On one hand, Denver’s players weren’t happy with a 1-1 tie Friday night at North Dakota. On the other, after getting absolutely blitzed last season in Grand Forks, this had to represent a step in the right direction.

The Pioneers (6-2-1, 2-0-1 NCHC) went nearly 55 minutes without scoring before freshman Henrik Borgstrom cashed in a power-play opportunity to tie the score. Neither team scored in the first overtime, but the Fighting Hawks (5-3-2, 0-2-1) scored in the second on Shane Gersich‘s spin-o-rama goal to pick up the extra NCHC point.

DU ran its unbeaten streak to seven games (6-0-1) in the process.

Here are a few takeaways:

Tanner is the truth

Goaltender Tanner Jaillet again shone in net, stopping 29 of 30 shots and living up to his conference-best stats. (He actually  lowered his goals-against average to 1.62 and increased his save percentage to .937)

This marked the fifth time in six games Jaillet has allowed just one goal. He gave up two in the other and is on a 6-0-1 run, not coincidentally the same as his team.

And the Pioneers needed him at his best because NoDak’s Cam Johnson broke out of his early season slump by stopping 24 of 25 shots.

The kid is alright

DU’s hot streak has coincided with Borgstrom finding his stride in college hockey. The first-round draft pick of the Florida Panthers in June’s Entry Draft has all 10 of his points in the Pioneers’ past six games.

Sophomore Dylan Gambrell, a San Jose Sharks second-round pick, got an assist on Borgstrom’s goal and has four points in the three games since he returned from an upper body injury. Senior defenseman Will Butcher also ran his point streak to three games with the primary assist on the DU goal. His eight points are second only to Borgstrom.

Power supply

With their fourth power-play goal in two games it might be safe to say the Pioneers are getting that facet of their game in order. DU also continued its disciplined ways, taking just two penalties – and killing them both off – against a very talented foe.

With the play now up to 16 percent proficiency and the PK hitting at better than 85 percent, DU is above the 100 percent combined marker that so many coaches use as a baseline to gauge their team’s special-teams effectiveness.