No. 1 Denver (2-0-2) at No. 6 Boston University (3-2-1)

Friday, 5:30 p.m. MDT

TV/Radio: Patriot League Network (register and stream for free at watchstadium.com) / 1600 AM

Series: Denver leads 16-15-2, including last season’s sweep at Magness Arena. DU has a 6-3-1 mark in the past 10 meetings, but the Terriers are 9-1-2 at home vs. the Pioneers.

Overall

This is the first of two games in Boston for the Pioneers, with a visit to No. 19 Boston College on Saturday. The importance of the games can’t be underestimated for Pairwise purposes (one component of the NCAA Tournament selection process). Also, playing different opponents on back-to-back nights simulates the tournament experience as well.”They don’t like to play the same opponent back-to-back (in the East), and they have so many schools that are close together geographically it makes it easy,” coach Jim Montgomery said. “BC and BU is great for both us and them to play each other for the tournament. … It’s good for your RPI when it comes to tournament seeding, especially if you do well, because winning on the road coupled with you would have an advantage over anyone who lost to BU or BC, which is going to happen because they’re both formidable opponents.”

Denver update

For the second time in three weekends the Pioneers head on the road to face a highly ranked opponent (they also play at No. 19 Boston College on Saturday). This will be another measuring stick of DU’s progress because the Pioneers have played pretty well during the first two Friday games but don’t have a win to show for it. Generating shots (NCAA-best 50.5 per game) and scoring chances hasn’t been a problem. Finishing has been a bit moreso, but the Pioneers have the horses to do it. Seven players have three or more points in the first four games, including Henrik Borgstrom with five in three games and Troy Terry and Dylan Gambrell with five in four games. Liam Finlay has a game-winning and a game-tying goal already, and he, Borgstrom and Jared Lukosevicius played very well together on Saturday. Terry and Gambrell were joined by fellow sophomore Colin Staub (team-high four assists) on Saturday and looked very sharp as well. … Five defensemen already have points for the Pioneers. … Goalie Tanner Jaillet (1-0-2, 2.21 goals-against average, .911 save percentage) was great at Notre Dame and OK in the tie vs. Lake State, but he didn’t receive a lot of help on two of the Lakers’ goals. … DU has taken only eight penalties but three times foes have scored – something that will have to improve vs. a talented and motivated Terriers team. To Denver’s credit, one of its kills was a five-minute major on Saturday. It’s a bit surprising the Pioneer power play is hitting at only a 15.4 percent rate given the amount of shots it generates.

BU update

With another young team (9 of 14 players with points are underclassmen), the Terriers seem like they’re trying to find their footing at times. After defeating Union and No. 13 Quinnipiac in their first weekend, they were swept by No. 12 Mankato State and tied by Connecticut before beating the Huskies last Saturday. One thing is certain, this is a skilled outfit (11 NHL draft picks, including six on defense). So far, BU is getting most of its scoring from four players – forwards Bobo Carpenter (8 points, 5 goals), Patrick Harper (8-4), Shane Bowers (5-4), Jordan Greenway (5-4), Brady Tkachuk (4 assists) and defenseman Chad Keys (4 assists). Bowers and Tkachuk are freshmen and Harper and Krys are sophomores. Tkachuk is eligible for the 2018 Entry Draft. Carpenter (who is undrafted) and Harper are tied for ninth in D-I in scoring. … Greenway joined Terry at USA Hockey’s recent Olympic Games summit, and the World Junior Championship veterans are under consideration for a spot on Team USA. … Sophomore Jake Oettinger (a first-round pick of the Dallas Stars in June) has played every game in goal and has a 2.60 gaa and a .916 save percentage. … The Terriers have been outstanding on the power play thus far, hitting on a third of their 24 tries.

How it could go down

The early season pattern seems to be Borgstrom has a big game on Friday and DU emerges with a tie. This game will be every bit as tough as winning at Notre Dame, and might be tougher because the Terriers have an experience goalie in Oettinger and DU rarely wins at BU. Still, the Terriers have just one win in their past four games and have not faced a goalie in Jaillet’s league yet.

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