This Week
    The Omaha Mavericks and NCHC foe Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs are set to meet for the final two times of the regular season this weekend in a home series at Baxter Arena.

The Teams
    The Mavericks are sitting at 9-9-2 (4-5-2 NCHC) after their first series of the 2nd half of the regular season. Idle last weekend, the Mavericks are coming off a series split with St. Lawrence. They currently sit in 4th place in the NCHC with 15 points.
    Minnesota Duluth enters this weekend's series with a 9-10-1 (4-6-0 NCHC) record. The Bulldogs skated to a 2-1 exhibition victory over St. Thomas on New Years Eve and split last weekend's home-and-home series against Bemidji State. UMD sits T-5th in the NCHC with 13 points.

Last Time Out
    The Mavericks and Bulldogs split their first series back in November on the shores of Lake Superior. However, Omaha came away with 4 out of 6 NCHC points with a late Matt Miller goal helping force OT in Saturday's bout.

All-Time vs. Minnesota Duluth
    The Mavericks and Bulldogs are primed to meet for their 46th and 47th meetings this weekend. The all-time series is currently 28-13-4 in favor of UMD. When the game is played in Omaha, the Bulldogs hold a slight series lead at 12-9-0.

Jack Attack
    Senior forward Jack Randl is currently tied for third in NCAA goals with 15. Randl has found the back of the net at least once in every series this season except against UMD and SLU. Last series against SLU is the first time this season he was held scoreless. He is the first player in program history to score 8 goals in the first 6 games of a season. The previous record of 7 was held by Austin Ortega (15-16) and Brandon Scero (06-07). 

Jack Attack II
    Randl is the 19th player in Omaha Hockey history to score a goal in four consecutive games. It's the 27th time it has happened in program history. Randl is the third player in school history to score a goal in the first four games of the season. The only other players to score goals in the first four games of the season are Stanley Cup winner Jake Guentzel (2014-15) and Matt Ambroz (2010-11). 

Consistency Is Key
    Sophomore forward Ty Mueller has recorded points in 16 of the Mavericks 20 games and is currently 2nd on the team in points with 19. Mueller has recorded at least one point in 12 of the Mavericks last 14 games. 

Mighty Miller
    Junior forward Matt Miller had a four-game goal streak snapped after the Friday night battle against Western Michigan. Miller becomes the 20th player in program history to score goals in four straight games. He joins Jack Randl as the only other Maverick to accomplish that feat this season. 

Mighty Miller II
    Since returning from missing three games due to injury, Miller has recorded points in seven of the 10 games he's played in. He had a five game point streak  snapped in the series finale win over WMU.

Among The National Leaders 
    The Mavericks 28.2 power play percent is good for 3rd in the country currently. That mark is 2nd in the NCHC, just shy of North Dakota's 29.9 percent.

Among The Conference Leaders 
    Nolan Sullivan (.569) Jake Pivonka (.554), sit 5th and 7th respectively in NCHC faceoff win%. Omaha ranks 2nd overall in the NCHC in faceoff winning percentage at .529 percent.

Seeing Multiples
    The Mavericks have had 11 players register multi-point games this season. 1- Lemay, Sullivan. 2 - Pennington, Pivonka, Tychonick. 3 - Berg, Guevin, Mueller, Weiss. 4 - Miller. 7 - Randl.

The Middle Frame
    The Mavericks are outscoring their opponents 31-21 in the 2nd period this season. They have 51 more shots than their opponents, outshooting them 229-178 in the second 20 minutes. The Mavericks are 6-2-0 when leading after 40 minutes of hockey.

Young Guns
    The freshmen defensive pair of Jo Lemay and Jacob Guevin have been a mainstay for the Mavericks on the blueline. The pair has played in 15 games on the blueline together and have registered 2 goals, 13 assists for 15 points.

Jonny Rockets
    Graduate defenseman Jonny Tychonick is having the best season of his collegiate career. The Calgary, Alberta native ranks third on the team in points (17) and currently leads all Maverick blueliners in goals (5), assists (12) and points. His previous career high in points was 11, which he set in his sophomore season at North Dakota.

Jonny Rockets II
    Tychonick's 17 points is currently tied for 3rd among NCHC blueliners with Western Michigan's Carter Berger. Tychonick is averaging a point per game in his last 10 games played (3-7=10) and is a +2. He's been held off the scoresheet only three times in the last 10 games.

On Their Best Behavior
    In 20 games, the Mavericks have taken 75 penalties, 3.75 per game. That is the least amount of penalties taken among NCHC teams.

Media
    Friday night's game will be nationally televised on CBS Sports Network. Both games can be heard live on AM 1290.  Casey Roehl will have the play-by-play; Terry Leahy provides analysis.  Saturday's game can be streamed on NCHC.tv.

Up Next
    The Mavericks will wrap up their 6-game homestand next weekend when the Miami RedHawks come to town for the first of four meetings with each other this regular season.

The Opponent
    Currently tied for 5th in the NCHC with 13 points, the Bulldogs are the NCHC's top penalized team, averaging 4.90 a game.

Special Teams
    The Bulldog power play is clicking at 25.0 percent which is good for 3rd best in the NCHC and 10th in the NCAA. On the opposite, UMD owns the 4th best penalty kill in the conference at 79.0 percent. 

Lighting The Lamp
    Unlike years past, the Bulldogs have struggled to find the back of the net this season. UMD is averaging just 2.40 goals per game this season which ranks 8th overall in the NCHC.
They're giving up less than three goals (2.80) a game so far this season.

Players To Watch
    Freshman forward Ben Steeves is having quite the rookie campaign. In 18 games, he's got 12 goals and three assists. He leads the Bulldogs in points, goals and power play goals (6, 2nd in NCHC).
    Dominic James played in 39 games last year for the Bulldogs. He has already matched his last year's total of six goals in just 18 games this season. He is only five points from tying his point total from last season of 18. James' .584 faceoff winning percentage is the 3rd highest mark in the NCHC.

On The Road
     UMD is 2-4-1 on the road this season (2-2, NCHC). They are being outscored 24-13 and 13-5 in the opening 20 minutes. They're averaging 1.86 goals per game on the road while allowing an average of 3.43 to opponents. Of the 24 road goals given up, 10 of them have been power play goals.