This is the third in a series of analyses about the No. 2 Denver hockey team at the midseason break. The Pioneers resume their season at Providence this weekend; check back for a preview of that in the next day or two.

Here is a review of the Pioneers’ special teams

Click here for a review of the Pioneers’ offense thus far

Click here for a review of the Pioneers’ defense thus far

A funny thing (or a not so funny thing if you’re a coach, player or a fan of flow in college hockey games) happened in the first half of the season – refs began calling more and more penalties. Stick penalties, holds and interference calls skyrocketed as the stripes adhered to renewed call to eliminate any sort of impedance from the college hockey game. As a result special teams took on even more significance.

In a conference as competitive as the NCHC, that put the onus on teams to mind their Ps & Qs, as well as practice their PPs and PKs, all the more earnestly.

So it figures that with more penalties being called and DU sitting at No. 2 in the Division I polls, the Pioneers’ special-teams units must be lights out, right? Guess again.

At the break, Denver’s power-play was hitting at 16.1 percent, or 38th best out of the 60 D-I teams. The Pioneers’ penalty kill was better, at 84.4 percent, or 24th. Add them up and you have 100.5 percent, which is what many college coaches would call acceptable.

Let’s drill down a bit further on each unit.

The power play got a gigantic boost with the return of sophomore forward Dylan Gambrell, who frequently mans a point on the top unit with senior defenseman Will Butcher. Up front, the options include highly skilled sophomore Troy Terry and freshman Henrik Borgstrom and emerging finisher Jarid Lukosevicius. Senior center Matt Marcinew was getting the call for Gambrell, and his skill set allows him to make cameos in the top group as well. This group has accounted for 11 goals, and half of Borgstrom’s eight have come here as well as three of Gambrell’s five.

The second unit often includes defensemen Blake Hillman and Michael Davies (who were junior teammates at Dubuque of the USHL) and Marcinew, sophomore Colin Staub and freshman Liam Finlay up front, with senior Evan Janssen sometimes appearing as well. Janssen, Finlay and Marcinew each have one goal.

So the Pioneers’ top group has done the lion’s share of the damage when a man up.

Consistency has been a bit of an issue. DU scored a PPG in each of its first four games, but it had 27 chances (14.8 percent). After an 0-for-9 run in its next three games, it went 5-for-17 in its next three (29 percent), coinciding with Gambrell’s return from an upper-body injury.

Beginning with the Miami series, DU went 5-for-34  (14.7 percent) in the eight games leading up to the break, and just 1-for-16 (6.3 percent) in its past four (all of which Borgstrom missed due to an illness). With Borgstrom and Terry unavailable vs. Providence because they’re playing in the World Junior Championships, it will be interesting to see what combinations the coaching staff concocts.

While the power play slumped heading into the break, the penalty kill enjoyed its best stretch, holding Colorado College and No. 1 Minnesota-Duluth to a combined 0-for-13. That came on the heels of its worst weekend of the season when Denver allowed five PPGs to Air Force and Wisconsin in non-conference games it easily could have lost despite outplaying both teams for long stretches. Those are the only two games DU has allowed more than one PPG, and they pitched shutouts in five of their first 12 games.

One difference in the AFA and UW games was the Pioneers were without both Janssen (concussion) and fellow senior energy bolt Emil Romig (lower body injury). Janssen’s return helped in the closing stretch, and he and sophomore Logan O’Connor have been excellent together on the kill, with O’Connor scoring the team’s lone short-handed goal so far. Marcinew, freshman Tyson McLellan and Terry and Gambrell also are anchors up front on the PK. Senior defenseman Matt VanVoorhis also has been a disruptive force playing at forward on the PK.

The top two defense pairs of Butcher and Adam Plant and Davies and Tariq Hammond typically log the most minutes on the penalty kill, though Hillman also has gotten time there. And of course the best penalty killers have goaltenders Tanner Jaillet and Evan Cowley.

Barring further significant injuries, I would expect the Pioneers to improve in both of these categories.

So despite having acceptable special teams and an offense that only recently got untracked, the Pioneers reeled off a 15-game unbeaten streak. That should tell you just how good their defense and goaltending have been at even strength all season, and why they should be considered a serious threat to reach a second consecutive Frozen Four come April.