No. 7 Denver (6-3-1) vs. No. 9 Providence (7-3-1)

Friday and Saturday, 7:07 p.m., at Magness Arena

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

Series: Providence leads, 8-6-2

Last meeting: The Friars took three of four points in a series at Rhode Island on Dec. 30-31, 2016.

Overview

The Pioneers will be looking for their first win against the Friars since 2000 in a non-conference series that undoubtedly carries Pairwise implications for both programs. DU coach David Carle described Providence as a “fast, heavy” team – sounds a lot like Minnesota Duluth. Offense isn’t an issue for either team – Denver averages 3.70 goals per game and Providence averages 3.82. And both teams have been stingy defensively; Denver allows 2.20 gpg, while Providence gives up just 1.91. … DU’s victory against UMD was its first against a ranked team this season and its fourth in five Friday games. Interestingly enough, Providence has lost all three of its games against ranked teams. … Friars goalie Hayden Hawkey (7-3, 1.92 gaa, .905 save percentage) is from Parker and played much of his youth hockey in the Denver area. … Freshman forward Jack Dugan leads the Friars with 14 points and junior Josh Wilkins has 12. Junior forward Kasper Björkqvist has a team-high six goals. … Senior Jarid Lukosevicius and freshman linemate Emilio Pettersen each have a team-high 13 points for DU, junior Liam Finlay has 12 and the third member of the top line, freshman Cole Guttman, has 10 – same as Finlay’s freshman center, Brett Stapley, and defenseman Ian Mitchell. Lukosevicius has eight goals and Finlay has seven. Overall, DU’s freshmen have 41 points, second most in Division I. … DU goalie Devin Cooley is tied for 15th in save percentage (.928) and is 22nd in gaa (2.19).

Three keys for Denver

Keep early momentum going – Denver has done an excellent job taking early leads this season, and that was particularly helpful against then-No. 1 Minnesota Duluth, leading to a 2-0 win and 4-3 overtime loss that was seconds away from being a 3-2 win.

Discipline – The Pioneers are taking 13.20 penalty minutes per game – five more per game than last season, and also have taken a handful of five-minute majors that were avoidable. Providence’s power play hits at nearly 24 percent, so if those statistical trends continue, the Friars will be good for at least a power-play goal in each game. However, DU’s penalty kill took a big step against Duluth, killing all six chances last weekend. The Friars struck three times in 11 chances against Merrimack last weekend.

Scoring help – DU’s top two lines have scored 76 percent of their goals and defensemen have 22 percent more. The only outlier thus far is forward Jake Durflinger, and he scored DU’s first goal of the season. The Pioneers have a lot of skill on lines 3 and 4, and once they regain their offensive stroke, this will be a very explosive team. No one has really stifled the top line of Lukosevicius, Guttman and Pettersen yet, and maybe no one will, but more scoring depth would be a nice hedge.

© First Line Editorial 2017-18