No. 1 (USAT/USAH)/No. 2 (USCHO) Denver (15-5-4, 7-2-3-2 NCHC) at St. Cloud State (10-11-1, 5-8-1)

When: Friday, 6:30 p.m. MST; Saturday, 6 p.m. MST

Radio/TV: 104.3 FM/NCHC.tv (subscription)

Overview

Both teams are coming off NCHC splits on the road. One night after being shut out for the first time this season, at Western Michigan, the Pioneers came back to rout the Broncos, 7-2. St. Cloud, as it usually does, can score a lot of goals (3.14 per game), but it has given up just as many this season. Denver’s defense (2.04 goals per game, 5th in Division I) and goaltending give it a chance to be in every single game.

Who’s hot

No Pioneer has played consistently better than goaltender Tanner Jaillet this season. The junior, who was selected the conference’s goalie of the week, is 13-4-4 with a 1.92 GAA and .927 save percentage – all numbers 11th or better, respectively, in the Division I. He allowed just one goal in each game last weekend (two Friday were empty-netters and Evan Cowley allowed the second goal Saturday). …

DU’s scoring depth is awakening. Sophomore Jarid Lukosevicius has five goals in the past five series for DU, while senior Matt Marcinew has three in three, and Emil Romig and Kevin Conley have two each in the past two. Defenseman Will Butcher (21 points) is among the team scoring leaders and added two assists Saturday. Senior forward Evan Ritt went from having one career point to four last Saturday. …

Both power plays are. DU had three PPGs on Saturday, while SCSU went 2-for-3 in its 4-3 OT loss at Duluth. St. Cloud’s PP has been better statistically, connecting 20.2 percent of the time (16th) to Denver’s 18.5 percent (26th). …

As they usually do, the Huskies get scoring from all over their lineup. Blake Winiecki (19 points, 10 goals) has three goals in his past six games and Colorado native Mikey Eyssimont (team-high 20 points and 10 goals) has two in that span. Robby Jackson (11 points) had a hat trick against Arizona State three weeks ago and freshman defenseman Jack Ahcan (16 points) had both goals in Friday’s win at Duluth. Sophomore Patrick Newell is the top-set up man with 15 assists among his 18 points. …

Need-to-know numbers

St. Cloud has allowed four or more goals 10 times in 22 games, but it also has four games of allowing just one or no goals. … These are two of the least penalized teams in Division I – St. Cloud takes the second fewest penalty minutes per game (10) and Denver the sixth (10.8). … DU’s PK sits at 81.2 percent (38th), while SCSU’s is 84.3 (T25th). … Henrik Borgstrom (22 points, 12 goals in 18 games) remains DU’s top scorer and is sixth among Division I freshmen. … DU sophomore Troy Terry is expected to miss at least a month because of an upper-body injury sustained last Friday at Western Michigan.