North Dakota Fighting Hawks at #7 Denver Pioneers
Friday, Feb. 1 • 8:07 pm (CT) • Magness Arena (7,200) • Denver, Colo.
Saturday, Feb. 2 • 8:07 pm (CT) • Magness Arena (7,200) • Denver, Colo.
TV: Altitude 2/TSN.ca & TSN app (Friday only)
Radio: Home of Economy Radio Network
Webcast: NCHC.tv
Live stats: www.DenverPioneers.com
 
THIS WEEKEND:
North Dakota heads to Denver this weekend for the first of three straight weeks without a home game. This series looms large as DU and UND are separated by just one point in the NCHC standings with the Pioneers still with one game in hand. 
 
SOCIAL MEDIA
Receive live updates and news during all UND hockey games by following @UNDmhockey and @UNDInsider on Twitter.
 
BROADCAST INFORMATION
Friday's game will be telecast live on Altitude 2 and will be available online in Canada on TSN.ca and the TSN app. Both games will also be available via streaming at NCHC.tv.
 
DENVER COACHING STAFF
Former Denver standout David Carle (Denver '12), the youngest head coach in NCAA Division I men's hockey, is in his first season behind the bench of his alma mater.
 
He spent the previous four-and-a-half seasons on the DU staff under former head coach Jim Montgomery.
 
Carle's staff includes assistant coaches Tavis MacMillan (Alaska '94) and Dallas Ferguson (Alaska '96), as well as volunteer assistant coach Steven Reinprecht (Wisconsin '08).
 
SERIES HISTORY
UND owns a 146-125-14 (.537) in the all-time series with Denver and enjoyed a slight edge in last year's meetings with a split at Denver and a pair of overtime ties later in the year in Grand Forks.
 
The teams split the earlier series this year with North Dakota owning the Friday contest, 4-1, before DU scored with 21 seconds left in overtime to claim a 2-1 win Saturday.
 
ABOUT THE PIONEERS
Denver is ranked seventh in both national polls heading into the weekend, but currently sits in fifth place in the NCHC standings, one point behind North Dakota. The Pioneers are led by senior forward Jarid Lukosevicius, who has 13 goals on the season. Junior forward Liam Finlay has a team-high 25 points (11-14--25). Freshman Filip Larsson has won the lions' share of the time in net since December, back-stopping DU to a 6-2-2 record this season with 2.57 GAA and .908 save percentage.
 
LAST MEETINGS BETWEEN THESE TEAMS:
North Dakota scored four goals on just 15 shots in the Friday 4-1 win but Denver rallied for a 2-1 overtime victory Saturday in Grand Forks, N.D., in early December.

Friday's win included a Colton Poolman empty-netter from nearly 200' that bounced off the side wall and into the net for UND's fourth goal with an assist to goal Adam Scheel.
 
Saturday saw UND tie the score late in regulation on Jacob Bernard-Docker's tally at the 17:25 mark only to have Jarid Lukosevicius spoil it with only 21 seconds remaining in overtime.
 
LAST SERIES
North Dakota split with top-ranked St Cloud State, losing 3-1 Friday and roaring back for a convincing 5-1 win Saturday. Friday's game was tied 1-1 until the 13:33 mark in the third when SCSU took the lead and added an empty netter later. Adam Scheel registered a career-high 33 saves.
 
Saturday was a completely different story. North Dakota got ahead early on a Gavin Hain goal and raced to a 3-0 lead. Hain and Dixon Bowen would each score their second goals of the game in the third period to punctuate the victory.
 
POLL POSITION
UND is receiving votes in the Jan. 28th USCHO.com poll (would be 21st). North Dakota did not appear in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll also released this week. Denver is ranked seventh in both polls.
 
STRONG NCHC FLAVOR IN THE POLLS
Not only does St. Cloud State top both polls, but two other NCHC teams find themselves in the top 10. Reigning national champion Minnesota Duluth sits at No. 3 in both polls, Denver is seventh and Western Michigan cracked the top 10 in both polls to make four NCHC team among the top eight.
 
HANDLING THE RANKED TEAMS
North Dakota has eight wins against teams that were ranked when they played. UND is 8-5 against ranked teams this season.
 
GETTING THEM OFF THEIR PEDESTAL
UND has beaten the No. 1 team in the country in each of the last four seasons.
 
2018-19     Jan 26 vs. SCSU        W, 5-1
2017-18     Nov 17 at Denver       W, 5-4
2016-17     Mar 17 vs Denver       W, 1-0         (NCHC Semifinals)
2015-16     Apr 9 vs Quinnipiac    W, 5-1         (national championship game)
 
BOWEN, BOWEN, ROLLIN'
Junior Dixon Bowen had just one point through his first 16 games played this season, but has come on to tally five points in his last five games. He scored against Colorado College (Jan. 12) then added a pair of assists at Omaha (Jan 18) a game later. Saturday, he registered his first career two-goal game vs. top-ranked St. Cloud State.
 
ADAM GOOD GOALIE
Freshman Adam Scheel was named the NCHC Rookie of the Week for his performance vs. #1 St. Cloud State. He stopped a career-high 33 shots in the Friday 3-1 loss (one EN), then steered the team to a win Saturday, 5-1. For the weekend, he posted a 1.57 goals against average with a .948 save percentage for the series.
 
UND's NCHC weekly honorees
Oct. 29:    Colton Poolman (Defenseman)
Nov. 5:     Adam Scheel (Goaltender)
Nov. 26:    Jacob Bernard-Docker (Defenseman)
Dec. 10:    Colton Poolman (Defenseman)
Jan. 14:    Jacob Bernard-Docker (Defenseman)
Jan. 21:    Gabe Bast (Defenseman)
Jan. 28     Adam Scheel (Rookie)
 
TAKING DOWN THE BIG BOYS
Scheel has eight wins over ranked teams this season after Saturday's 5-1 takedown of #1 St. Cloud State. In the 14 games in which he's played against a ranked team, he's compiled am 8-5 record with a shutout and a ridiculous 1.83 goals against average.
 
WHEN IT HAINS, IT POURS
Gavin Hain delivered his first career two-goal game in the Jan. 26 win over #1 St. Cloud State. He scored the first goal to put UND ahead in the first period then added another in the third period as his line was in on three of the five UND goals.
 
MAKING HIS MARK
Freshman Mark Senden has four goals this season with three of them game-winners. His other goal was a short-handed tally at Canisius. Senden is second on the team in plus/minus at +8.
 
FACE OFF FACTS
North Dakota won a whopping 54 of 73 draws (74%) in the win at Omaha Friday. Rhett Gardner won 23 of 28 faceoffs taken (82.1%). Those 54 wins as a team marked the most of the season for North Dakota. UND has won the faceoff battle in all but four games this season (vs. WMU Nov. 16-17, vs. Denver Dec. 8 and Jan. 18 at Omaha-- all four losses).
 
DID I HEAR A NINER IN THERE?
North Dakota has nine different players with game-winning goals. Mark Senden's winner Saturday vs. St. Cloud State gave him a team-leading three, one of only three players with more than one (Rhett Gardner, Jackson Keane each have two).
 
KEANE EYE
Jackson Keane has two collegiate goals-- both of them are game-winners. He tallied his first Nov. 23 against Alaska-Anchorage but did not have a point after that until his three points and GWG Friday at Omaha.
 
GOOD, BETTER, BAST
Sophomore Gabe Bast was named the NCHC Defenseman of the Week after his performance in a split at Omaha Jan 18-19. Bast tallied his first career two-goal game Saturday and was a +2 on the weekend.
 
**For the complete release (pdf), click here**