GRAND FORKS — Despite the sour ending to the first half — UND dropped a pair of overtime games to Colorado College at home — the Fighting Hawks have put themselves in good position.
They're in second place in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference, four points behind St. Cloud State.
They're No. 5 in the Pairwise Rankings — the highest spot of any team in the three Western-based leagues, the NCHC, Big Ten or Central Collegiate Hockey Association.
It's easy to find some of the more frequently used statistics behind UND's start: Jackson Blake is the leading scorer with 22 points, while Ludvig Persson has been steady in net with a .909 save percentage.
Here's a look at some other numbers.
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Most dominant games via analytics
In hockey, sometimes, a score can be misleading. Sometimes, a team can dominate a game and lose. Sometimes, a team can steal a victory with a great goaltending performance.
The statistic of expected goals (xG) tracks the location of every shot attempt during a game, the type of shot (slap shot, wrist shot, backhand or tip) and gives it a value of the chance it has of going in the net. At the end of a game, it gives a projected score.
According to xG, UND went 4-0-1 in its five most dominant games of the first half.
What were they?
No. 1 was the 7-2 victory over Army in the season opener. UND was plus-3.3 in that game and won by even more.
No. 2 was a 2-0 win at Minnesota Duluth. UND was plus-2.8.
No. 3 was a 5-0 win over Bemidji State in Grand Forks. UND was plus-2.5. No. 4 was a 6-4 win over Miami. UND was plus-2.4. No. 5 was a 2-2 tie against Minnesota State-Mankato. UND was plus-2.
Least dominant games via analytics
On the other side, UND actually won the two games it was outchanced the worst.
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No. 1 was the 7-5 comeback win at the University of Denver. UND was minus-1.39 in that game.
No. 2 was the 2-0 win against Wisconsin in the Ice Breaker. UND was minus-1.28.
The next two on the list were Saturday night against Colorado College (minus-0.4 in a 3-2 overtime loss) and Minnesota (minus-0.2 in a 4-0 loss).
Who is playing the most?
One of the early moves UND made in the transfer portal last offseason was to nab Alaska captain Garrett Pyke to anchor the defense.
He's done exactly that.
Pyke is averaging 21:07 per game, most of any UND player so far this season.
The next two in line also are transfer defensemen — Logan Britt (20:38) and Bennett Zmolek (19:59).
Leading scorer Jackson Blake, who has gotten penalty kill time this season, has played more than any UND forward. He's averaging 19:27 per game. Right behind him are center Cameron Berg (19:00) and captain Riese Gaber (18:31).
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Scoring chances
Who has had the highest number of scoring chances according to InStat?
It's Berg, the West Fargo native, with 19.
Blake is second with 18, followed by Jayden Perron (15), Hunter Johannes (15), Gaber (13) and Louis Jamernik V (11).
Passes to the slot
InStat tracks something it calls "passes to the slot," which is often an indicator of the best setup men.
Blake is, by far, the leader with 34 passes to the slot. He's followed by McLaughlin (23), Berg (17), Jamernik (16), Gaber (13) and Perron (12).
Going on the power play
One of Blake's biggest strengths is weaving through traffic while keeping the puck on his stick.
That often leads to defenders swiping at the puck, missing it, and taking out Blake's legs.
It's no surprise that Blake leads UND in penalties drawn with 12 this season.
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Gaber has drawn the second-most penalties with eight, followed by Dylan James (six), Johannes (six), Berg (four), Jake Schmaltz (four) and Jamernik (four).
Hitting the net
There have been a couple of games this season where UND coach Brad Berry lamented his team's inability to put pucks on net during scoring chances.
Defensemen, generally, miss the net at a higher rate than forwards. They're usually shooting from farther out. Often, they miss it on purpose to avoid a shot block and create chaos at the side of the crease.
Which forwards are missing the net at the highest rate this season?
Schmaltz has missed the net on 33.3 percent of his attempts, followed by Perron (27 percent), James (24.7 percent) and Berg (24.1).
Jamernik is rarely missing the net. He's only been wide with 7.9 percent of his shot attempts. Griffin Ness has only missed 10.5 percent, Jackson Kunz 11.8 percent and Carson Albrecht 13.3 percent.
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Some numbers behind UND's first half of the season - Grand Forks Herald
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