#5/6 Denver (17-6-5, 7-5-4-3 NCHC) at #1 North Dakota (21-3-3, 12-2-2-2 NCHC)
Feb. 14-15, 2020
Grand Forks, N.D.
Ralph Engelstad Arena (11,634)
Friday: 7:36 pm CT
Saturday: 7:07 pm CT
Series: UND leads 147-128-16 (.533)
Last series: T, 1-1; UND W, 4-1 (Nov. 15-16, 2019)
 
FRIDAY TV
CBS Sports Network
PxP: Ben Holden
Analyst: Dave Starman
Rinkside: Shireen Saski
 
SATURDAY TV
MidcoSN/FOX College/TSN2
PxP: Alex Heinert
Analyst: Jake Brandt
Rinkside: Katie Hale
Web: nchc.tv
 
SERIES RADIO
PxP: Tim Hennessy
Analyst: Steve Olson
Radio: 96.1 FM (Flagship) & Home of Economy  Radio Network
Web: FightingHawks.com and iheart app 
 
THIS WEEK
Top-ranked North Dakota tussles with rival Denver this weekend in a no-love-lost series over Valentine's Day. UND took five of six points earlier this season with a 1-1 tie (3-on-3 goal) and a 4-1 win at Magness Arena Nov. 15-16.
 
LAST TIME OUT
North Dakota swept Colorado College with two very different games. Saturday, UND raced out to a 4-0 lead after one period and piled up an 8-1 win.
 
Friday, Peter Thome made 25 saves to make Shane Pinto's third-period goal hold up as North Dakota shutout CC, 1-0. It was the second 1-0 win for North Dakota this season and gave UND it 20th win of the season.
 
BROADCAST INFORMATION
Friday will feature the third and final CBS Sports Network broadcast for North Dakota. Ben Holden is the veteran play-by-play man with Dave Starman providing color analysis and Shireen Saski handling rinkside duties.
 
Saturday's game will be telecast live on Midco Sports Network, the primary TV home of North Dakota hockey. Alex Heinert does the play-by-play, with former UND goalie Jake Brandt handling the color analysis with Katie Hale as the rinkside reporter. That game will also be available in Canada on TSN2 and worldwide via streaming at NCHC.tv.
 
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 41st season as the voice of UND men's hockey, calls the action while Steve Olson provides color analysis.
 
SOCIAL MEDIA
Follow along with the action live by following @UNDmhockey and @UNDInsider on Twitter. Fans can also read the action via live chat via the Grand Forks Herald and beat writer Brad Schlossman.
 
SERIES HISTORY
North Dakota owns a 147-128-16 lead in the all-time series with the Pioneers. In Grand Forks, the Fighting Hawks are 85-44-10 against Denver. North Dakota took five points in the earlier series this season at Magness Arena, Nov. 15-16.
 
#KAWAHOBEY
Hobey Baker Award candidate Jordan Kawaguchi has been on a hot streak of late, recently completing an 8-game point streak that saw him pile up 15 points during that stretch. The junior forward has points in 20 of the last 23 games. Some key Jordan Kawaguchi facts from his breakout junior season:
 
*Leads team in points (41), goals (15) and assists (26).
Sta                    #       NCHC       NCAA
Points                 41     1st         2nd
Assists                 26     2nd        7th
Primary A            22     1st         1st
Goals                  15     T16th     3rd
GWGs                    5     T1st       T1st
+/-                    +19     T4th       T11th
Home Pts            27     1st         1st
GW Pts                11     1st         1st
Multi-Pt Gms      14     1st         2nd
3+pt Gms             6     1st         T1st
 
PESKI LIL BUGGER
Andrew Peski posted a career-high three points in UND's last game, the Feb. 1st 8-1 win over Colorado College. The senior defenseman had three assists to up his season points total to 10, double his previous season best (2017-18).
 
SECOND TIME AROUND
North Dakota has won 12 of 13 games in the second game of a two-game series this season. UND has won 11 straight games in the second game of a series.
 
PETE AND REPEAT
Peter Thome has allowed just two goals in the last three games against Colorado College combined. Last season, he squandered just a late extra-attacker goal in a 2-1 UND win in Colorado Springs, Colo., Mar. 2 before a 1-0 shutout and an 8-1 win Jan. 31- Feb. 1.  
 
