Miami opens its road NCHC slate this weekend, and the conference schedulers did the RedHawks no favors.
MU travels to No. 6 Minn.-Duluth, where the RedHawks have won just twice in their last 24 games.
Miami is also winless in its last 10 meetings with UMD overall.
But the RedHawks have won 6 of 8 to open this season and have shed their conference roadkill label from their leaner years prior to the current coaching staff’s hiring.
VFG takes a look at the upcoming series:
WHO: Miami RedHawks (6-2, 1-1 NCHC) at No. 6 Minn.-Duluth Bulldogs (6-2-2, 1-1).
WHERE: AMSOIL Arena (6,756), Duluth, Minn.
WHEN: Friday — 8:07 p.m.; Saturday — 7:07 p.m.
ALL-TIME SERIES: Minn.-Duluth leads, 37-7-5.
VIDEO STREAMING: NCHC.tv.
MIAMI RADIO: Miamiredhawks.com (Greg Waddell, PxP).
NOTES: Because two Plantes weren’t enough, Minn.-Duluth added a third in the off-season.
Victor Plante, a Detroit second-round draft pick, joined the team this season and has already scored a goal and assisted on four more as a freshman.
Max Plante, the 2026 Hobey Baker winner and also a Detroit second-rounder from two years prior, has been week to week with an undisclosed UBI. He is 2-0-2 in two games.
Zam Plante, a Pittsburgh selection, already has five goals and five assists.
But Tampa Bay draft Jayson Shaugabay has outperformed all three, with a 1-12-13 line, leading all forwards in points.
Sophomore Hunter Anderson, with three goals and eight helpers following a 20-point rookie season, has also turned into a significant offensive threat for the Bulldogs.
On defense, Ty Hanson is second in the NCAA in goals (8) and leads all Division I blueliners with 14 points.
Freshman Carter Murphy has already chipped in five points, and Buffalo 6-feet, 5-inch tall second-rounder Adam Kleber plays nearly 23 minutes per game and is 1-3-4.
And Aaron Pionk — a Minnesota fifth-round selection and the younger brother of NHL veteran Neal Pionk — has a goal and two assists this season and 59 points for his career.
In net, Swedish Utah fourth-round pick Carl Axelsson leads the NCAA in shutouts with three, and the freshman’s 1.11 goals-against average is tops in Division I among goalies that have played at least 300 minutes.
He did allow four goals on 22 shots in his last out, a loss to Colorado College.
Minn.-Duluth has been outstanding on the penalty kill, with an efficiency of 92.6 percent, and the Bulldogs have already been assessed 110 penalty minutes, so they’ve had plenty of practice early this season.
Miami is 0-8-2 in its last 10 games vs. UMD, with its last win over the Bulldogs coming on Feb. 25, 2023.
Both Minn.-Duluth and the RedHawks enter this series 1-1 in conference play, in a six-way tie for second place with three points.
