No. 1 Denver experienced the highs (seven goals) and lows (zero goals) of hockey in a 24-hour span of a NCHC series at No. 14 Western Michigan over the weekend. Here are some of the pluses and minuses:

Plus

Even with the split the second-place Pioneers held serve with first-place Minnesota-Duluth in the NCHC standings because UMD also split. The Bulldogs also have played two more games.

Minus

In the Friday loss, DU had 14 of its 24 shots in the second period, and just five in the first and third, when the game was there for the taking.

Plus

The special teams were great on Saturday (along with everything else). The first-period PP strikes by Matt Marcinew and Jarid Lukosevicius on Saturday set the tone. DU was 3 for 8 on the PP and 5 for 5 on the PK.

Minus

Friday was a different story – the Pioneers were blanked on the PP and gave up their only goal with a goalie in net while killing a penalty.

Plus

I’ve harped at times on DU’s need to develop more scoring depth behind Henrik Borgstrom, Dylan Gambrell and Troy Terry (who is out indefinitely with an upper-body injury) for the stretch run. Despite a 3-2-1 mark in the second half, that actually has been building momentum since the start of December. Lukosevicius has five goals in the past five series, Marcinew has three in the past three weeks, Evan Janssen and Logan O’Connor have three since Dec. 3, Emil Romig has two in the past two weekends and Kevin Conley has two in the past three games. Defensemen Will Butcher and Adam Plant combined for four assists Saturday.

Minus

It has been boom or bust for the Pioneers in the past three weeks. In their losses they have zero goals and one goal and in their wins they have five, six and seven goals.

Three stars

1. Evan Ritt – The senior, who had one point in 30 career games, broke out with three on Saturday, including his first NCAA goal. And it could not happen to a nicer young man.
2. Tariq Hammond – The  defenseman was charged with keeping the Broncos’ collection of massive, skilled forwards in check, including NHL draft picks Wade Allison and Matheson Iacopelli, and the junior delivered. As a bonus, he picked up an assist Saturday.
3. Tanner Jaillet – The junior goaltender only gave up two goals all weekend (the second and third on Friday were empty-netters). He played well enough to emerge with two more Ws.