No. 5 Denver (12-6-4, 6-4-2-1 NCHC) vs. No. 15 Omaha (12-9-1, 5-7 NCHC)

Friday and Saturday at 7:05 p.m. at Magness Arena

TV/Radio: Altitude2 / 104.3 FM

Series: Denver leads 25-9-2 and has won the past 10 in a row in the series, dating back to early 2015. The Mavericks have not won at Magness in five years.

Overview

If you like offense this should be a series for you as both teams are proficient at filling the net. The difference has been that the Pioneers are much stingier on defense (2.41 goals allowed per game to Omaha’s 3.91). However, Omaha has proven to be a tough out in the first game of series, when it’s 8-2, while DU is just 4-4-3 on Fridays. This also stands as a potential first-round NCHC playoff series, based on the current standings. … Not only should DU’s standing as the defending national champs motivate Omaha, but the Pioneers knocked the Mavericks out the NCHC playoffs two seasons ago and then won the Penrose Cup at Baxter Arena last season. Neither likely sat well with large group of veterans Omaha brings to town.

Denver update

Can the Pioneers build on what has been their strongest stretch of play thus far? It says here they can because not only are some of their big guns (Henrik Borgstrom, Jarid Lukosevicius and Troy Terry) firing again, but they’ve gone into lockdown mode on defense, allowing one or no goals in six of their past 10 games. Senior Tanner Jaillet (11-5-4) has had a lot to do with that as he has lowered his goals-against average to 2.20 and hiked his save percentage to .917. Getting senior defenseman Adam Plant back from injury also changes the complexion of the Pioneers’ blue line, as does the continuing rounding into form of captain Tariq Hammond after multiple leg surgeries. Add in the emergence of junior Blake Hillman into an every-zone force this season and gifted underclassmen Michael Davies and Ian Mitchell (15 points), and the Pioneers have the potential for a very formidable defense come tournament season. … Up front the trio of Hobey Baker Award nominees – Borgstrom (31 points, 15 goals), Terry (27, 8) and Dylan Gambrell (27, 9) – have to be game planned for by foes. (Gambrell’s all-around game has been sensational) Add in juniors Lukosevicius (18, 10), Colin Staub (15) and Logan O’Connor (11). While Borgstrom, Terry and Lukosevicius endured mini-slumps before putting up 19 total points in the past five games, freshmen Jaakko Heikkinen (10) and Kohen Olischefski and sophomore Liam Finlay (9) emerged, giving Denver additional depth up front. … The Pioneers have two solid power-play units, and they connect 24.8 percent of the time (sixth in D-I). The penalty kill is 15th (83.3 percent), not that it gets a lot of work because the Pioneers’ are the least penalized team in the nation, averaging fewer than four minors per game.

Omaha update

The Mavericks have eight victories over top-20 teams already, and five of those have come in their past six games, when they’ve swept Union and Miami and split with North Dakota. They are once again an offensive juggernaut under first-year coach Mike Gabinet, a UNO alumni who replaced the legendary Dean Blais this past offseason. Gabinet inherited a veteran team that has 12 players in double figures in points (DU has eight). However, 10 of those 12 are juniors or seniors, led by senior David Pope, who leads the Mavericks and is tied for third in Division I with 31 points (tying his career best) and 13 goals. Another senior forward, Tyler Vesel has 19 points. … Junior Evan Weninger has played the majority of games for Omaha in net and has a 10-6-0 record but a .882 save percentage and a 3.57 goals-against average. … The Mavericks have an outstanding power play that connects 27.7 percent of the time (third in D-I). Pope does a lot of the damage (8 PPGs), but eight players have multiple PPGs. Their penalty kill is a solid 81.2 percent as well.

How it could go down

Omaha has not lost when leading after two periods (10-0) and is well above .500 when leading after one, so it behooves DU to score early and often. … Both teams excel on both special teams, particularly on the power play, so whichever team can gain an advantage five-on-five figures to have an overall edge. The Pioneers should be well-rested coming off a weekend off.

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