No. 5 Denver (14-6-6, 8-4-4-3 NCHC) vs. No. 10 Minnesota Duluth (14-11-3, 8-8 NCHC)

Friday and Saturday, 7:05 p.m. at Magness Arena

TV / Radio: CBS Sports Network (Friday), NCHC.tv (Saturday) / 104.3 FM both nights

Series: Denver leads 121-77-12 and has won four of the past five meetings.

Overview

A strong case could be made for this being the series of the season at Magness Arena given how well both teams have played of late. The Bulldogs have gone 7-3-1 since dropping a pair of one-goal decisions to the Pioneers at Duluth in early December. The Pioneers, meanwhile, are 5-3-4 since those meetings but 4-1-2 in their past seven. This is a matchup featuring a lot of speed and skill and should be plenty of fun to watch.

DU update

It might sound cliche but when the Pioneers play good team defense, they almost always win and they always get points (13-0-3 when allowing two or fewer goals). The fulcrum of this is senior goaltender Tanner Jaillet, but he’s been quick to credit his defensemen and the forwards for their hustle and ability to give him clean looks and clear out the trash. Jaillet’s goals-against average of 1.98 is seventh in the country and his save percentage (.925) is eighth. His 13 wins are ninth. … Statistically, the Pioneers are one of the most dominant teams in D-I – sixth in scoring (3.50) and fifth in defense (2.19). They average the second most shots per game (35.5) and take the fewest penalties (fewer than four minors per game). … Sophomore Henrik Borgstrom is fourth in D-I in scoring with 36 points – 13 of which have come in the past nine games. Junior Dylan Gambrell has been on even more of a heater, with 10 points in his past six games, and 32 points overall (tied for 10th in D-I). Junior Troy Terry, who is playing in his final series for DU until after the Olympics, has 30 points. Terry is expected to miss upcoming series against Colorado College and St. Cloud State but should be back for a home series vs. Miami in four weeks. Another junior, Jarid Lukosevicius has five goals and eight points in the past seven games, hiking his season total to 21. Factor in the production of forwards Colin Staub (17 points) and Logan O’Connor (14) as well as defenseman Blake Hillman (8) and Sean Mostrom (1) and the junior class has 132 points, the most of any junior class in the nation. … Ian Mitchell‘s 21 points are second most among freshmen defensemen to UMD’s Scott Perunovich (24). Sixteen of Mitchell’s points (all assists) have come on the power play, the second highest total in that scenario in the nation. … DU plays its best against ranked opponents, going 9-1-3.

Minnesota Duluth update

The Bulldogs’ numbers are relatively close to DU’s in several categories – power play (24.1 percent to DU’s 25.4 percent), penalty kill (81 percent to DU’s 83.5 percent), goals per game (3.04) and goals allowed per game (2.46). The power play in particular has been surging (33.3 percent in its past five games). … The Bulldogs have allowed two or fewer goals in eight of their past 11 games, but the exceptions included allowing seven goals to Omaha and five to Colorado College. Sophomore goalie Hunter Shepard has settled in and has a 14-9-1 record to go with .914 and 2.29 numbers. He also has three shutouts. … Perunovich, one of five UMD players to represent Team USA at the World Junior Championships, leads the Bulldogs with 24 points and 18 assists. Another WJC veteran, sophomore forward Riley Tufte has 20 points and a team-high 12 goals. Junior forward Peter Krieger has 21 points, and a team best five game-winning goals. A third WJC participant, sophomore forward Joey Anderson has 18 points.

How it could go down

The 2017 national championship rematch should live up to the expectations. The Bulldogs feature six NHL draft picks, while the Pioneers have five, and each team has a first-rounder in them mix – Tufte (Dallas) for UMD and Borgstrom (Florida) for DU. If there is an advantage for Denver, I think he resides in net. The unflappable Jaillet’s experience is particularly valuable in series like this.

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