The series: Friday and Saturday night at Baxter Arena in Omaha, Neb. Face-off both nights is 6 p.m. MT

Overview: The Mavericks, who reached the Frozen Four this past April with Littleton’s Ryan Massa in net, enter the series against Denver as one of the hottest teams in the nation, going 8-1-1 in their past 10 official games (they’re coming off an exhibition win this past Saturday night). A late October sweep at Western Michigan seems to have woken UNO up. After allowing 10 goals that weekend, the Mavericks have allowed as many as four goals just twice since – in a 4-1 loss to St. Cloud State and a 6-4 win over Ohio State. One night after the loss to St. Cloud, UNO bounced back with a 7-2 victory over the Huskies, which might seem almost unfathomable. Keeping UNO under wraps early is imperative because they’ve outscored foes 22-8 in the first period this season. Not only is UNO 14-3-1 overall, they’re 8-0 at home. However, with a 4-3-1 NCHC record they’re a team the Pioneers are within striking distance of in the standings. There are no small conference series, but this one is particularly big for DU.

Offense: At first glance, the Mavericks are a bit top-heavy in scoring, with six forwards in double figures in points for Division I’s 10th-most proficient offense (3.5 goals per game).  Juniors Jake Guentzel (26 points, fifth in the nation) and Austin Ortega (23) are the ringleaders. Ortega, a former Colorado Thunderbird, has 16 goals, second most in D-I and his six game-winning goals are the most. Another  forward, Justin Parizek, has 19 points, while sophomore Jake Randolph has seven goals among his 16 points. Another former Colorado Thunderbird, freshman Fredrik Olofsson and sophomore Tyler Vessel have 12 points each.

Defense: One week after running into a brick wall named Cal Petersen of Notre Dame, the Pioneers will face a goalie who has been statistically superior in freshman Evan Weninger. His 1.83 goals-against average is 11th in the nation, and he stops nearly 95 percent of the shots on goal he faces, third best in the nation. As a result, the Mavericks’ average of 2.22 goals against is 13th in the nation. They do, however allow more than 31 shots per game, and DU has demonstrated repeatedly this season it can generate those. Six of UNO’s top eight defensemen are underclassmen.

Special teams: The Mavericks are strong in both aspects. The power play connects at a 19.4 percent clip (13 of 67). Ortega (four goals) is the main power-play threat. Like DU, UNO takes relatively few penalties, averaging just fewer than 10 minutes in the box per game. But even when they do, they’re a threat to score, with sixth shorthanded tallies, second-most in Division I. Guentzel has three of them and Parizek two. Overall, the Mavericks kill off 87.8 percent (65 of 74).

@MagnessMayhem