The No. 8 Denver Pioneers (19-10-5, 11-10-3-3) are set to open the NCHC playoffs with a best-of-three series against the North Dakota Fighting Hawks. The winner of the series will advance to the NCHC Frozen Faceoff on March 22-23 at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn.
 
Last Weekend
Colorado College 2, Denver 1
Colorado College 1, Denver 0
 
This Week
Denver vs. North Dakota – March 15, 2019
Denver vs. North Dakota – March 16, 2019
Denver vs. North Dakota – March 17, 2019 (If Necessary)
 
Pioneers in the Polls
-The Pioneers are ranked 8^th in the USCHO.com poll, 7^th in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll and 7^th in the Pairwise rankings
 
Recap: Colorado College 2, Denver 1 | Colorado College 1, Denver 0
-The Tigers took the Gold Pan for the first time in five years, finishing 2-1-1 in the season series
-Denver went 0/5 on the power play and 4/5 on the penalty kill
-Filip Larsson made 22 saves on Friday and Devin Cooley made 21 saves on Saturday
 
Denver Lately
-Denver finished fourth in the NCHC, securing home-ice advantage in the NCHC quarterfinals for the fifth straight year
-The Pioneers are winless in their last three games, going 0-2-1 to close the regular season
-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
-Since the start of 2019, the Pioneers are operating at 9.2% on the power play, 59^th in the NCAA, and 77.6% on the penalty kill, 43^rd in the NCAA. Prior to the New Year, the Pioneers were operating at 21.3% on the power play, 16^th in the NCAA, and 84.1% on the penalty kill, 17^th in the NCAA
 
Pioneers in the NCHC Playoffs
-As the only two-time winners of the NCHC Frozen Faceoff (2014, 2018), the Pioneers have advanced to the NCHC Frozen Faceoff for five straight years, dating to when the conference began play in 2013-14
-Denver has had home-ice advantage for the NCHC quarterfinals in each of the last five seasons
-The Pioneers are 10-2 all-time in the NCHC quarterfinal series and 16-5-1 all-time in the NCHC playoffs
 
Denver vs. North Dakota
-Denver went 2-1-1 against North Dakota in the regular season and are 125-146-15 in the all-time series
-2009-10 marks the last season the Pioneers defeated the Fighting Hawks in a season series (including postseason) as well as the last season the Pioneers recorded three or more wins against the Fighting Hawks
-Eight of the last 11 games in the series have been decided by one or fewer goals with Denver going 4-3-4 in that stretch
-Denver is 13-14-1 all-time against North Dakota in the conference playoffs, going 12-13-0 in the WCHA and 1-1-1 in the NCHC. The Pioneers are 17-17-1 in all-time postseason play against the Fighting Hawks with a 4-3-0 mark against their rival in the NCAA tournament
 
Extending the Streak
-Denver is one win shy of its 18th consecutive 20-win season. The last time the Pioneers missed the 20-game threshold was 2000-01 when the team finished 19-15-4 under George Gwozdecky
-The Pioneers' streak of 17-straight 20-win seasons is the longest active streak in the NCAA. Boston College holds the next longest active streak (9). The NCAA record for consecutive 20-win seasons is held by Michigan, which had 25 from 1987-2012
- Denver has the second-most wins in the NCAA since the beginning of their streak with a 444-215-77 record, trailing only North Dakota (451-232-72)

NCAA Leaders
-Devin Cooley has a .933 SV%, 3^rd in the NCAA, and a 1.89 GAA, 6^th in the NCAA
-Jarid Lukosevicius is T-1^st in the NCAA with six game-winning goals
-Denver's freshmen class is 4th in NCAA scoring with 96 points (32-64-96)
-Emilio Pettersen is T-6^th among NCAA freshman with 26 points
-Cole Guttman is T-9^th among NCAA freshmen with 11 goals
-Slava Demin is 5th among NCAA freshmen with a +20 plus/minus rating
 
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