Over a five-week period in November and December, once the Bulldogs began their conference schedule, Minnesota–Duluth never scored more than three goals in a game and were shut out three times.

Just before the new year Minnesota–Duluth played in the Ledyard Bank Classic and after dropping Yale in the first game they faced host Dartmouth in the title match.

Hunter Sheppard was named as the tournament MVP[4] and used the mid-season championship as a springboard to help the team get back into playoff contention.

The Bulldogs' power play came up big, notching three goals in each contest to help the team sweep the weekend and send UMD into the top ten for the first time since early November.

UMD met Western Michigan in the quarterfinal and continued their recent dominance over the Broncos by shutting them out in both games to comfortably take the series.

The Mavericks scored twice early and appeared to be cruising to their first tournament win but the Bulldog defense clamped down thereafter, preventing Minnesota State from recording a shot in the second period while slowly chipping away at the lead.

[6] Duluth continued its defensive play in the Regional Final against Air Force, outshooting the airmen 14–0 in the first while taking a 2–0 lead.

[8] With only Notre Dame left in their way, the Bulldogs followed virtually the same script that had won them their previous two games; score twice in the first period then hold on for dear life.

[9] Leading scorer Scott Perunovich won the Tim Taylor Award as the national rookie of the year while Karson Kuhlman was named as the NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player.