No. 5 Denver vs. No. 8 Ohio State

NCAA Tournament West Regional semifinal at Fargo, N.D.

Friday, 2 p.m., ESPNU

Series: Tied at 6-6

Last year’s NCAA meeting: Ohio State 5, Denver 1

Records (Pairwise): DU 22-11-5 (8) / OSU 20-10-5 (9)

How they got here

• Denver finished fourth in the NCHC, won its first-round series vs. North Dakota in two games, lost to NCHC champion Minnesota Duluth in the semifinals, 3-0, before dusting Colorado College, 6-1 in the consolation game.
• Ohio State rolled to the Big 10 regular-season title, swept Michigan State in a quarterfinal series then was dropped by Penn State, 5-1, in the semifinals.

How they match up statistically

Goals: DU 107 / OSU 108

Goals against: DU 79 / OSU 81

Power play: DU 15.5% / OSU 21.2%

Penalty kill: DU 82.1% / OSU 81.7%

Leading scorers: DU – Liam Finlay 35 points (15 goals), Jarid Lukosevicius 18 goals (28 points) and Emilio Pettersen 23 assists (29 points). OSU – Mason Jobst 36 points, 17 goals, Tanner Laczynski 20 assists (30 points).

Top goaltenders: DU – Devin Cooley 11-6-2, 1.85 GAA, .934 save%;  Filip Larsson 11-5-3, 2.08 GAA, .929 / OSU – Tommy Nappier 12-3-3, 1.91 GAA .934; Sean Romeo 8-7-2, 2.58 GAA, .902.

Past 10 games: DU 6-3-1 / OSU 4-5-1

Coaching connection: Buckeyes assistant Steve Miller was a longtime time member of the staffs of George Gwozecky and Jim Montgomery at DU.

Elsewhere in the West Regional: No. 1 St. Cloud State vs. American International

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