No. 5 Denver (7-3-2, 3-3 NCHC) at No. 14 North Dakota (8-6-1, 2-4 NCHC)

Friday, 6:37 p.m. MST, and Saturday, 6:07 p.m. MST at Grand Forks, N.D.

Radio / TV: AM 1600 / NCHC.tv (subscription)

Series: North Dakota leads, 145-124-14

Last season: 1-1-2 (DU won twice in NCHC overtime)

Overview

After renewing acquaintances with several of their old WCHA rivals to start the season, North Dakota has had an uneven go in NCHC play, though it did split at Minnesota-Duluth last weekend. Its Saturday win was its first in its past five NCHC games. … UND has rebuilt its back end the same way DU has its forward group – with freshmen. Goalie Adam Scheel is 7-3-1 with a 1.98 GAA and a .910 save percentage. Defensemen Jacob Bernard-Docker (9 points) and Jonny Tychonick (4) each were picked by the Ottawa Senators in June’s NHL Entry Draft; the former was a first-round pick. … Senior captain Rhett Gardner, who seems like he’s been at North Dakota for the past decade, has a team-high eight goals and is helped by a trio of sophomores – Jordan Kawaguchi (11 point), fellow forward Grant Mismash (9) and defenseman Matt Kierstad (9). Mismash, a Nashville Predators pick, has five goals. Senior forward Nick Jones has missed the past seven games due to a lower-body injury, but he had six points in eight games before that. … Denver should be rested and relatively healthy after a weekend off. The Pioneers’ start has exceeded expectations in light of their recent stretch against St. Cloud State (two one-goal losses), a split against Duluth and taking three of four points against Providence. … Senior Jarid Lukosevicius and freshman Emilio Pettersen lead DU with 14 points and their center, freshman Cole Guttman, has 11, including seven goals – the most among NCAA newcomers. Lukosevicius has a team-high eight goals and junior Liam Finlay has seven. Finlay (13) points and freshman Brett Stapley (12) power another highly skilled line that also includes surging freshman Tyler Ward, who won NCHC Rookie of the Week honors two weeks ago. … The Pioneers also got scoring from their third and fourth lines against Providence, a hugely encouraging development. Sophomore center Jaakko Heikkinen struck in both games and had his best all-around series of the season. … One has to wonder if DU will roll with sophomore Devin Cooley (7-3-1, 2.08, .933) in net in both games – a task he’s earned, or if freshman Filip Larsson, who got better as the game went along in his college debut against Providence, will get another start.

Three keys for Denver

1. Stay out of the box – Even though DU has a better power play (22 percent to 17 percent) and both teams take roughly 14 minutes of penalties per game, a road series in a hostile environment isn’t the environment to press your luck. The Pioneers know North Dakota will try to play physically against them but they have to keep their heads. If there is one disturbing early season trend the Pioneers need to clean up, this stands out.
2. Keep the foot on the gas – The last time DU had a week off it ended up sweeping Western Michigan, but it got off to a slow start in the first game, taking the lead late in the first on a shortie by Lukosevicius. In Game 2 of that series, WMU took the game over in the third period only to see the Pioneers tie it in the closing minutes and win it in OT. In other words, DU must sustain its pressure for 60 minutes.
3. Keep them on the perimeter – North Dakota averages slightly more shots per game (31-30) than DU but scores a goal per game less. That indicates its shooters are either less accurate or not getting as many high-quality looks. This should provide further motivation for the Pioneers to keep shots to the outside and not allow repeated chances. If DU does that, its chances of winning go way up.

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