No. 4 St. Cloud State (7-1) at No. 2 Denver (6-2, 2-0 NCHC)

Friday at 7 p.m., Saturday at 6 p.m. at Magness Arena

TV / Streaming / Radio: Altitude (Friday only) / NCHC.tv (both nights) / 104.3 FM HD3

WHAT TO WATCH FOR

This is a clash of NCHC titans. Both teams score more than three goals per game and allow fewer than two. St. Cloud has sweeps over Wisconsin, St. Thomas, and then-No. 2 Minnesota State and a split with Bemidji State. DU has defeated top-15 teams Notre Dame and Providence, while absorbing a road sweep at UMass. The Pioneers opened their NCHC slate last weekend with a sweep at Miami thanks to Magnus Chrona’s 10th career shutout Friday, and the sophomore tag team of Massimo Rizzo (seven points) and Carter Mazur (five goals) seemingly scoring at will. Mazur was selected the league’s forward of the week and Chrona, who allowed just two goals on Saturday, was the goalie of the week. …

The Huskies are led by a couple of familiar faces from south on I-25. Fleet forward Grant Cruikshank, who played his first three seasons at Colorado College and spent last year at Minnesota, transferred again. The move has worked out well as he leads SCSU in scoring with 10 points and six goals. Goaltender Dominic Basse is another CC refugee, and all he’s done is go 4-0 with a 1.25 goals-against average and a .945 save percentage. He was selected the national goalie of the month for October. Senior Jaxon Castor also has been strong in net, going 3-1 with 1.51 and .938 numbers. St. Cloud defenseman Dylan Ahnorn also has 10 points and a team-best eight assists, and senior forward Kyler Kupka and Jami Krannila have eight points apiece. …

Beyond DU’s top line, only defensemen Shai Buium and Mike Benning have more than four points, so it would behoove the Pioneers to generate some secondary scoring. Injuries to centers Carter King, McKade Webster and Aidan Thompson have had a large hand in that dearth of scoring balance, but all three practiced this week. King has missed two games, Webster six and Thompson would make his NCAA debut should he be in the lineup.

©First Line Editorial 2022