This Week
      The No. 16 Omaha Mavericks are primed for their regular season finale this weekend as they welcome the No. 3 North Dakota Fighting Hawks to Baxter Arena.

The Teams
      The 18-10-4 Mavericks return home after a sweep of the Miami RedHawks. The Mavericks took the series opener over Miami with some late-game heroics from junior forward Zach Urdahl who buried the game-winner with just 54.7 seconds left in regulation. The next night, Omaha erased a 1-0 deficit to defeat Miami 2-1. Entering the weekend, the Mavericks are unbeaten in five straight games and in nine of their last 10.
      The Fighting Hawks are coming off a home sweep of Western Michigan. They defeated the Broncos 5-3 in the series opener and followed that up by blanking WMU to lock up the Penrose Cup and the top overall seed in the NCHC. UND currently sits No. 3 in the NCAA with a 24-8-2 record.

Last Time Out
      The Mavericks and Fighting Hawks battled to a series split earlier in January up in Grand Forks. In the Friday night game, Omaha outdueled UND to a 5-4 OT victory. The Mavericks overcame three separate deficits to down the Fighting Hawks. North Dakota responded the next night and narrowly edged the Mavericks 3-1.

All-Time vs. North Dakota
      The Mavericks and Fighting Hawks are primed for their 58th and 59th meetings all time. The all-time series record is 36-19-2 in favor of North Dakota. The Fighting Hawks are 18-9-1 all-time against Omaha when the game is played in Omaha.

Media
      Both games can be heard live on AM 1290.  Coverage begins 30 minutes before game time with the First National Bank Pre-Game Show. Mike Vaillancourt has the Play-by-Play duties while Terry Leahy returns for his 27th season to provide color analysis. You can stream both games on NCHC.tv.

Up Next
      The Mavericks await their opponent for the opening round of the NCHC Playoffs. The Mavericks are still alive in the hunt for clinching home ice for the second season in a row.

What's on Tap at Bax?
      Friday night is Leap-for-a-Cure night presented by Methodist while Saturday night we honor our seniors and graduate student athletes on Senior Night! Saturday night is also a WHITE OUT!

Jack Attack
      Jack Randl recorded goals in four straight games from Nov. 25 - Dec. 8. It's the second time he's done that in a Maverick sweater and the 29th time in program history. Since the second half started back up at the Desert Hockey Classic, Randl has found the scoresheet in 10 of the 15 games he's played in. He's scored seven goals, added seven assists and is a +8 in those 15 games. The Mavericks are 2-0-0 when scoring a shorthanded goal this season. Both shorthanded tallies have come off the stick of Randl. The Graduate forward has recorded four multi-point games on the campaign. That is tied for second among all Mavericks for the season.

Close Calls
      When the game comes down to it, the Mavericks have prevailed almost all season long. Omaha is 14-1-0 in one goal games this season. They dropped their only one-goal game in the Desert Hockey Classic final to ASU. The loss also marked the program's first and only OT loss of the year.

Finishing Strong
      The Mavericks are unbeaten in their last five contests and in nine of their last 10. Over those 10 games, Omaha is 7-1-2. In their last 10 games, they have outscored their opponents 31-24 and are averaging 3.10 goals per game while their opponents are averaging 2.40 gpg.

Lighting the Lamp First
      The Mavericks have had a favorable outcome this season when scoring the first goal. The Mavericks are 13-7 on the campaign when they strike first and 4-4-4 when allowing the first goal. Historically, it's meant more in this series. The team that scores first is 26-3-1 in the last 30 games of the series.

SOS
      Last season, the Mavericks had the 16th hardest strength of schedule in college hockey among 61 teams as determined by the KRACH ratings.
      During the regular season, Omaha will play four teams that made it to the NCAA Tournament last year in Denver, St. Cloud State, Western Michigan and Ohio State. They currently have the 20th hardest schedule in college hockey. Omaha has played 19 games this season against ranked opponents. The Mavericks have wins over the No. 2, 4, 10, 11 and 14th (twice) ranked teams this season.

Leading Ludtke's
      The Ludtke brothers of Griffin and Tanner are first and fourth in Omaha scoring through 32 games. The brotherly duo has combined for 43 points on the campaign (13 goals and 30 assists). Both brothers have netted game winning goals for the Mavericks and both have come in overtime. In Tanner's last 15 games, he has points in 13 of them. Six goals and 10 assists for 16 points.
 
Pucks on Net
After 32 games, The Mavericks are 12-1-3 when they outshoot their opponents and are 6-8-1 when being outshot on the campaign. Through 17 home games, Omaha is outshooting their opponents 535-473. In 15 road games, Omaha has been outshot 354-440.

Closing out the Weekend
      The Mavericks have lost five Friday night games this year. Their response has been a 4-1-1 record so far after falling in the opening game of the weekend.
      In game 2 of regular season series, Omaha is 9-4-3 in closing out the weekend.

Facing Off
      After 32 games, Omaha is the second ranked faceoff team in the NCHC and the eighth best squad in the NCAA with a win percentage of 54.5.
      Nolan Sullivan currently ranks 3rd in the NCHC in faceoff winning percentage at 60.6 while Ty Mueller sits 10th with a 54.8 percentage. Jimmy Glynn sits just behind him in 11th with a 52.0 percentage. Sullivan and Mueller are second and third in the NCHC respectively in draws won with 346 and 343.

Seeing Multiples
      The Mavericks have had 17 players register a multi-point game this season. Michael Abgrall (1), Brock Bremer (3), Ray Fust (2), Jimmy Glynn (2), Jacob Guevin (1), Jesse Lansdell (1), Jo Lemay (2) Griffin Ludtke (3), Tanner Ludtke (6), Victor Mancini (1), Matt Miller (1), Ty Mueller (4), Kirby Proctor (2), Jack Randl (4), Tyler Rollwagen (1), Nolan Sullivan (1) and Zach Urdahl (3) have all registered multi-point games.

The Cat's Meow
      Sophomore netminder Simon Latkoczy continues to climb the Omaha record books. His 15 campaign wins is tied for eighth most for a single season. He sits alone in seventh all-time with 26 career wins and T-5 for his four career shutouts. The Trencin, Slovakia native is 10th all-time in minutes played and saves with 1192. At 15-9-3, Latkoczy has the fourth most victories among NCHC netminders. His 2.73 goals against average ranks him fifth while his .906 save percentage is tied for fourth best in the conference.
 
The Opponent
      The No. 3 North Dakota Fighting Hawks raised their sixth Penrose Cup last weekend with their sweep over Western Michigan on home ice. They enter this weekend on a four-game winning streak and have won eight of their last 10.

Special Teams
      UND has the second ranked power play in the NCHC and eighth ranked in the NCAA at 25.2 percent. They have the fourth ranked penalty kill in the NCHC, operating at 81.5 percent.
 
Players To Watch
      Sophomore forward Jackson Blake leads the NCHC with 50 points. That ranks him third in the NCAA. In 34 games played, Blake has netted 19 goals and tallied 31 helpers. His 19 goals is tied for fourth most in the conference. His five game winning goals is second best in the NCHC and fifth best in college hockey.
      Sophomore forward Owen McLaughlin is second on the team in points with 12 goals and 22 assists in 33 games. Four of his 12 goals have come on the power play.
      Senior goalie Ludvig Persson has started 31 games this season. His 21 wins ranks him first among all NCHC goaltenders and fourth in the NCAA. His 2.44 goals against average is third best in the NCHC while his .908 save percentage puts him second.