for UND. It was the second time WMU had been shutout this season.
 
The following night, North Dakota jumped out to a 4-0 lead before Cole Gallant scored 55 seconds into the third period to cut the lead to 4-1. Shane Pinto scored just 19 seconds later to push the lead back to four goals. Austin Rueschhoff scored on the power play at 10:14 to get the Broncos within three but UND rattled off three straight goals in the final four minutes.

• SCOUTING THE FIGHTING HAWKS, AGAIN: North Dakota sits alone at the top of the National Collegiate Hockey Conference standings with a five-point lead over Minnesota-Duluth and a 12-point gap ahead of third-place Western Michigan. UND's final homestand of the regular season against the Broncos comes after tying and losing on the road to St. Cloud State. The Fighting Hawks are 16-1-0 at home this season.
 
UND is tied for the second-best offense in the nation, averaging 4.0 goals per game this season. The production is led by Hobey Baker hopeful junior forward Jordan Kawaguchi. Kawaguchi leads the team with 45 points on 15 goals and 30 assists. His assist total leads the team and his goal total is tied with freshman Shane Pinto for the team lead. Pinto also has 11 assists for 26 points. Junior forward Collin Adams is second on the team with 27 points on 11 goals and 16 assists. Graduate transfer Westin Michaud has 26 points on 14 goals and 12 assists, while forwards Jasper Weatherby and Cole Smith each have 10 goals on the season. Junior Matt Kiersted is the top point man from the blue line with 26 points on five goals and 21 assists. Sophomore and Ottawa Senators' draft pick Jacob Bernard-Docker has 21 points on five goals and 16 assists from the blue line.

Defensively the Fighting Hawks rank sixth in the nation in scoring defense, allowing 2.00 goals per game. While sophomore Adam Scheel has seen the bulk of the action between the pipes for UND, junior Peter Thome has started each of the last seven games, going 5-1-1. On the season Thome has a 6-1-2 record with a 1.52 goals against average, a .930 save percentage and two shutouts. Scheel has started in 23 games with a 17-3-2 record, a 2.08 goals against average, a .903 save percentage and seven shutouts.
 
North Dakota's power play ranks 16th in the nation a 22 percent (26-for-118). Pinto leads the team with five power play goals, while Weatherby is right behind him with four. Michaud and Bernard-Docker also have two. UND's penalty kill ranks sixth in the nation at 86.9 percent (93-for-107).
 
RED-HOT RUESCHHOFF
Junior forward Austin Rueschhoff has been a big part of Western Michigan's success in the second half of the season. Rueschhoff is currently on a career-long eight-game point streak, racking up 13 points on five goals and eight assists during the run. He has tallied multiple points in four of the eight games and has recorded assists in seven of the eight. The Wentzville, Mo., native had a career-high three points on a goal and two assists in the 5-3 win over No. 4 Minnesota-Duluth last Friday. .
 
OBLIGATORY LEAP DAY GAME NOTE
Western Michigan has played just three games in its history on February 29. The Broncos are 1-1-1 all-time on Leap Day heading into Saturday's showdown with North Dakota. The last time WMU played on Feb. 29 was in 2008, a 3-0 win against Notre Dame. The Broncos battled Miami to a 3-3 tie in 1992 and the program's first Leap Day game came in 1980, a 5-4 loss to Northern Michigan.
 
HE'S GOT CLASS
Senior forward Hugh McGing has been named one of 10 finalists for the Senior CLASS Award.
 
An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School ®, the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities. To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as a NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition
 
Fans can vote for McGing at www.seniorclassaward.com
 
VOTE HUGH AND PAUL FOR HOBEY
Western Michigan senior captain Hugh McGing and Paul Washe have been nominated for the Hobey Baker Award. Fans can head to www.HobeyBaker.com/vote to vote for WMU's pair. McGing leads the Broncos with 30 points on nine goals and 21 assists, while Washe has a career-high 19 points on 10 goals and nine assists.  
 
When voting for the Hobey Baker Award, fans are asked to make sure to keep in mind the qualities that a nominee must display: Exhibit strength and character, both on and off the ice; Contribute to the integrity of the team; Display outstanding skills in all phases of the game; Show scholastic achievement and sportsmanship.
 
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.