Friday night, the fight to stay alive begins for UMD men’s hockey as they open the NCHC tournament visiting Arizona State in the first in their best-of-three series.

“We match up pretty well against these guys based on the four games,” said head coach Scott Sandelin. “Hopefully, that continues. I expect real close, tight checking games. They’re an explosive team that can score. They’ve got some dangerous forwards. We’ve got a game plan that we need to stick to if we’re going to have success against them.”

“They’re very offensive, they all can make plays, every one of their forwards. Their “D” jump up, so five on five, we’re just going to have to play them tough. They hold on to pucks, they make plays, so taking care of the puck for us is going to be a huge deal,” said senior forward Dominic James.

The Bulldogs and Sun Devils will face-off Friday night at 9 p.m. Game two is Saturday at 8 p.m., and if needed, game three will be Sunday at 8 p.m.