No. 1 Denver (12-4, 6-2 NCHC) at Minnesota Duluth (8-8, 4-4)

Friday and Saturday, 6 p.m., at Amsoil Arena, Duluth, Minn.

Streaming / radio: NCHC.tv / 104.3 FM HD3

WHAT TO WATCH FOR

This is the first of two NCHC series between DU and UMD, but don’t rule out the teams meeting at least once in the postseason. In March the Bulldogs defeated the Pioneers, 2-0, in a Frozen Face-off semifinal, but DU flipped the script with a compelling 2-1 NCAA Regional final victory the following weekend. The playoff split came after a regular-season split.

The Bulldogs are a young team (10 freshmen), and it has showed thus far. Consistency, outside of leading scorer Ben Steeves (11 goals, 14 points) and defenseman Derek Daschke (a transfer from Miami who has 11 points), has been difficult to maintain. They’ve split each of their four NCHC series and fell out of the rankings in early November. UMD scores 2.3 goals per game, but the surprising aspect of their season has been they’re allowing nearly 3 per game. It’s been boom or bust. Six times they’ve allowed four or more goals, but seven times they’ve allowed two or fewer.

This is the Pioneers’ only NCHC series between Thanksgiving and mid-January, and Duluth’s inconsistency offers them a chance to maintain or build their conference lead. (St. Cloud State is right on their heels). Coach David Carle noted how the mix of new forwards is coming together, as evidenced by an uptick in shots and quality chances, after last weekend’s sweep of Arizona State. Defensemen Mike Benning (12 points, five goals), Sean Behrens and Shai Buium (8 points apiece) are creating more offense as well. Since freshman Aidan Thompson made his debut after recovering from an injury, he and fellow newcomer Jared Wright have 15 points in eight games. Carter Mazur (17, 12) played on a line with them last weekend, while Tristan Broz played with leading scorers Massimo Rizzo (21, 7) and Casey Dornbach (18, 7). Mazur already is two goals away from matching his total from his dynamic freshman season. Behrens, Buium and forward Jack Devine will head to Team USA’s pre-World Junior Championship training camp immediately after this series and won’t be available next weekend against Lindenwood. Behrens made the 2022 team with Mazur.

©First Line Editorial 2022