On Friday, Miami took a four-goal lead and then barely held on for a win.
Saturday, the RedHawks fell behind and rallied for a victory, completing their sweep of Northern Michigan, 2-1 at the Berry Events Center in Marquette, Mich.
Wildcats junior Mark Olver scored his third goal of the series midway through the first period to give Northern Michigan (1-4-1) an early lead.
But sophomore defenseman Chris Wideman scored his first career goal for the RedHawks (6-1-1) on the power play nine-plus minutes into the second period to tie the score.
Five minutes later, Miami junior captain Tommy Wingels put Miami ahead on the man-advantage off a pass from junior Carter Camper.
RedHawks sophomore Cody Reichard made 24 saves in the win, including eight in the third period to preserve the win.
With the win, Miami remained unbeaten on the road this season. The RedHawks, now 3-0-1 away from Cady Arena, won and tied their games at New Hampshire two weeks ago.
Miami is tied with Michigan State for the lead in the CCHA, but the RedHawks are one of only four league teams that has played four in-conference games.
BOTTOM LINE: Miami had its struggles at times, but a sweep on the road is always good, especially in the You Pee. Marquette is a tough venue to come away with four - excuse me - six points in a weekend.
Reichard, who normally doesn't start back-to-back nights, bounced back from a rough third period on Friday and was very solid on Saturday.
The RedHawks now have much needed momentum headed into next week's series in Ann Arbor.
GRADES
FORWARDS: D+. Miami did not have an even-strength goal, and the forwards only had one goal and three assists.
Even against a defensive-oriented team, the top team in the country should have more than 26 shots on goal, and only 17 came from forwards.
DEFENSEMEN: B+. Northern Michigan had 13 shots in the first period, but only 12 after.
The Wildcats generated four of those shots on a first-period power play that resulted in their goal.
GOALTENDING: A. Reichard was 24-for-25, and he had to make several key saves to hold off Northern Michigan.
Plus he handled the unfamiliar back-to-back starts well.
LINEUP MOVES: Reichard's start may have been related to fellow sophomore netminder Connor Knapp's flu. Or maybe it was because Knapp has struggled recently. Or maybe both.
Coach Enrico Blasi tends to be very loyal and does not like to shake up a system that's working, so I think Knapp must've been sick. Knapp has had two shaky starts in a row, and Reichard has played very well this season, but Knapp has showed flashes of excellence with Miami and Blasi will probably start him next Saturday and allow him to get back on track.
Sophomore defenseman Matt Tomassoni also sat for the second time in four games. Tomassoni was adequate last season and has been very solid on the blueline in 2009-10, and Tomassoni has been battling the flu. But it's odd he would miss last Friday's game, play Saturday and the following Friday and then sit again.
Some other off-ice issue may be at work here. Freshman Steve Spinell started in his place.
Senior forward Brandon Smith played again, and freshmen Devin Mantha and Steve Mason sat.
SPECIAL TEAMS: Eight games into the season, one thing is clear about Miami's power play and penalty killing: Don't go to the bathroom when either unit is on the ice.
The RedHawks have scored goals on the man-advantage in seven of eight games, and they went 4-for-9 over the weekend.
However, Miami has given up seven power-play goals in its last five games, killing only 20 of 27 chances (74.1 percent) in that stretch. The RedHawks were 4-for-6 vs. Northern Michigan.
This is disappointing since Miami killed 90 percent of its penalties last season, started this season 14-for-14 and the RedHawks' defensemen, plus senior forward Jarod Palmer, are excellent defensively.
FACEOFF STRUGGLES CONTINUE: Miami was 19-29 on draws on Saturday, giving the RedHawks a 48-64 record (.429) for the weekend. Only Palmer was above .500 on faceoffs, winning the only draw he took. Senior Gary Steffes was 4-4, but Wingels was 1-2, Camper was 7-10, junior Andy Miele was 4-8 and junior Pat Cannone was 2-5.
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