Men's Ice Hockey | February 06, 2020

THIS WEEK
Western Michigan takes a quick break from National Collegiate Hockey Conference action to wrap up its non-conference schedule, hosting Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) on Friday and Saturday. Both games will be streamed live on NCHC.tv and covered by the Bronco Radio Network. 

LAST WEEK
The Broncos went on the road and earned a split at Omaha, beating the Mavericks 5-2 on Friday before falling 4-2 on Saturday. The split helped the Broncos maintain its gap in the top-half of the NCHC standings.  WMU is currently tied with Denver for third place in the conference standings, with a seven-point lead over Omaha and St. Cloud State for the final home-ice spot for the NCHC Playoffs.

Western Michigan opened the series extending its win streak to five games. The Broncos jumped on the Mavericks early with Kale Bennett scoring just 1:36 into the first period to take a 1-0 lead. Wade Allison scored his first of two goals on the night to push the lead to 2-0 at 12:39 in the first. Cole Gallant scored his second goal of the year with 1:45 remaining in the second period to put Western Michigan up 3-0 before Kevin Conley scored on the power play at 5:58 in the third period to cut the lead to 3-1. Allison responded with a goal just 40 seconds later, also on the power play, to put WMU back up by three. UNO's Nolan Sullivan brought the lead back down to two with another power play goal before Jason Polin finished off the game with an empty-net goal in the final minute. 

WMU jumped out to a very early lead on Saturday, with sophomore forward Rhett Kingston just 46 seconds into the game. Sullivan scored at 1:55 left in the first period to tie it up at 1-1. Taylor Ward scored his first of three goals on the night at 18:08 in the second period to push UNO ahead, 2-1. Austin Rueschhoff tied it up at 2-2 with a power play goal at 5:53 in the third period, but Ward scored again at 15:25 for the game-winner. He earned his hat trick with an empty-net goal with 48 seconds remaining. 

RPI ENGINEERS | 12-12-2, 8-7-1 ECAC
•THE SERIES: RPI leads the all-time series at 5-2-0. The last meeting between the two teams came back on Nov. 27. 2015 at Notre Dame's Shillelagh Tournament, with the Engineers beating the Broncos 4-1. Rensselaer's last trip to Lawson Ice Arena came back on Jan. 24, 1998. WMU is 1-2-0 against RPI at home. 

• SCOUTING THE ENGINEERS: Rensselaer is playing its best hockey of the season and is 6-3-1 in its last 10 games, allowing just 1.6 goals per game during the run. Last weekend the Engineers beat Dartmouth and Vermont by a combined score of 8-1, with a 7-1 win over the Big Green and a 1-0 win over the Catamounts.

RPI ranks tied for 40th in the nation in scoring offense, averaging 2.54 goals per game. The Engineers have had a scoring-by-committee approach on the season. No player has more than 10 goals on the season but nine have scored at least four. Senior forward Patrick Polino leads the team with eight goals. Senior forward Chase Zieky leads the team in points with 18 on seven goals and 11 assists. Senior forward Mike Gornall is tied with Zieky for the top mark in assists with 11 to go with his five goals on the season. Senior defenseman Will Reilly is the team's top goal threat from the blue line. The Pittsburgh Penguins' draft pick has seven on the season and his 10 assists puts him second on the team in points with 17. Freshman Simon Kjellberg has potted four goals from the blue line this season and has 10 points total. 

The Broncos will have their hands full trying to score on sophomore Owen Savory. Savory was recently named the ECAC Goalie of the Month for January and has helped the RPI defense to allow just 2.54 goals per game, 23rd fewest in the nation. Savory has started in 17 games and has posted an 8-7-2 record with a 2.20 goals against average and a .925 save percentage. Junior Linden Marshall has started in six games on the season with a 3-3-0 record, a 2.91 goals against average and a .903 save percentage. 

RPI's power play comes in at 15.2 percent (14-for-92), falling 47th in the nation. Reilly leads the team with three power play goals, while Polino and senior forward Todd Burgess each have two. The penalty kill ranks ninth in the nation at 86.4 percent (76-for-88) and the Engineers are the second-least penalized team in the nation, averaging just 7.6 minutes in the box per game. 

RETURNING TO OLD FORM
Senior forward Wade Allison is returning to the Wade of old so far in 2020. The Philadelphia Flyers' draft pick is currently on a six-game point streak with six goals and five assists during the stretch. Allison now has 15 points on the season and had just four prior to his streak. Most of his damage has been done in NCHC play this season. Allison has played in nine conference games and has racked up 12 points on six goals and six assists, averaging 1.33 points per game. 

Also returning to form is senior forward Hugh McGing. McGing has also been on a tear in 2020, with 11 points in the month of January after a five-game point streak that saw him rack up three goals and six assists before it was snapped in Saturday's loss at Omaha. McGing leads the team in points with 23 on five goals and 18 assists and is on pace to break 30 points for the third consecutive season. 

MORE SHOTS
Western Michigan reached at least 40 shots on goal for the 10th time this season in Friday's win at Omaha. The Broncos have been averaging 35.50 shots per game so far this season and currently rank second in the nation behind Penn State (38.14) and just ahead of Denver (35.11). This is the most shots on goal averaged by an Andy Murray coached team at WMU. Junior forward Josh Passolt leads the team with 3.27 shots on goal per game, followed by Dawson DiPietro at 3.12. 

ODDS AND ENDS
• WMU has six of its last 10 games at home this season, including this weekend's series against RPI. The Broncos are 5-3-0 at Lawson Ice Arena this season. 

• Junior forward Paul Washe will be back in the lineup after serving a two-game suspension during the Omaha series. Those are the only two games that Washe has missed this season and the Clarkson, Mich., native leads the team with nine goals and has a career-high 18 points so far this season. Washe is also the top face-off win percentage in the nation at 64.8 percent. 

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 23 points on five goals and 18 assists, while Washe has a career-high 18 points on a team-best nine 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.