Senior captain Will Butcher got it done at both ends of the ice for DU at Miami, picking up four points and keeping the RedHawks in check. Photo courtesy of DU Athletics.

If there was a road series in the second half I thought might be trouble for Denver, it was this past weekend’s trek to Oxford, Ohio, to play Miami.

After all, the young RedHawks battled the then No. 1 Pioneers to a pair of draws (won in shootouts by freshman Henrik Borgstrom) in mid-November at Magness Arena. A young, Enrico Blasi-coached team typically will improve as the season wears on, and I expected Miami to be a tough out.

In a nutshell, No. 1 once again DU took care of business as one would expect one of the best teams in the nation to do, shellacking the RedHawks by a combined 10-4 over the weekend. Given that the Mayhem crew was busy moving this weekend, and given there didn’t seem to be much to poke holes in, we’ll touch on some pluses and pick three stars.

Plus

Troy Terry is back to being himself. The sophomore forward scored three goals on the weekend, was selected the NCHC’s offensive player of the week, and showed some of his trademark dazzle on one of his two tallies Saturday.

Plus

The special teams were, well, special. The power play connected on 3 of 8 chances (37.5 percent) and the penalty kill worked 8 of 9 times (88.9 percent). Add them up and you get 126.4 – well above the desired 100 percent effectiveness rate coaches crave.

Plus

The Pioneers got points from 12 of their 18 skaters, and seven of them had two or more points. We’re big believers in needing scoring balance to play into April, and DU has consistently received that during the second half.

Three stars

1. Will Butcher. Not only did the captain have a league-best four points and pick up NCHC defensive honors, but his goal was Friday’s winner. The captain also was selected a finalist for the Senior CLASS Award late last week.
2. Terry. Like St. Cloud State and Omaha, the Pioneers’ next two foes who missed out on full weekend of him, needed this.
3. Emil Romig. The senior and all-world good guy also had three goals this weekend and his play has been trending upward since returning from a broken lower-leg bone. He and energy linemates Evan Ritt and CoLogan O’Staubor accounted for eight points on the weekend.