MADISON, Wis. —  In their final non-conference outing before the start of Big Ten regular season play, the No. 16 Badgers journey to Grand Forks, North Dakota, to face the No. 14 UND Fighting Hawks in a two-game series at Ralph Engelstad Arena. The road trip comes on the heels of a split series against Michigan Tech last weekend at the Kohl Center. The Badgers dropped the series opener, 6-2, on Friday, before bouncing back with a 6-2 victory of their own in Saturday's finale.
Friday's tilt against the Fighting Hawks is slated for a 7:30 p.m. (CT) start, while Saturday's contest is set to begin at 7 p.m. (CT).
Here are six notes to know heading into this week's matchup against the Fighting Hawks.
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ROMAN CANDLE: Last weekend's series proved to be a breakout for freshman forward
Roman Ahcan, who notched the first two goals of his career against the Huskies. The Savage, Minnesota, native now has a pair of goals and five points, which ranks second among Badgers' and Big Ten rookies. Ahcan's first goal, a short-handed game-winner, was the first of its kind for UW since then-freshman
Trent Frederic broke a 2-2 tie at 2:53 of the third period at St. Lawrence on Oct. 28, 2016 in a game the Badgers went on to win, 5-2.
POINT-STREAKIN': Â Sophomore defenseman
Wyatt Kalynuk has points in each of his last five games for a career-high point streak. His four goals give him a share of the national goal-scoring lead among rear guards, while his nine points have him tied for fifth in the country among blue liners. Kalynuk already has more goals through six games this year (four), than he scored his entire freshman season (three) in 37 games played. The Virden, Manitoba, native tallied a goal and two assists in last weekend's split.
THRICE AS NICE: UW is 8-for-29 with the man advantage over the last four games, including two games with three power-play goals. Â Prior to those two games, UW's power play hadn't connected three times in a game since going 3-for-7 at Denver on Nov. 26, 2016. The Badgers 27.6 percent power-play clip currently ranks eighth in the nation, and senior forward
Seamus Malone and sophomore forward
Sean Dhooghe share the team lead in power-play goals with two each.
BLUE-LINE SCORING: The Badgers have six goals and 19 points from their blue line so far this season. The six goals are tied for the fifth in the country, one off the national pace, while the 19 points share eighth among the country's defensive corps. UW's 3.17 points per game from its defenseman share seventh in the nation. Â
Wyatt Kalynuk (nine points) and
K'Andre Miller (seven points) rank second and third among Big Ten defensemen in scoring while Miller shares the national lead in plus/minus with a plus-9 clip.
OLD TIES: Before joining the Green Bay Gamblers organization for the 1997-98 season, UW associate head coach
Mark Osiecki spent one year as an assistant coach at North Dakota. While there, Osiecki helped lead UND to the 1997 NCAA championship. The Hawks defeated Boston University, 6-4, in the title game to earn their sixth national crown. Â
SCOUTING THE FIGHTING HAWKS: North Dakota was picked to finish third in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference this season, behind defending national champion and current No. 1 Minnesota Duluth and No. 2 Â St. Cloud State. The Fighting Hawks return 19 letterwinners from last year's team, including reigning NCHC Defensive Forward of the Year Rhett Gardner, 2017-18 All-NCHC Honorable Mention defenseman Colton Poolman and goal-scoring leader Nick Jones, who tallied 15 goals and 30 points last season.
UND enters the weekend with a 2-2-1 overall record. Most recently, the Fighting Hawks beat then-No. 5 Minnesota, 3-1, thank to a two-goal effort from Poolman.Â
This weekend's series against the Fighting Hawks marks the 171st and 172nd outings between the two teams. The Badgers control the all-time series with an 87-70-13 record. Â
