Preview: Miami at No. 2 UND

Nov. 17—GRAND FORKS — Miami has finished in the bottom five nationally in shots allowed per game in each of the last three seasons.

Entering this weekend's matchup against UND in Ralph Engelstad Arena, the RedHawks are not in the bottom 20.

Miami coach Chris Bergeron said the coaching staff tweaked Miami's neutral zone and defensive zone coverage this season to try to break out pucks easier and spend less time defending.

"We feel we're more confident on the back end, more calm, more mature, just taking care of the puck around our net and taking care of the (opposing) players," defenseman Hampus Rydqvist said. "We still want to lower that shot amount down more. But it's been good so far."

Miami is allowing 31.6 shots on goal per game.

The RedHawks haven't been below 32 since 2017-18.

"This league challenges us with the forwards we play against," Bergeron said.

UND will see a lot of center John Waldron and winger Matthew Barbolini this weekend.

They rank Nos. 1 and 2 in ice time among forwards in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference. Waldron is averaging 21:55 per game. Barbolini is averaging 21:41.

Bergeron said they're trying to monitor energy levels to make sure the players can handle the workload, which has

increased due to forward injuries.

"The more Matt Barbolini is out there, the better for us," Bergeron said. "He's a good player — offensively and in a checking role. Johnny is still a young guy, growing physically. We're monitoring that. That's what we've tried to do. We've tried to be fair to the boys, fair to the team. The way we've done it is communication with them."

Goalie Ludvig Persson,

who was the recipient of all those shots allowed the last three years at Miami,

has had a different experience at UND.

The Fighting Hawks rank No. 10 nationally in fewest shots on goal allowed.

Persson credited his defensemen.

"They're blocking shots like I've never seen before," Persson said. "I've got to give them a lot of credit for that, but also, for how they stick to our structure and follow what we talk about. That's a huge part. It's been really good so far."

UND has four of the top six shot-blockers in the NCHC — Garrett Pyke (18), Abram Wiebe (18), Bennett Zmolek (17) and Jake Livanavage (16).

"It shows how much they care and what kind of group of guys we have here — sacrificing your body to win games," Persson said.

UND Stat Miami

3.2 (20th) Off 2.7 (38th)

2.0 (5th) Def 3.3 (42nd)

16.7 (42nd) PP 15.8 (45th)

84.4 (18th) PK 82.1 (26th)

54.2 (9th) FO 43.4 (61st)

.922 (7th) SP .896 (39th)

National rank in parenthesis. Categories are offense (goals per game), defense (goals against per game), power play percentage, penalty kill percentage, faceoff percentage and team save percentage.

UND: F Jake Schmaltz (upper body) out

Miami: F Frankie Carogioiello out, F Ryan Sullivan out, F Albin Nilsson out, F Raimonds Vitolins questionable, G Bruno Bruveris out

The 6-foot-2, 205-pound forward has been one of Miami's top offensive weapons since he debuted in the NCHC Pod in December 2020. Barbolini led Miami in scoring by double digits last season, putting up 25 points in 34 games. This season, he's off to a fast start, tallying four goals and 12 points in 10 games. He'll be on the ice a lot, too. He's averaging 21:41 of ice time per game, which ranks No. 2 among NCHC forwards — only behind teammate John Waldron's 21:55.

The freshman forward from Winnipeg is off to a good start to his college career, scoring five goals in UND's first 10 games. It could be a lot more if not for the pesky crossbar; he's hit it five times. Perron was moved to UND's first power-play unit along with Jake Livanavage, Jackson Blake, Riese Gaber and Cameron Berg last Saturday. If UND keeps that unit together, he could be due for a big game.

UND forward Riese Gaber made his college debut against Miami in the NCHC Pod in Omaha. He scored in that game and hasn't stopped since. He's averaging more than a goal per game against Miami in his college career (10 goals in nine games). The last time he played the RedHawks, he had a hat trick.

