THIS WEEK
Western Michigan begins a three-week road stint, heading to No. 7 Minnesota-Duluth for a pair of games this Friday and Saturday at 8:07 p.m. Both games can be streamed live on NCHC.tv and heard live on the Bronco Media Network.
 
WATCH PARTY
WMU Athletics will be hosting a Watch Party for Friday night's game at Lawson Ice Arena. The party will feature an open skate that runs from 7:30 p.m. to the end of the second period. Admission is free and skate rental is $2 for those that need it. There will also be concessions available, along with on-ice promotions and giveaways. Fans are asked to park in Lot 79 and enter through the south entrance of Lawson Ice Arena.
 
LAST WEEK
For just the second time in program history, Western Michigan swept North Dakota with a 4-1 win on Friday and a 2-0 shutout on Saturday.
 
On Friday the Broncos picked up a pair of goals from Ronnie Attard and tallies from Hugh Larking and Josh Passolt. Brandon Bussi made 34 stops in net, while UND was held scoreless on three power plays. Attard gave WMU the lead with a power play goal at 15:17. The goal was set up by freshman forward Max Sasson, one of his two assists on the night. Judd Caufield tied it up with a breakaway goal with 22.4 seconds left in the first period, but Larkin's first goal of the year gave WMU the lead back at 2:54 in the second period. Attard tallied again on the power pay late in the third and Passolt followed suit just over a minute later at 15:33 to seal the win.
 
On Saturday Max Sasson netted a short-handed goal with 46.1 seconds left to play in the first period to give WMU a 1-0 lead. The Broncos and Bussi then shutdown North Dakota before Michael Joyaux scored an empty-net goal with 1:11 to play to push the lead to 2-0. Bussi ended the night with 24 saves to earn his third shutout of the season.
 
BAGEL COUNTER
With Saturday's win over No. 10 North Dakota, Western Michigan has now shutout its opponent three times this season. Brandon Bussi has the same amount of shutouts though the first 21 games than the 2020-21, 2019-20 and the 2018-19 teams combined. The last time that the Broncos reached three shutouts in a season was the 2016-17 campaign with a then freshman netminder Ben Blacker earning all three. The last team to reach four shutouts in a season was the 2012-13 team and sophomore goalie Frank Slubowski, who finished just one shy of the tying the single-season record.
 
MAX ASSASSON
WMU freshman center Max Sasson has been on a tear over the past three games, tallying five points on two goals and three assists. Against Michigan State he netted the first goal of the game and then set up the game-winning goal in the 3-1 victory over the Spartans. Against North Dakota he set up Western Michigan's first goal of the game, a no-look drop pass to Ronnie Attard. He then set up the fourth goal of the game to seal the win. It was his first career multi-assist game. In Saturday's win he netted the game-winning goal with his first career short-handed tally. The effort against the Fighting Hawks earned him the Bauer NCHC Rookie of the Week award.
 
NO. 7 MINNESOTA DULUTH BULLDOGS (13-9-2, 6-4-2, 4^th NCHC)
- THE SERIES: After a split in Kalamazoo in November, Minnesota-Duluth leads the all-time series at 24-13-3. The Broncos have not won at Minnesota-Duluth since Nov. 11, 2017, a 5-1 victory to close out a weekend series. Josh Passolt, Ethen Frank and Drew Worrad each have 10 career points against UMD. Frank has seven goals and three assists, Passolt has six goals and four assists and Worrad has a goal and nine assists. Brandon Bussi has a 2-4-0 record with a 3.62 goals against average and a .908 save percentage against the Bulldogs.
 
- SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS, AGAIN: Minnesota-Duluth is 2-1-1 in its last four games, with a road split at Omaha last weekend. The Bulldogs have yet to sweep in NCHC play this season with four splits and two win plus a tie series.
 
Minnesota-Duluth averages 2.67 goals per game with sophomore forward Blake Biondi leading the team in total points with 18 and goals with 10. Beijing bound Noah Cates is tied for second on the team in points with 17 on seven goals and 10 assists. Cates will join up with the United States Men's Hockey Olympic Team after the series. Junior forward Quinn Olson also has 17 points with five goals and a team-high 12 assists. Freshman defenseman Owen Gattalin is the top point producer from the blue line with 12 points on two goals and 10 assists. Gattalin also leads the team in plus/minus at +16.
 
Defensively UMD has let in just 2.21 goals per game, ranking 11th in the nation. Junior netminder Ryan Fanti is sixth in the nation in goals against average at 1.69 and has four shutouts on the season to go with a .929 save percentage and a 12-6-2 record.
 
The Bulldogs have struggled on the power play, converting just 15.7 percent (13-for-83) chances. Cates leads the team with four power play goals, while Casey Gilling and Koby Bender each have two. The penalty kill sits at 84.4 percent (76-for-90).
 
ON THE HORIZON
WMU is back on the road next weekend, battling Colorado College in a make-up series from the trip that was postponed back in January.