The Pioneers face a familiar foe this weekend – Nebraska-Omaha – in Round 1 of the NCHC playoffs.

While DU has swept the teams’ four meetings this season – beginning a 14-1-1 run with a sweep and taking a pair at Magness Arena last weekend – an interesting trend has developed. The Mavericks have played the second game of the series much closer, twice losing by one goal.

If one reasons this weekend is a continuation of last, it’s not out of the question to see UNO extending the best-of-3 series to the distance and maybe winning it.

What? DU has won 14 of 16 games. UNO has lost 12 of 16 games. How could that be?

Here are some reasons:

1. They’re good in close games. Saturday’s 2-1 loss to DU was just UNO’s second in seven such games. DU also has been in seven one-goal games and is 4-3.
2. They’re a threat to score on special teams. UNO’s power play might be middle of the road (14.9 percent), but its skill level is undeniable. They’re also threats to score will killing penalties as three forwards have multiple shorthanded goals. While DU’s power play has improved as the season has worn on, it’s penalty kill has dropped off ever so slightly.
3. They have two good goaltending options. Freshman Evan Weninger has the better record (13-7 to 4-6-1), goals against (2.43 to 3.19) and save percentage (.923 to .880) but junior Kirk Thompson stoned DU repeatedly last Saturday and finished with 44 saves.
4. Scoring depth. DU’s depth is cited as one of the biggest reasons for its second-half surge but the Pioneers and Mavericks have the same number of double-figure scorers (10). The difference is DU’s top 10 have 234 points combined while UNO’s have 190.

The case for DU, obviously, is very compelling as well.

1. Center depth: As impressive as the Pacific Rim Line has been (incredibly), the fact that DU has two other centers besides Dylan Gambrell (15 goals) with double digits in goals – Quentin Shore (11) and Matt Marcinew (11) – and a third with five is rare. And the Pioneers are very good on face-offs. Shore, Marcinew, Gabe Levin and Danton Heinen all are above 50 percent on draws.
2. Goaltending: The Pioneers have gotten outstanding tending regardless of whether Tanner Jaillet or Evan Cowley has been between the pipes. In fact, DU has not allowed more than one goal in a game in a month, and they won that game, too, 6-4, against North Dakota. Jaillet is 13-3-5 with a 2.21 and .926. He has been dazzling in his past six starts – including Friday’s shutout of UNO – with a 0.95 gas and a .964 save percentage in that stretch. Cowley, who allowed just one goal Saturday vs. UNO, gave up just one goal in more than five and a half periods vs. surging Minnesota-Duluth and had two shutout relief appearances vs. Colorado College.
3. Monty Mojo: Every adjustment Coach Jim Montgomery and his staff has made seems to be working, from going with one goaltender to rejiggering line combinations to making practice changes. Montgomery knows from his playing days what it takes to win an NCAA title, and he’s been unafraid to say the goal is get to the Frozen Four and see what happens from there. He has deflected the praise to his players, but he and his staff at least deserve credit for the course corrections.

I think the Pioneers will win this series, but it’s going to be a battle. We saw a preview of the increased level of physical play and agitation on Saturday, and I think there will be more where that came from.

@MagnessMayhem