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Broncos Head to Nashville to Take on No. 18 Northeastern

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THIS WEEK
Western Michigan heads to Nashville, Tenn., to take on No. 18 Northeastern at the Music City Hockey Classic on Friday at 7:30 p.m. The game will take place at Bridgestone Arena, home of the NHL’s Nashville Predators.
 
LAST WEEK
The Broncos split with Minnesota-Duluth at Lawson Ice Arena, dropping the opener 5-4 and then rebounding for a 5-3 win on Saturday.
 
On Friday, WMU erased a 2-0 deficit to take a 3-2 lead, all in the first eight minutes of the first period. Down 2-0, Jamie Rome scored on a rebound to cut the lead in half. Cam Knuble was credited with a goal after a UMD player put it in his own net during a delayed penalty on Western Michigan. While killing off the power play, Luke Grainger scored unassisted for a short-handed goal to push WMU ahead 3-2. The Bulldogs scored near the end of the power play to tie it up at 3-3 to cap off a wild opening 10 minutes. Quinn Olson scored just 1:47 into the second period before Jason Polin tied up the game on the power play, 4-4. The tie was finally broken with 1:05 to play when UMD’s Darian Gotz got out of the penalty box and had a breakaway, scoring to make it 5-4.
 
On Saturday, the Broncos once again had to come from behind. WMU gave up an early power play goal but responded with a tally by Zak Galambos to even it up at 1-1. The Bulldogs scored at the end of the first period and with 1:43 left in the second period to push ahead, 3-1. Luke Grainger created a turnover and Ryan McAllister scored with 2.1 seconds left in the second period and shift the momentum to WMU heading into the third. Grainger then tied it up at 3-3 after coming off the bench during a delayed penalty and firing a back-hander into the net. Rome netted the game-winner at 16:32 on a blast from the right circle on the power play before Grainger capped off the win with an empty-netter.
 
TERRIFIC TRIO
Western Michigan’s top line of freshman Ryan McAllister, senior captain Jason Polin and sophomore forward Max Sasson have combined for 24 goals, 41 assists and 65 point through 15 games this season. McAllister is the nation’s leading scorer with 26 points on seven goals and 19 assists. His 19 assists are also tops in the country. Polin has 20 points on 10 goals and 10 assists and is tied for third in the nation in scoring. Polin is also one of just eight players to reach double-digit goals so far this season. Sasson is tied for sixth in the nation in scoring with 18 points on 12 goals and six assists.

NUMBER ONE

Western Michigan heads into Friday’s game against Northeastern as the nation’s top-scoring team. WMU leads the country in total goals with 62 and is tied with Michigan and Harvard in goals per game at 4.1. No other team in the nation averages 4 or more per game.  

 

LIMITING THE CHANCES

Western Michigan held Minnesota-Duluth to just 20 shots on goal in Saturday’s win. It is the fourth time this season that WMU has limited opponents to 20 shots on goal or less and the eighth time an opponent has failed to reach 25 shots on goal.

 

POWERING THROUGH

After scoring on the power play in each game against Minnesota-Duluth, the Broncos have no been held scoreless with the man advantage in just four of their 15 games so far this season. Western Michigan sits 6th in the nation at 26.4 percent. Jamie Rome leads the team with five tallies on the power play, followed by Zak Galambos with four. Eight total players have scored on the power play for WMU so far this season.

 

#18 NORTHEASTERN HUSKIES | 7-4-3

– THE SERIES:
Friday is a rematch of the First Round of the 2022 NCAA Northeast Region. The Broncos took that one, 2-1, in overtime thanks to Luke Grainger and advanced out of the first round of the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history. NU still holds the all-time series lead at 3-2-1. The teams have not met in the regular season since the 2013 Shillelagh Tournament at Notre Dame. That game finished in a 1-1 tie and the Huskies advanced in the tournament after winning the shootout.

 

– SCOUTING THE HUSKIES: Northeastern got off to a slow start, winning just two of its first six games on the season. NU rattled off three straight wins after that with a win at Maine and a home-and-home sweep of New Hampshire. The Huskies are 1-2-1 heading into Friday’s game after splitting with Boston University and losing and tying against Boston College.

 

The Huskies have the sixth-best scoring defense in the nation, allowing just 2.0 goals per game this season. Devon Levi is having another stellar season between the pipes for NU, with 1.89 goals against average, a .942 save percentage and a 7-3-3 record with three shutouts.

 

Northeastern averages 3.2 goals per game, ranking 21st in the nation. Just as he did last season, Senior forward Aidan McDonough leads the team in scoring with 18 points on eight goals and 10 assists. McDonough finished just behind WMU’s Ethen Frank for the nation’s top goal-scorer last year with 25 to Frank’s 26. Justin Hryckowian leads the team with nine goals and has eight assists for 17 points. Braden Doyle is the team’s top-scoring defenseman with six points on one goal and five assists.

 

The team’s penalty kill slots in at 18.2 percent (8-for-44). McDonough has scored five of the team’s eight power play goals. The penalty kill ranks tied for ninth in the nation at 85.7 percent (48-for-56).

 

ON THE HORIZON

Western Michigan resumes NCHC play next weekend at Omaha. Both games are set for 8:07 p.m. ET starts and can be watched live on NCHC.tv. WMU returns home Dec. 9-10 to host North Dakota on Friday at 7 p.m. and Saturday at 6 p.m. Tickets are available at www.wmubroncos.com/tickets.

 

 





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