No. 1 Denver (9-3, 5-1 NCHC) vs. Omaha (5-5-2, 1-2-1)

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

Streaming / radio: NCHC.tv / 104.3 FM HD3

WHAT TO WATCH FOR

No turkey hangovers. How will Denver start? The Pioneers are coming off a bye week and fall quarter finals on the heels of a potentially watershed sweep of North Dakota in Grand Forks, which bumped them back to the top of the polls. Omaha split at Minnesota Duluth two weeks ago. While DU hasn’t suffered a regulation loss in eight games, the Mavericks have been inconsistent. A 1-3-1 start was followed by three wins and a 1-2-1 stretch to start NCHC play. Denver has played a far tougher schedule, with nine games vs. ranked teams compared to Omaha’s four.

One of the more encouraging developments for the Pioneers at NoDak was the emergence of secondary scoring, particularly in the forms of freshmen Aidan Thompson (four points in four games) and Jared Wright (three goals at North Dakota) and sophomore Carter King. That is crucial to support the top line of Massimo Rizzo (18 points), Carter Mazur and Casey Dornbach (15 each) and defensemen Mike Benning (seven) and Shai Buium (six). Mazur’s 12 goals lead Division I, while Omaha senior Jack Randl is right behind him with 11. Rizzo’s point total is tied for sixth highest.

In net, the Mavericks rely primarily on transfer Jake Kucharski (AIC). The junior is 3-4-2 with a 2.34 goals-against average and a .921 save percentage. Senior Magnus Chrona has started all but one game for DU and is 8-3 with 2.20 and .908 numbers. … Taking a lot of penalties isn’t a great idea. Both teams have top-20 power plays – Omaha is 15th (23.5 percent) and DU is 19th (23.2). The penalty kill is OK statistically for both teams – Omaha is 43rd (78.4 percent) and DU is 49th (76.7).

Two more things to note: Denver will honor the late Peter McNab, the program’s 10th-leading scorer all-time, before Saturday’s game. McNab played 14 NHL seasons before spending 35 years as a NHL broadcaster – the past 27 for the Colorado Avalanche. … Speaking of the Ads, DU announced its Jan. 27 game vs. Colorado College, which kicks off the 2023 Gold Pan competition, has been moved to Ball Arena.

©First Line Editorial 2022