No. 18 Omaha (14-8-4, 7-6-1 NCHC) at No. 3 Denver (16-6-4, 8-3-3-2 NCHC)

When: Friday, 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, 7 p.m.

TV/radio: Friday, CBS Sports Network and 104.3 FM; Saturday, Altitude2 and 104.3 FM

Overview

Omaha gone unbeaten in its past four and six of eight in the second half. The exceptions were back-to-back by shellackings by North Dakota right after New Year’s. Still, the Mavericks have moved up to fourth in the NCHC and are 8-1-2 on the road this season. Omaha is the third top-10 offense DU will face this season (Ohio State and Wisconsin were the others). The Mavericks score 3.50 goals per game (to DU’s 2.92). They also have one of the nation’s best power plays (25.7 percent) and have scored the most PPGs (34), so obviously it’s incumbent upon the Pioneers (81.2 percent PK) to stay out of the box. DU played Omaha tough last season, sweeping all six games. The last time the teams met, in the second game of an NCHC quarterfinal, marked the longest game in Magness Arena history (88 minutes, 54 seconds). Colin Staub‘s double-OT goal ended it. Should the Pioneers sweep, they can catch Minnesota-Duluth atop the NCHC standings.

Who’s hot

DU sophomore Jarid Lukosevicius has eight points (three goals) in his past six games; his point total is the second most among NCHC players in January. He has a goal in each of the past seven weekends Denver has played and his 10 overall are third on the team to Henrik Borgstrom (13) and Troy Terry (11). Borgstrom and sophomore Dylan Gambrell have 23 points apiece for the Pioneers while Terry has 22 and senior defenseman Will Butcher has 21, seventh highest among D-I blue liners. …

Omaha senior Austin Ortega, who is one game-winning goal away from breaking the NCAA career mark in that category, is the leading scorer with 34 points (tied for 8th in Division I) and 16 goals (tied for 6th). The former Colorado Thunderbird scores in bunches, with eight multi-point games this season, including five of three or more points. He is getting plenty of help from a collection of juniors up front having career years – Tyler Vesel (27 points), David Pope (23) and Jake Randolph (22). The blue line also is contributing a lot of offense as junior Luc Snuggerud (23 points) and senior Ian Brady (18) are on pace for career years.

Need-to-know numbers

The call for more scoring depth has been answered of late for the Pioneers, who have had a total of 11 players light the lamp in the past three games. At the start of the season it took DU 13 games to have a total of 11 players with goals. … Goaltender Tanner Jaillet is climbing the charts. His 14 wins are third most in D-I, his 1.91 GAA is seventh and his .931 save percentage is 11th. … Denver won 30 games during the 2016 calendar year, the most in Division I. … While not posting the numbers he did a season ago, sophomore goalie Evan Weninger is having a decent year (9-5-3, 2.77 GAA and .912 save percentage) for the Mavericks. Freshman Kris Oldham also plays and is 5-2-1 with a 3.18 GAA and .897.

Injury updates

Both teams are expected to be without key players. DU’s Terry practiced Thursday but is not expected to return from an upper-body injury for several weeks. Omaha’s Randolph sustained a lower-body injury last Friday, tried to play through it Saturday and eventually left the victory against Miami.