DENVER – Filip Larsson's 32-save performance helped the No. 8 Denver Pioneers (20-10-5, 11-10-3-3) shutout the No. 19 North Dakota Fighting Hawks (18-16-2, 12-11-1-0) 2-0 in the first game of the best-of-three NCHC quarterfinal series on Friday at Magness Arena.

Larsson's second career shutout marked the Pioneers' sixth shutout of the season and moved them to within one win of advancing to the NCHC Frozen Faceoff for the sixth straight season. The victory also solidified Denver's 18th consecutive 20-win season, making the Pioneers only the third team in NCAA history to accomplish the feat. Denver has a 445-216-76 overall record in the18-year span.

"Tonight was very similar to when they [North Dakota] were here earlier in the year and Filip Larsson was the best one on the ice," Richard and Kitzia Goodman Head Coach David Carle said. "Huge credit to him, I think he gave us the opportunity to win this hockey game. He was big time all night long."
 
"It took us a little while to figure out our puck game," Carle said. "I thought our executions really struggled in the first and second periods. I give credit to them for how they pressured and how they got after us. In the third we simplified some things and were able to expose some of their things so we could get some changes."
 
The Pioneers took a 1-0 lead from a lopsided first period where they killed two penalties and defended for the majority of the frame.  North Dakota outshot Denver 11-2 in the period, but Tyson McLellan's one-timer on Jarid Lukosevicius' pass at 19:00 helped the Pioneers take a one-goal lead into the first intermission.

Denver continued to struggle offensively in the second, giving the Fighting Hawks a 24-9 lead in the shot margin through 40 minutes. The one-goal lead was tested twice on both ends of the ice with Larsson denying Gavin Hain's drive to the net with 5:40 left in the period and Kohen Olischefski nearly doubling the Pioneers' lead with a shot off the post only minutes later.

The Pioneers extended their lead at 11:44 of the third period. Catching the puck at the point from Jaakko Heikkinen faceoff win, Griffin Mendel sailed a shot past Peter Thome for his first goal of the season. Mendel's tally held as the insurance goal.

Denver finished 0/2 on the power play and 2/2 on the penalty kill.

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