No. 4 Denver (17-7-6, 11-5-4-3 NCHC) at No. 1 St. Cloud State (20-6-4, 14-4-2-1 NCHC)

Friday, 6:35 p.m., and Saturday, 6:05 p.m., MST

TV / Radio: CBS Sports Network (Friday) and NCHC.tv (Saturday) / 104.3 FM

Series: Denver leads 49-43-5, including a pair of victories by a cumulative 9-3 at Magness Arena in November, when St. Cloud had taken over No. 1 the first time it held that ranking this season.

Overview

Who wants the Penrose Cup? With a five-point lead, St. Cloud is in a prime position to win and capture the NCHC’s top playoff seed and add to its trophy case, which likely means playing host to Miami in the NCHC quarterfinals. Hardware aside, Denver would like to repeat and not have the possibility of facing any of the five teams duking it out for seeds 3-7 in the conference. For example, a team such as Duluth or North Dakota could slip down (unlikely, but possible), and a first-round matchup against Colorado College or Western Michigan wouldn’t be a picnic either. DU and SCSU come into this series playing well – DU has gone 6-2-1 in its past nine games, while St. Cloud is 6-0-1 in its past seven after a 1-4 slump. They’ve been the top two teams in the league all season, and this should be an excellent series.

Denver update

Beyond playoff positioning, there is the interesting subplot of will forward Troy Terry play this weekend. He’s in Minnesota with the team, and coach Jim Montgomery told the St. Cloud Times that it depends on how Terry’s feeling after spending the better part of two weeks in South Korea at the Olympics and playing in all five of Team USA’s games. Terry, who has 32 points in 28 games is just one point away from joining the 100-point club for his DU career. … Tanner Jaillet will set a school record for games played by a goalie tonight when he makes his 125th appearance. Jaillet has been remarkable of late – allowing zero or one goal in seven of his past nine starts. His overall numbers (16 wins, eighth in D-I), 1.88 goals-against average (seventh) and .928 save percentage (seventh) are sparkling. … Henrik Borgström continues to lead DU with 39 points and 18 goals, and he’s gotten 13 of those points in his past 10 games. Dylan Gambrell has 36 points, 14 of which have come in the past 10 games. Borgström, Jarid Lukosevicius (14 goals, 24 points) and defenseman Adam Plant all had two-goal games during the first meeting between the teams in November.

St. Cloud State update

The Huskies have gotten on track again by getting their offense revved up again. They have 29 goals in their past six games (nearly five per game) and have gone 7 for 24 on the power (29 percent) in that span, including 4 for 11 last weekend. … Junior Robby Jackson leads the Huskies with 34 points and 14 goals. Fellow forward Mikey Eyssimont, a linemate of Dylan Gambrell‘s in youth hockey on the Colorado Thunderbirds, has 14 goals among his 31 points. Defenseman Jimmy Schuldt has 31 points, while Ryan Poehling, a 2017 first-round draft pick of the Montreal Canadiens has 24 points. … The Huskies have gone with a tag team in goal, though freshman David Hrenak (8-4, 1.80 GAA, .933) has played more games (nine) in the second half. Sophomore Jeff Smith is 11-2-4 with 2.61 and .910 numbers. The pair each got a start in each of the past two weekends. … Defenseman Will Borgen, who also was on Team USA but did not get in game, will play this weekend for the Huskies.

How it could go down

The Pioneers have been money (11-1-3) vs. ranked teams, regardless of location, this season. The Olympic-sized sheet at St. Cloud gives the hosts more of an advantage than most, but this is the type of series DU will be up for. If Terry plays (and the guess here is he might on Saturday and possibly both games due to his fiercely competitive nature), that would give the Pioneers an added bounce. And bear in mind, Terry was an absolute beast upon his return from his previous international competition (the 2017 World Junior Championship).

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