Minnesota Duluth vs. Minnesota
What: Nonconference series
When: 7 p.m. today/7:07 p.m. Saturday
Where: Friday at Mariucci Arena in Minneapolis/Saturday at Amsoil Arena
Records: The Bulldogs are 6-4 overall; the Gophers are 7-1
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Rankings: The Bulldogs are ranked No. 13 in the USCHO.com poll and debuted at No. 15 in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll; the Gophers are No. 1 in both polls.
Series: Minnesota leads 134-73-17, including a 4-3 win to open this season Oct. 10
Coaches: Scott Sandelin, in his 15th season at UMD, is 253-249-67; Don Lucia is 379-190-65 in his 16th season at Minnesota and 658-345-94 all-time
TV: FSN Plus on Friday/FSN Plus and FCS on Saturday
Radio: KZIO-FM94.1/104.3
Internet: www.94xrocks.com (audio); www.btn2go.com (video) Friday and www.nchc.tv/umd (video) Saturday
Twitter: @mattwellens
Minnesota update: The Gophers, who last visited Duluth in Oct. 2012, ride the nation’s longest home unbeaten streak of 15-0-2 going into tonight’s game, with UMD being the last team to leave Mariucci Arena with a win, 6-2, on Nov. 24, 2013. To extend the streak to 18, Minnesota will have to do it without three regulars in its lineup. Lucia said Wednesday that sophomore forward Vinni Lettieri, in addition to senior forward Travis Boyd and junior defenseman Brady Skjei will be out of the lineup due to injuries. Boyd had three goals and two assists in five games and Skjei had a goal and two assists in six games before going down. Sophomore forward Justin Kloos, one of the few Gophers not drafted by an NHL franchise, leads the team in goals with six while senior forward Kyle Rau (3-9-12) leads the team in scoring. The team-high 10 assists by sophomore Taylor Cammarata leads the nation. Junior goaltender Adam Wilcox (2.12 goals-against average, .913 save percentage), who chose Minnesota over UMD when coming out of high school, has been in goal for all eight games. He ranks second in both stats among Big Ten goaltenders. Sophomore defenseman Jake Bischoff, who played at Grand Rapids High School, has two assists in six games.
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UMD update: The Bulldogs’ 35 goals rank fourth in the nation while their 3.5 goals-per-game average is 10th. Of those 35 goals, 13 have come on the power play and five shorthanded. Sophomore center Dominic Toninato leads UMD in goals with seven, tying for fifth nationally, while sophomore wing Alex Iafallo’s eight assists ties him for seventh. NCHC defensive player of the week Andy Welinski is second on the team with four goals, which is tied for the most by a defenseman in the country. UMD defenseman have combined for seven goals in 10 games after scoring five - all by Welinski - last year. Tonight’s game is the 225th meeting between the Bulldogs and Gophers. After Saturday, UMD will have played Minnesota more than any other opponent in school history (until a Dec. 12-13 series vs. Michigan Tech). The Bulldogs play their third straight game on a 100-foot-wide Olympic-size ice sheet tonight at Mariucci Arena before returning to their 85-foot-wide NHL-size rink at Amsoil Arena. Going back to last season, UMD is 5-5 on rinks that are 95-to-100 feet wide. The Bulldogs are 4-1 away from Amsoil Arena this season (and 2-3 at Amsoil) with four of the five road games being played either at a 100-foot or 95-foot wide rink. Minnesota handed UMD its only away loss in South Bend.
Quote: “It was good for us to play on the big sheet and have some success last weekend, but this is a different team. This team doesn’t have many holes and they are a lot better offensively. They are deeper offensively and they’re pretty good defensively.” - Sandelin
