#19  North Dakota Fighting Hawks at #8/7 Denver Pioneers
Friday, Mar. 15 • 8:00 pm (CT) • Magness Arena (7,200) • Denver, Colo.
Saturday, Mar. 16 • 8:00 pm (CT) • Magness Arena (7,200) • Denver, Colo.
Sunday, Mar. 17 • 7:00 pm (CT) • Magness Arena (7,200) • Denver, Colo (if necessary)
TV: Midco Sports Network (NCHC.tv feed)  |  Radio: Home of Economy Radio Network
Webcast: NCHC.tv  |  Live stats: www.DenverPioneers.com
 
THIS WEEKEND:
North Dakota, the fifth-seed, heads to the road for the NCHC quarterfinals for the first time as it has drawn the fourth-seeded Denver Pioneers in the opening round. This marks the first time since the 2001-02 season that UND will not host the first round of the league playoffs, breaking what was the country's longest-running streak of consecutive years hosting the first round of conference playoffs.
 
BROADCAST INFORMATION
This series will be telecast live on Midco Sports Network as they have agreed to pick up the feed from Denver's NCHC.tv broadcast.
 
All UND men's hockey games, home and away, can be heard on stations across the UND Sports Home of Economy Radio Network, as well as through the iHeart Radio app. The flagship station for the network is 96.1 FM (The Fox). Longtime broadcaster Tim Hennessy, in his 40th season as the voice of UND men's hockey, calls the action while Steve Olson provides color analysis.
 
SOCIAL MEDIA
Receive live updates during all UND hockey games by following @UNDmhockey and @UNDInsider on Twitter. Fans can also follow the action via live chat via the Grand Forks Herald's UND hockey beat writer Brad Schlossman's blog.
 
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 146-126-15 (.537) record in the all-time series with Denver enjoying the slight edge this season with a 2-1-1 mark. The teams split in Grand Forks and then the Pioneers got a win and a tie at Magness Arena in February. 

ABOUT THE PIONEERS
Liam Finlay leads Denver with 32 points (13-19-32), averaging .94 points per game compared to .37 in 2017-18 and .50 in 2016-17.
The Pioneers are winless in their last three games, going 0-2-1 to close the regular season. Since the start of the calendar year, the Pioneers are operating at 9.2% on the power play, 59th in the NCAA, and 77.6% on the penalty kill, 43rd in the NCAA. Prior to the New Year, the Pioneers were operating at 19.7% on the power play, T-10th in the NCAA, and 84.6% on the penalty kill, 18th in the NCAA.

Goaltending has been a strong point for the Pios, as sophomore Devin Cooley (1.89 GAA, 6th in NCAA) and freshman Filip Larsson (2.29 GAA, 23rd in NCAA) lead the way.
 
LAST MEETINGS BETWEEN THESE TEAMS:
Denver got a win and a tie at Magness just a little over a month ago. Friday, UND peppered Filip Larsson with 19 shots on goal in the opening period and 46 for the game, but fell, 2-1.

Saturday, Brett Stapley scored with just 18 seconds remaining in the 3-on-3 overtime session to earn the extra point for DU, in what ultimately ended up being the difference in the standings between the schools.
 
LAST SERIES
North Dakota swept Omaha, 2-1 and 5-4, last weekend, but it wasn't without its drama. Nick Jones broke a 1-1 tie Friday with a goal early in the third for the game-winner. Saturday, UND trailed 2-1 in the second before scoring three straight for a 4-2 lead. However, Omaha tied it with just over a minute remaining in regulation before Jordan Kawaguchi scored 16 seconds into overtime for the sweep.
 
SOMETHING'S GOTTA GIVE
North Dakota and Denver are the only two NCHC schools to advance to the semifinals in all of the previous NCHC playoffs. UND has advanced past the first round 16 straight times, while Denver last missed the semifinals in 2013, in its final year of the WCHA.
 
SOME UNCHARTERED TERRITORY
North Dakota is playing on the road in the first round of the conference playoffs for the first time since the 2001-02 season. It broke a string of 16 straight years in which UND hosted the opening round, piling up an impressive 32-6 (.842) mark during that time -- including a 10-1 (.909) mark in the NCHC -- and won all 16 of those series.
 
The last time UND opened the conference playoffs on the road was 2001-02, when it suffered a two-game sweep at eventual champion Minnesota in the WCHA Playoffs.

JORDAN RULES
Sophomore Jordan Kawaguchi scored  a pair of goals against Omaha last week to push him to double figures on the season (10).
 
SHOTS, SHOTS, SHOTS
UND fired 86 shots on goal last week against Omaha, getting 46 on net Friday and 40 more on Saturday. For the season, North Dakota has six different occurrences of generating 40+ shots in a game. UND has out-shot its opponent 26 times this season.
 
POLL POSITION
UND stayed at No. 19 in the March 11th USCHO.com poll for the second straight week. North Dakota did not appear in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll also released this week.
 
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 and five total teams are in the national rankings. Minnesota Duluth sits at No. 4 in both polls, Denver is seventh in USCHO, eighth in USA Today while Western Michigan is 12th in both and UND checks in at No. 19 in USCHO's poll.
 
HANDLING THE RANKED TEAMS
North Dakota has 10 wins against teams that were ranked when they played. UND is 10-8-1 against ranked teams this season.
 
THEY HAVE THEIR AT-TEN-TION
North Dakota, in its last 10 games, despite playing eight that were ranked in the top 10, has come out of that stretch with a 5-4-1 record. The Fighting Hawks out-scored their opponents, 28-21, in that stretch, including a pair of five-goal outbursts (vs. St. Cloud and at Western Michigan).
 
OVERTIME OFFENSE
North Dakota is 4-1-2 in overtime games this season, scoring all four of those wins at home. UND bested Wisconsin on Nov. 3 then swept CC in a pair of overtime games before Saturday's win over Omaha. UND's only loss in OT came at the hands of Denver, in a Dec. 8 loss (2-1) in Grand Forks.
 
FACE FACTS
North Dakota has won the battle in the faceoff circle in all but seven games this season. UND has just two wins when it doesn't have the advantage in the dot, including Friday's 2-1 win over Omaha.
 
SPEEDY SCORING
Nick Jones scored just 37 seconds into the game Saturday against Omaha, the third time in the last eight games that North Dakota has scored on the opening shift. Mark Senden got one 18 seconds into the game Feb. 15 at Western Michigan and then another 44 seconds in Feb. 23 against Minnesota Duluth.

SCHEEL ALL-ROOKIE TEAM
Adam Scheel was named to the NCHC All-Rookie Team Tuesday. He and Denver's goalie Filip Larsson are the two goaltenders on the squad and joined by forwards Noah Cates (Minnesota Duluth), Nolan Walker (St. Cloud State) and Omaha's Taylor Ward.  SCSU's Nick Perbix and Colorado College's Bryan Yoon make up the All-Rookie blue line.
 
**For the complete release, click on the attached PDF**