Turns out Friday and 13 don’t always add up to bad news.

Troy Terry and Jarid Lukosevicius scored midway through the second period to propel Denver to a 3-1 NCHC victory over arch-rival Colorado College on Friday night, extending the Pioneers’ unbeaten streak to 13 games. The undefeated run is the fourth longest in DU program history, and the only longer ones occurred five decades ago or longer.

“They played us hard,” DU coach Jim Montgomery said. “In the second we made of an emphasis to be around the net front and I think that paid dividends.”

Defenseman Tariq Hammond added his first goal of the season in the third period after captain Sam Rothstein had pulled the Tigers (3-10, 1-4 NCHC) to 2-1 late in the second. Rothstein took feed from Nick Halloran, who was stationed below the goal line, and buried a prime chance from between the circles.

Hammond’s goal came on a rebound from the left dot after senior Evan Ritt fired a shot on Alex Leclerc. Ritt picked up the first assist on Hammond’s goal, his first NCAA point in 21 career games.

“It was a great shot he let go to create the rebound,” Montgomery said.

Goaltender Tanner Jaillet made 19 saves for the Pioneers (10-2-3, 4-0-3-2 NCHC), who outshot the Tigers, 26-20, and defeated them for the ninth time in a row.

DU tightened up on defense after allowing eight goals last weekend against Air Force and Wisconsin. It also had the better of the scoring chances, many of which came on their numerous odd-man rushes.

The Tigers were a tough out, however, mounting surges after Rothstein’s goal and again to start the third period. But the Pioneers weathered those storms and head home for the rematch Saturday.

Neither team was able to score on the power play, going a combined 0 for 7.

“The penalty kill was great, Tanner was great,” Montgomery said. “Your best penalty killer needs to be your goalie. I thought we took away a lot of what they wanted to do with our pressure.”

D gets offensive

Hammond’s goal was the latest in a succession of them from blue liners not named Will Butcher, who had been the only defenseman with a goal through nine games.

Michael Davies scored against Wisconsin last Saturday, and Adam Plant got one three weeks ago at North Dakota.

“Our defensemen outside of Will Butcher are getting more comfortable,” Montgomery said. “I thought Matt VanVoorhis had his best game of the year. We have a really good D core that can play at both ends. It’s nice when guys like Hammond and Davies get rewarded.”

Borgstrom ill, Janssen back

Freshman center Henrik Borgstrom, the Pioneers’ leading scorer (16 points and eight goals), missed the game because of the flu. From the sounds of things after the game it seems unlikely he will play Saturday.

However, senior winger Evan Janssen returned to the lineup after missing two games because of an upper-body injury sustained on his first shift against Miami on Nov. 19. “It was nice to have Janssen back. That’s why our penalty kill is better,” Montgomery said.

Lines by design?

Janssen was reunited with Logan O’Connor and Matt Marcinew. The other three Pioneers lines seemed to follow themes.The top line of Terry between Dylan Gambrell and Lukosevicius was comprised entirely of sophomores. Ritt centered Rudy Junda and Colin Staub on an all-Colorado line, while Tyson McLellan centered Kevin Conley and Liam Finlay on an all-freshman line.

So it begs to ask, was it by design?

“I don’t put that much thought into it,” Montgomery said. “I did like the Colorado line. They have a lot of pride, they grew up wanting to play in this rivalry and here they are. And I thought they were really good, all three of them.”

Notable

The teams play again Saturday night at Magness Arena. Faceoff is at 7:05 p.m.