Given the NCHC rivals’ history, factoring in February’s exciting series at Magness Arena, and it seems only fitting that Denver and North Dakota are playing tonight at the Frozen Four with a berth in the national championship game at stake.

It will be the teams’ sixth meeting this season, and they’re an even 2-2-1 in the first five, and 276th overall. DU is 4-2 in NCAA Tournament matches against the Fighting Hawks.

While NoDak (32-6-4) is returning to the Frozen Four for a third season in a row, the Pioneers (25-9-6) are making the trip for the first time since 2005, the year they won a second NCAA title in a row.

If this game is anything like the ones in February, it could be one for the ages.

TV: ESPN2 at 6:30 p.m. MDT

Here’s how the Hawks and Pioneers match up:

Previous meetings this season: NoDak delivered a wakeup call to DU in Grand Forks in early December, hammering the Pioneers on consecutive nights, 5-1 and 4-0. Grant Arnold scored the lone DU goal, but the entire team struggled to do much of anything in any zone that weekend. The CBS Line of Drake Caggiula, Brock Boeser and Nick Schmaltz accounted for four goals among their six points in the first game and added two more tallies the next night after Austin Poganski single-handedly gave NoDak a 2-0 lead. … Things were significantly different for DU and at Magness in early February. In what probably was the college game of the year, the Pioneers outlasted the Hawks, 6-4, in a fast-paced game that featured four lead changes. The CBS Line had six points, but the Pacific Rim Line emerged for DU – racking up 11 points, including two goals and two assists by Danton Heinen. Quinten Shore scored the winner shorthanded and also had an assist. Tanner Jaillet made 41 saves, several of the spectacular variety. The next night it was Dylan Gambrell‘s turn as the freshman lit the lamp twice and Trevor Moore got a goal for the second night in a row to go with his two assists in a 4-1 win. Poganski scored again for UND but Jaillet made 34 saves. … The teams met again in the NCHC third-place game, skating to a 1-1 draw. Heinen and Schmaltz scored the goals, and Evan Cowley stopped 26 shots for DU.

Offense: The CBS Line does a lot of the damage (144 points, with Boeser leading in goals – 26 – and points – 54) but don’t sleep on the defense. Troy Stecher (28 points), Tucker Poolman (24), Paul LaDue (18) and Keaton Thompson (17) are all threats. Poganski (24) has presented a lot of problems for the Pioneers as well. … The Pacific Rim Line has 139 points, topped by Heien’s 48 and 20 goals, but they get plenty of help from the other lines. The Shore-Troy Terry–Evan Janssen group in particular has picked it up of late and has 62 points overall. DU also activates its defense, and while Will Butcher (31) and Nolan Zajac (20) are the ringleaders, every single member of the blue line can and will seize openings.

Defense: The Pioneers figured out how to make NoDak netminder Cam Johnson look human in February by constantly applying pressure in the offensive zone. Johnson allowed 10 goals on 56 shots, by far his worst weekend of the season. Overall Johnson is 22-4-2 with a 1.67 goals-against average and .934 save percentage. … Jaillet has been one of the better goalies in Division I in the second half, going 14-1-3 with a 1.99 gas and .929 save percentage. Overall he is 17-4-5 with a 2.25 gas and .923 save percentage.

Special teams: North Dakota holds a slight edge in power-play efficiency (19.5 percent to 19) and a bigger edge in penalty killing (86.4 percent to 82 percent). Boeser and Luke Johnson each have five power-play goals and forward Chris Wilkie and Caggiula have three  apiece. Caggiula, Bryn Chyzyk and Rhett Gardner each have two shorties. … Shore is the main shorthanded threat for DU, but all three members of the PRL and Gabe Levin, Janssen and Arnold all are threats. Heinen and Butcher have four PPGs, Gambrell, Moore, Terry and Matt Marcinew have three apiece.

Intangibles: The Hawks are 7-1 in one-goal games and are unbeatable when they lead or are tied after two periods (combined 30-0-3)  this season. The Pioneers are 5-3 in one-goal games and 23-3-5 when leading or tied after two.

The final word: One would think the Hawks have to be hungry, real hungry, after  falling at this point in the past two years. Meanwhile, the Pioneers have said all season they were building toward this – even during the dog days of December. Is this a case of being careful what you wish for or going out confidently and delivering? Special teams and defensive coverage will be crucial for DU because few teams possess NoDak’s talent top to bottom. However, the Pioneers can and will roll lines and D pairs with the best of them. This game will show the rest of the nation just how good the NCHC is, with DU winning a 5-4 cliffhanger.

@MagnessMayhem