If Friday night’s 3-o victory over Nebraska-Omaha seemed familiar in some ways, that’s because it was.

On Friday, Jan. 8 in Omaha, the Pioneers started a 13-1-1 run (including the current eight-game win streak) with a 3-0 victory. As he did that night, sophomore Tanner Jaillet shut out the Mavericks (18-14-1, 8-14-1 NCHC). In the shutout at Omaha, Jaillet faced 35 shots on goal. This time he stopped 26 shots.

The bookend triumphs over the Mavericks illustrate just how far the Pioneers (20-8-5, 16-5-2 NCHC) have come in two months, and how far UNO has fallen.

An NCAA-best 15th 2o-win season in a row seemed like it might be a stretch when DU headed into the Christmas break with a 7-7-2 record and a four-game losing streak. The Pioneers played much better during a pair of ties against Notre Dame over New Year’s weekend.

Still,  the Mavericks were riding high back in January, owning a 14-3-1 record entering the Jan. 8 meeting. And, they had yet to lose in their new barn, Baxter Arena. Jaillet and the Pioneers changed that, and the Mavericks have gone 4-11 since.

“It’s a lot of fun,” DU coach Jim Montgomery told 104.3 FM after the game. “As a coach you always hope your team continues to get better. We slipped in December, and that could have killed a lot of teams. But not the spirit in our dressing room. Those guys bonded together. I think that four-game losing streak made us more attentive to details.”

Senior captain Grant Arnold got DU on the board midway through the first after a nice feed from freshman Troy Terry. The goal was Arnold’s career-high fifth, four of which have come on Fridays.

Junior defenseman Will Butcher struck on a power play 6:42 into the second, extending his points streak to six games. Freshman center Dylan Gambrell got the primary assist on the play, in the process stretching his points streak to a team-high 12 games.

Gambrell then scored off a feed from line mates Trevor Moore and Danton Heinen. That gave the Pacific Rim Line a five-point game (Moore also assisted on Butcher’s goal).

“I thought we got better as the game went along,” Montgomery said. “I thought the first period was the worst period we’ve had in this streak.

“The second period we really laid claim to the puck possession.”

And while the trio’s second-half scoring surge has them in the conversation for NCAA hockey’s best line, Jaillet’s work over the past six games of this streak has been outstanding as well.

Jaillet, who played only one period in the first game against Colorado College two weeks ago due to injury/illness, has not allowed more than one goal in his past six starts. He has a goals-against average of 0.95 in that span and a save percentage of .964 (stopping 127 of 134 shots).

“Tanner’s been unbelievable,” Montgomery said. “He’s supremely confident.”

The same could be said of the Pioneers.

By the numbers: Heinen’s assist gave him an 11-game point streak, in which he has 23 points. … Moore’s assists gave him 17 points in his past eight games. His 30 assists are tied for the NCHC lead. … Gambrell has 22 points during his scoring streak and sits one point out of the conference scoring lead with 41. Moore is tied for sixth with 36 and Heinen is tied for eighth with 35. With Saturday’s regular-season finale, at least two NCHC games next weekend (and potentially two more the following weekend) plus however many NCAA Tournament games the Pioneers play, it is all but a foregone conclusion each of the three will exceed 40 points. Should Gambrell finish as the team’s scoring leader, each member of the line would have accomplished the feat as a freshman during the past three seasons (Heinen last year and Moore two years ago). …Butcher, who has eight points during his scoring streak, has 27 points and likely will surpass 30. … Senior Quentin Shore, who started the play on which Arnold scored and was credited with an assist, has eight points in his past eight games.

Lineup change: The Pioneers will start junior Evan Cowley on Saturday night. It remains to be seen if there will be other lineup changes, but this would be the time to make them to get players such as Logan O’Conner and Brad Hawkinson some game action in the event they’re needed in the postseason.