DO YOU WANNA BUILD A SNOWMAN?
North Dakota has scored eight goals or more a whopping four times already this season. The last UND team to score 8 in a game more than once in a single season was 2011-12 (three times). The last North Dakota squad to pile up four snowmen or more was the 2003-04 team (six times).
 
FOUR-PLAY
UND tallied its 17th game with four or more goals this season with the 8-1 drubbing of Colorado College in its last outing Feb. 1. UND is 14-1-2 in those contests.
 
BACK AT ONE
UND  remains atop both national polls  in the most-recent USCHO.com and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine polls. UND has now been in the top spot in six different polls this season after beginning the season at No. 18/RV.
 
TOP TEN TEAMS
Three of the eight NCHC teams are ranked in the top six in this week's USCHO.com poll. UND paces the poll nearly unanimously with Minnesota Duluth at four and Denver sitting in sixth. Western Michigan is receiving votes in the USCHO.com poll.  
 
CATCH A TIGER BY ITS THOME
Peter Thome, after the Feb. 1 win, has a sparkling 1.11 career goals-against average against Colorado College. He's 4-2-0 in six games with a .955 save percentage against the Tigers.
 
WEATHERBY REPORT
Jasper Weatherby won 24 of his 30 faceoff battles last week against Colorado College to push his team-leading season percentage to .590.
 
JORDAN RULES
Jordan Kawaguchi's three-point effort in his last outing, Feb. 1, gives him 41 points on the season. With still eight games left in the regular season and the postseason, the junior has the most points by a UND player since Brock Boeser's 60-point 2016 championship season and is ahead of Ryan Duncan's 2006-07 Hobey Baker Award-winning pace.  
 
HOME COOKING
North Dakota is outscoring its opponents, 66-24, in home games this season (14-1-0 record). UND is allowing just 1.6 goals per home game and has squandered just three power-play goals at home all season (48 opportunities) for a .938 percent kill percentage.
 
RALPH-AGUCHI ARENA
Junior Hobey Baker Award hopeful Jordan Kawaguchi has been fantastic at the Ralph Engelstad Arena this season, tallying 27 total points in 17 games at home. He has 9 goals and 18 assists with a current 14-game home point streak.
 
NO, NO. WE'RE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER
UND has enjoyed having scoring production from the entire roster. After Casey Johnson's Jan. 11th goal vs. Omaha, 22 different players have scored this season, most since the 2003-04 team. 17 have multiple tallies and eight different players have at least a half-dozen goals on the year.
 
ADAMS' APPLES
Collin Adams notched three assists in the Jan. 3 win over Alabama-Huntsville, tying his single-game record for helpers. He now has 23 points on the season, nearly triple his previous career best (8 in 2017-18).
 
HOME SWEET HOME
UND is 14-1-0 at home and has been good offensively and defensively. North Dakota is out-scoring its opponents, 66-24 at home this year through 15 games and leads the nation in goals (66), goal margin (+42), shots on goals allowed/gm (16.73) and wins (14).
 
SIMPLY THE BEST
North Dakota leads the country in goals scored per game at 4.19, shots on goal margin per game (+9.89) and shots on goal against per game (21.19).
 
Individually in the NCHC, UND has the leading point-getter (Jordan Kawaguchi- 41), freshman scorer (Shane Pinto- 13), game-winning goals (Kawaguchi and Adams- 5), goalie wins (17) and goals-against average (Adam Scheel, 2.08).
 
PLUS/MINUS IN THE NCHC
The top eight of nine spots in the NCHC currently in plus/minus rating all belong to UND players? Collin Adams (+24) paces the group with Matt Kiersted (+21) in second and Johnny Tychonick in third with a +20 rating. Both of those players are in the top 10 in the NCAA in that category as well.
 
CLUTCH-AGUCHI
Jordan Kawaguchi has five game-winning goals this season. Kawaguchi has scored or assisted on the game winner 11 times in UND's 21 wins. He leads the NCAA in primary assists (22). He has 14 multi-point games and six three-point games, both leading the country.
 
KAWA-GWG-UCHI
Jordan Kawaguchi has a flair for the dramatic, scoring three overtime goals in his career. The latest came Nov. 23 in a 2-1 win over St. Cloud State. According to research dug up by Brad Schlossman of the Grand Forks Herald, Kawaguchi is the first UND player to notch three career OT winners since Justin Duberman (1990). For his career, Kawaguchi has eight game-winners among his 30 career goals.