The Denver Pioneers men's hockey team looks to rebound from a 4-1 loss on Friday in the second game of a two-game series against the North Dakota Fighting Hawks at Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks, N.D on Saturday, Dec. 8, 2018. Puck drop is set for 6:00 p.m. MT on Saturday. 

DENVER: SNAPSHOT
• Jarid Lukosevicius and Emilio Pettersen lead the Pioneers with 14 points, while their linemate Cole Guttman has 11 points
• The Pioneers average 3.46 goals per game, 11th in the NCAA. Denver has scored at least three goals in all but two games this season (Nov. 16 vs. Minnesota Duluth, Dec. 7 vs. North Dakota)
• Denver has gone 2-4-1 in its last seven games against No. 2 St. Cloud State, No. 1 Minnesota Duluth, No. 9 Providence and No. 14 North Dakota. Four of those games have been decided by one or fewer goals
 
DENVER: LAST GAME
North Dakota 4, Denver 1
• North Dakota scored twice in the first and third periods to defeat Denver. Colin Staub scored the Pioneers lone goal
• Devin Cooley made 11 saves on 14 shots. Denver outshot North Dakota, 22-15
• Denver went 0/4 on the power play and 1/1 on the penalty kill
 
DENVER: UP NEXT
Denver at Merrimack - Dec. 28 | Denver at UMass Lowell - Dec. 29
• The Pioneers look ahead to their 20-day winter break before traveling for a pair of non-conference games
• Denver last played Merrimack on Dec. 29, 2017 (3-2 L) and UMass Lowell on Oct. 19, 2012 (5-1 W)
 
 NORTH DAKOTA: SNAPSHOT
• The Fighting Hawks have won four of their last five games
• North Dakota is 4-2-0 against opponents ranked in the Top 10 with victories against No. 8 Minnesota State, No. 5 Minnesota, No. 2 Minnesota Duluth and No. 5 Denver
• Collin Adams (lower-body injury) and Joel Janatuinen (illness) have each missed three straight games
• North Dakota has the 5th-highest shots on goal margin in the NCAA (+124)
 
NORTH DAKOTA: LAST GAME
North Dakota 5, Denver 1
• Gavin Hain, Mark Senden, Matt Kiersted and Colton Poolman scored for the Fighting Hawks
• Adam Scheel made 21 saves on 22 shots
• North Dakota went 0/1 on the power play and 4/4 on the penalty kill
 
NORTH DAKOTA: UP NEXT
North Dakota vs. USNDTP (Exhibition) - Dec. 29
• After a 21-day break, the Fighting Hawks host the U.S. U-18 Team for an exhibition in Ralph Engelstad Arena
 
PIONEERS VS. FIGHTING HAWKS
• Denver is 124-146-14 all-time against North Dakota
• The Pioneers went 1-1-2 against the Fighting Hawks last season, eanring a pair of NCHC overtime victories in Ralph Engelstad Arena
 
HIGH PIMS
• Denver averages 13.08 penalty minutes per game, 22nd-most in the NCAA
• The Pioneers averaged 8.12 penalty minutes last season, 2nd-fewest in the NCAA
 
FIRST IN CLASS
• Denver's freshmen class has combined for 50 points (18-32-50), 3rd-most in the NCAA
• Emilio Pettersen is tied for 6th among NCAA freshmen with 14 points (5-9-14)
• Cole Guttman is tied for 9th among NCAA freshmen with a +9 rating
 
HOT STREAKS
• Tyler Ward has two goals and three assists in his last four games
• Brett Stapley has one goal and three assists in his last four games
• Jarid Lukosevicius has a point in 10 of 13 games this season
 
TOUGH SCHEDULE
• The Pioneers are in a stretch of playing four top opponents in five weeks with then-No. 2 St. Cloud State (Nov. 9-10), then-No. 1 Minnesota Duluth (Nov. 16-17), No. 9 Providence (Nov. 23-24) and No. 14 North Dakota (Dec. 7-8)
• Denver's strength of schedule ranks 2nd in the NCAA according to the KRACH ranking on CollegeHockeyNews.com
 
2019 IIHF WORLD JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIP
• The 2019 IIHF World Junior Championship is set to be held in Vancouver and Victoria, B.C. from Dec. 26 - Jan. 5
• Ian Mitchell was among 34 players selected to participate in Hockey Canada's Sport Chek Selection Camp from Dec. 10-14 in preparation for the 2019 IIHF World Junior Championship. The final roster is expected to be announced on Dec. 14.
• Emilio Pettersen will represent Norway at the 2019 IIHF World Junior Championship – Division 1 Group A from Dec. 9-15 in Füssen, Germany
 
MILLER HOCKEY COMPLEX
• The new home of Denver hockey is named after University of Denver's Board of Trustees member John A. Miller, his wife, Sandy, and their family.
• The 4,464 square foot space houses the Pioneers' lockers, lounge, sauna, kitchen, training room and equipment room
• More than 150 donors contributed to the renovation
 
YOUNG PIONEERS
• At 29, David Carle is the youngest coach in Division I college hockey
• The Pioneers have the fourth-youngest team in college hockey with an average age of 20 years/8 months
• At 24, Colin Staub is Denver's oldest player and more than six years older than Brendan Budy (18), the Pioneers' youngest player
• The Pioneers have 20 freshmen and sophomores, the most since the 2007-08 season when Tyler Bozak was a freshman
 
NHL CENTRAL SCOUTING
• Brendan Budy and Sean Comrie were each named to the NHL Central Scouting Players to Watch list for the 2019 NHL Draft, receiving C ratings as potential fourth, fifth or sixth round selections

TOGETHER 4 COLORADO TOY DRIVE
The Pioneers have partnered with CBS4 for the Together 4 Colorado Toy Drive to support the Denver community during the holiday season. Beginning Nov. 17, there will be toy drops at every Denver Athletics and Newman Center event thru Dec. 19. Additionally, there will be a Community Shop 'n Drop on Saturday, Dec. 15 from 11 a.m. – 2 p.m., hosted by the Denver Cheerleading squad at the circle drive on the north side of the Ritchie Center.
 
PIONEER MOVEMENT:
Interested in making a donation to the hockey program? Click Here. Your contribution will make a direct impact on the success of YOUR Pioneers. Thank you for your unwavering support of our student-athletes and their quest for excellence. 

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