No. 4 Denver (12-4-2, 4-4 NCHC) vs. Omaha (6-10-2, 2-5-5-1)

Friday, 7:37 p.m., and Saturday, 7:07 p.m. at Magness Arena

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

Series: Denver leads 27-9-2 and has won 12 in a row dating to Jan. 10, 2015

Overview

This DU’s first home game in  47 days, and on the surface it seems like a series they could pick up six critical NCHC points in. Lengthy win streak against the Mavericks aside – and one that includes four shutouts in the past five meetings, DU’s speedy attack has the ability to feast on a team with the defensive shortcomings Omaha has (3.94 goals allowed per game). Evan Weininger is coming off back to back shutouts, but the Pioneers have dominated him over the past two years, denting him for 20 goals in the past five meetings. … Much of the Mavericks’ offense comes from the forward quartet of seniors Mason Morelli (21 points) and Fredrik Olofsson (19), junior Zach Jordan (17) and freshman Taylor Ward (15). Olofsson grew up north of Denver and played for the Colorado Thunderbirds. … The Mavericks are 6-4-1 after a 0-6-1 start. … The Pioneers will be without sophomore goaltender Devin Cooley this weekend. He was stung by a shot at Wisconsin midway through the second period of last Friday’s win and left the game. He did not practice at all this week. In his place, freshman Filip Larsson is expected to get his first back-to-back starts of his NCAA career. After allowing just one goal in each of his second and third starts, he came back to earth a bit last weekend, allowing five goals in four and a half periods. … If DU keeps scoring at the rate it has in the second half, it might not matter. The Pioneers have 17 goals in the past four games. … Junior Liam Finlay has taken over DU’s scoring lead with 19 points and is just one away from his career high. He’s second in goals, with 9, to senior Jarid Lukosevicius (17 points). Freshmen Emilio Pettersen (18 points) and Cole Guttman (15 and 9 goals) have kept up their offense. Sophomore Ryan Barrow has seven of his nine points in the past six games, and freshman Tyler Ward has four in four games among his 10 points.

Three keys for Denver

Road mentality – As tempting as it might be to get into a shootout with Omaha, DU ought to approach this as a road game, playing tight D and making safe plays with the puck. Omaha has quite a bit of offensive ability and could score in a hurry.

Shoot early and often – Weninger has never fared well against DU, particularly at Magness Arena. The Pioneers should remind him of that with a few early goals. Typically, DU’s surges have come later in the game against Omaha. Coming off two shutouts, the last thing DU should want to do is let him build more confidence.

Beware of the box – Omaha converts more than 25 percent of its power plays. DU’s discipline has been better since its early season struggles, but you can bet Omaha will try to exploit that. Special teams could allow the Mavericks to pull off an upset.

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