UND has had very few lapses this season. There were a couple of poor second periods against Minnesota and Minnesota State. But as a whole, they've been rather consistent early this season. It will take consistency to get a pair of wins this weekend. That was something UND was unable to manage a year ago against Miami in Grand Forks, going behind 3-0 in the series finale and eventually losing on a Jack Clement goal. But this team has been different.

Friday: UND 4, Miami 1

Saturday: UND 3, Miami 2

Scoring

9 Jackson Blake (CAR), so, f, 6-5—11

22 Owen McLaughlin (PHI), so, f, 2-8—10

17 Riese Gaber, sr, f, 5-4—9

7 Garrett Pyke, 5th, d, 0-8—8

14 Cameron Berg (NYI), jr, f, 2-5—7

28 Hunter Johannes, 5th, f, 5-1—6

18 Jayden Perron (CAR), fr, f, 5-0—5

6 Logan Britt, 5th, d, 2-3—5

27 Louis Jamernik V, sr, f, 2-3—5

8 Jake Schmaltz (BOS), jr, f, 0-4—4

21 Ben Strinden (NSH), so, f, 2-1—3

4 Jake Livanavage, fr, d, 1-2—3

26 Dylan James (DET), so, f, 0-3—3

29 Jackson Kunz (VAN), jr, f, 0-2—2

2 Bennett Zmolek, so, d, 0-2—2

25 Abram Wiebe (VGK), fr, d, 0-1—1

20 Keaton Pehrson, 5th, d, 0-1—1

11 Griffin Ness, sr, f, 0-1—1

13 Carson Albrecht, sr, f, 0-0—0

15 Nate Benoit (MIN), fr, d, 0-0—0

24 Michael Emerson (CAR), fr, f, 0-0—0

10 Tanner Komzak, fr, d, 0-0—0

5 Dane Montgomery, so, f-d, 0-0—0

32 Ludvig Persson, sr, g, 0-0—0

30 Hobie Hedquist, fr, g, dnp

1 Kaleb Johnson, so, g, dnp

Goaltending

32 Ludvig Persson, sr, 7-2-1, 1.90, .925

30 Hobie Hedquist, fr, dnp

1 Kaleb Johnson, so, dnp

Scoring

29 Matthew Barbolini, sr, f, 4-8—12

17 John Waldron, so, f, 3-6—9

8 P.J. Fletcher, sr, f, 3-4—7

11 William Hallen, so, f, 2-4—6

6 Raimonds Vitolins, jr, f, 3-3—6

3 Axel Kumlin, so, f, 1-4—5

25 Artur Turansky, so, f, 2-3—5

4 Michael Feenstra, so, d, 0-4—4

13 Max Dukovac, so, f, 2-2—4

2 Spencer Cox, jr, d, 0-4—4

16 Hampus Rydqvist, sr, d, 0-3—3

22 Ryan Sullivan, sr, f, 1-2—3

18 Frankie Carogioiello, so, f, 2-0—2

27 Dylan Moulton, sr, d, 1-0—1

5 Jack Clement, 5th, d, 1-0—1

14 Thomas Daskas, sr, f, 1-0—1

7 Robby Drazner, sr, d, 1-0—1

26 Blake Messenberg, so, f, 0-1—1

23 Brayden Morrison, jr, f, 0-1—1

10 Zane Demsey, so, d, 0-1—1

34 Teddy Lagerback, so, f, 0-1—1

19 Rihards Simanovics, fr, d, 0-0—0

31 Logan Neaton (WPG), 5th, g, 0-0—0

30 Bruno Bruveris, fr, g, 0-0—0

28 Tanyon Bajzer, fr, f, dnp

33 Carter McPhail, sr, g, dnp

Goaltending

31 Logan Neaton (WPG), 5th, 4-4-1, 2.86, .908

30 Bruno Bruveris, fr, 0-1, 6.00, .818

33 Carter McPhail, sr, dnp