No. 5 Denver (17-8-7, 11-6-5-4 NCHC) vs. Miami (11-17-4, 6-13-3-1 NCHC)

Friday, 8 p.m. and Saturday, 7 p.m. at Magness Arena

TV / radio: Friday – CBS Sports Network, 104.3 FM; Saturday – NCHC.tv (subscription), 104.3 FM

Series: Denver leads, 13-11-2; the teams split a series at Oxford, Ohio, in early January

Overview

The teams close out the regular season with their second series of the season. Both teams are settled into their NCHC playoff seeds, with the Pioneers ensconced in second and the RedHawks locked into eighth. Miami will play St. Cloud State in a best-of-3 series next weekend, but the Pioneers’ foe has yet to be determined. First-round candidates for DU include Colorado College, Omaha, Western Michigan and yes even North Dakota. With that as the backdrop it will be interesting to see if the Pioneers can build some positive momentum heading in the NCHC playoffs and beyond. DU will honor seniors Tariq Hammond, Tanner Jaillet, Rudy Junda and Adam Plant before Saturday night’s game.

Denver update

Don’t look now, but the Pioneers are 0-2-1 in their past three games, coming on the heels of a 6-0-2 run that began, ironically, against Miami. … DU continues to have a strong penalty kill (85.6 percent) on the rare occasions it needs to use it (it’s 7.69 PIM per game are the fewest in D-I). The power play has had its moments (21.7 percent). … There is something about Miami that the big three of Henrik Borgström (41 points), Dylan Gambrell (37) and Troy Terry (33) enjoy. Gambrell has 11 points and six goals in his career vs. the RedHawks, while Terry has nine and five and Borgström has six points in six games. … Jaillet is in the running for a second consecutive Mike Richter Award, but he is generating surprisingly little buzz despite have similar numbers to last season in every category except wins. His 1.89 GAA is only 0.06 higher than last season and his .928 save percentage is identical. He has 11 fewer wins (16 to 27 a season ago) but could hit 26 if DU runs the table. … Logan O’Connor is scheduled to play his 100th career game for DU on Friday, making him the seventh Pioneer to hit that milestone. Gambrell, captain Tariq Hammond, Blake Hillman, Jaillet, Jarid Lukosevicius, Colin Staub and Terry joined the club earlier this season.

Miami update

The RedHawks snapped a five-game losing streak in which they were shut out three times in a row by taking five of six points from North Dakota last weekend. They scored a power-play goal in each game and limited their penalty minutes on Saturday. Six different players scored their six goals. … Miami has a strong power play (23.1 percent), led by defensemen Grant Hutton (eight PPG) and Louie Belpedio (five). They’re also two of Miami’s top scorers – Belpedio has 27 points and Hutton has 22. The top five scorers are rounded out by forwards Gordie Green (with team highs of 30 points and 13 goals), Josh Melnick (27, 9) and Kiefer Sherwood (22, 7). Two freshmen who played youth hockey in Colorado – Phil Knies (18 points) and Ben Lown (15) also are contributors to the RedHawks attack. … Sophomore goaltender Ryan Larkin has been less consistent this season (11-15-4, .884, 3.07) but he typically has played the Pioneers tough.

How it could go down

If Denver wins the special teams battle, history says it will win the game. In its 4-3 loss at Miami, DU had 47 shots on goal but didn’t score on the power play and allowed two power-play strikes. In the 4-1 win, it got a PPG and kept the Miami power play off the board. Larkin has the ability to steal a game or at least a point, and he’s done it each of his two NCAA seasons vs. the Pioneers.

A look back at the first two meetings this season

Special teams carry Miami to 4-3 win

Pioneers survive nearly period-long 6 on 5

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