Blankety blank blank blank blank.

So it goes for No. 5 Denver at Magness Arena in the second half. The Pioneers rode 24 saves from senior goaltender Tanner Jaillet and a tough-angle goal by Henrik Borgstrom to a 1-0 NCHC victory over No. 10 Minnesota Duluth on Friday night.

It was the Pioneers’ fourth consecutive shutout at home and sixth of the season, five of which have come in the friendly confines. It also was their fourth consecutive one-goal victory over the Bulldogs (14-12-3, 8-9 NCHC) dating to April’s national championship game. The scores have been 3-2, 1-0, 2-1 and 1-0 again.

The constant has been the man in net.

“He’s incredible. He’s the backbone of this team,” said senior Adam Plant, who returned from injury to help lead a stingy DU defense. “We’re not going to be doing well if he isn’t.”

Jaillet need to be particularly good in the third period, when the Bulldogs outshot the Pioneers (15-6-6, 9-4-4-3 NCHC) 17-8 and had their share of chances to tie the score.

“(His calm demeanor) rubs off on all of us,” Plant said. “You go back out there and he’s almost yawning and saying let’s get this over with. He’s so calm. Everyone feels that way. There’s no panic. That’s how we can (win) these 1-0, 2-1 games.”

The goalie’s consistency has stood out during a season that at times has been up and down for the Pioneers.

“He’s been just as good on the road,” DU coach Jim Montgomery said. “You have to say if there is an MVP of our team it’s him. He’s the one consistent when he’s going well for us.”

Borgstrom has been going well of late, too, and his goal 2:35 into the third period was a heads-up play. The sophomore center, who has 14 points in his past 10 games and team highs of 17 goals and 37 points) used an element of surprise and an element of elite skill to stun UMD netminder Hunter Shepard (25 saves).

Borgstrom collected a pass from Ian Mitchell in the left circle, found some space at it’s bottom and fired a bad-angle shot off Shepard’s helmet and into the net.

DU held a 19-8 shots edge at that point, but from there the Bulldogs went on a 16-7 rampage, something Montgomery said falls into the needs improvement category.

“”I didn’t think we were great from the 15-minute mark until about the 4-minute mark,” the coach said. “I thought we were really good under 5 minutes. Until then we turned pucks over needlessly, … gave up odd-man rushes. There’s time to put pucks off the glass and we’ve got to get better at that.”

Duluth’s third-period charge was capped with its 6-on-5 push in the final 1:11. But Denver’s response demonstrated its progress from even a month ago.

“It’s obviously a bit nerve wracking,” Jaillet said. “We’ve had a lot of close games this season and had teams come back on us so hopefully we’ve turned the corner there and start closing teams out.”

Friday’s win made DU 14-0-3 in games in which it holds foes to two or fewer goals and 10-1-3 vs. ranked teams.

“We played the right way, we got rewarded, we didn’t give up,” Montgomery said. “It’s nice to win a game scratching and clawing.”

Green thumb

Plant’s return to the lineup was both mildly surprising and hugely important for DU. Plant, who was knocked out of last Friday’s game and missed the next night’s contest at North Dakota because of a hit to the head, played a key role in defending UMD’s top line of Riley Tufte, Peter Krieger and Joey Anderson. That trio had accounted for 59 points entering Friday’s game, 15 more than the Bulldogs’ second line.

Plant and D partner Michael Davies unofficially were on the ice for 15 of the UMD trio’s 26  shifts at even strength. Plant also played against them three times while paired with Blake Hillman, including during the final 1:05 of the game, when UMD had pulled its goalie.

“We were matched up against those guys. Me and Daves love the opportunity to go up against top guys,” Plant said.

The 6-foot-6, 220-pound Tufte, a first-round draft pick of the Dallas Stars, had eight inches and 50 pounds on Plant and 10 inches on Davies. The 6-foot, 195-pound Anderson is a second-round pick of the New Jersey Devils.

“I’m not a big guy by any means and I might be bigger than Daves,” Plant said. “It’s just (a matter of) taking away time and space and taking away his stick, not trying to match up with him physically.”

Plant’s resilience – he described his most recent collision as leaving him with a sore jaw and neck – has left an impression on his teammates.

“He’s taken some huge hits throughout the year. He’s a huge part of our D core,” Jaillet said. “He does everything. He blocks shots, he breaks pucks out, on the power play, making offensive plays. He does everything. It’s huge when he’s in the lineup.”

Denver’s three stars

1. Tanner Jaillet. Fourth home shutout in a row. He’s making a serious case to win another Richter Award.
2. Henrik Borgstrom. Very engaged Friday night and pulled a rabbit out of a hat with the game’s lone goal.
3. Adam Plant. Helped anchor a very solid defense corps and helped hold UMD’s powerful top line to eight shots on goal.

Up next

The teams play again Saturday at 7:05 p.m. at Magness Arena. 104.3 FM will carry the broadcast, while NCHC.tv (subscription) will stream the game.