The No. 6 Denver Pioneers look to punch their ticket to the 2019 Frozen Four with a victory against No. 18 American International College in the West Regional Final on Saturday, March 30 in Fargo, N.D. Puck drop is set for 8 p.m. MT.
 
DENVER: SNAPSHOT
• The Pioneers have won four of their last five games, outscoring opponents 14-6 in that stretch
• Denver has limited its opponents to 2.03 goals against per game, 9th in the NCAA, and 1.17 goals per game in the last six games, 2nd in the NCAA. The Pioneers have posted seven shutouts this season
• The Pioneers are the only team in the NCAA with two goalies in the Top-10 for save percentage and GAA. They combine for a 2.03 GAA and .933 SV%
• Denver has gone 4-5-1 against NCAA tournament teams this season
• Liam Finlay leads Denver with 35 points (15-20-35) in 39 games. The junior forward averages .90 points per game compared to .50 ('16-17) and .37 ('17-18)
 
DENVER: LAST GAME
DU 2, OSU 0 (March 29, 2019 - Scheels Arena)
• FIlip Larsson made 24 saves in his third career shutout
• Les Lancaster scored at 19:20 of the second period and Colin Staub added an empty netter at 19:02 of the third. Michael Davies had two assists
• Denver went 0/3 on the power play and 4/4 on the penalty kill
 
AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL: SNAPSHOT
• The Yellow Jackets are on a four-game winning streak and have won five of their last six games
• American International won the Atlantic Hockey regular-season title and conference championship to earn their first NCAA tournament bid in program history
• The Yellow Jackets are 1-6-1 against NCAA tournament teams this season
• American International is tied with Denver for having the 2nd-most freshmen (10) and most freshmen & sophomores (19) in the NCAA tournament
• The Yellow Jackets average 3.23 goals per game, 9th-most in the NCAA, led by Blake Christensen who has 47 points in 40 games (16-31-47)
 
AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL: LAST TIME OUT
AIC 2, SCSU 1 (March 29, 2019 - Scheels Arena)
• Joel Kocur and Brennan Kapcheck scored in the victory, while Zackarias Skog made 33 saves
• AIC's win marked the second consecutive season No. 16 seed has upset No. 1 seed St. Cloud State
• The Yellow Jackets went 0/2 on the power play and 3/4 on the penalty kill
 
DENVER/AIC: UP NEXT
Frozen Four (April 11-13 2019 - KeyBank Center)
• The winner of the West Regional Final will face the winner of the Northeast Regional Final in the 2019 Frozen Four in Buffalo, N.Y. Denver has made 16 appearances in the Frozen Four, going in back-to-back years in 2016 and 2017
 
PIONEERS IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
• The Pioneers received a bid in the NCAA tournament for the 30th season in program history and 12th straight year, making them the NCAA's active leader in consecutive tournament appearances
• Denver enters the NCAA tournament tied for having the fewest seniors (3) and most freshmen and sophomores (19) on its roster
• The Pioneers have nine players with NCAA tournament experience. David Carle is among six head coaches making his NCAA tournament head coaching debut and six head coaches behind the bench for his alma mater
• Denver has six remaining members from the 2017 National Championship team
• The Pioneers are 4-4 in regional finals and 2-1 since 2015
 
NCAA TOURNAMENT LEADERS (AS OF 3/29)
• The Pioneers have five of the Top-10 active scorers in NCAA tournament games, Jarid Lukosevicius is 1st with eight points (7-1-8) in nine games
• Colin Staub and Jarid Luksosevicius are T-1st among all players entering the NCAA tournament with 155 career games played
• Jarid Lukosevicius is 1st among all players entering the NCAA tournament with 20 career game-winning goals
 
EXTENDING THE STREAK
• On March 15, Denver became only the third team in NCAA history to compile 18 consecutive 20 win seasons. 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 18 straight 20-win seasons is the longest active streak in the NCAA. The NCAA record for consecutive 20-win seasons is held by Michigan, which had 25 from 1987-2012
 
NCAA LEADERS
• Denver's freshmen class is 3rd in NCAA scoring with 104 points (33-71-104)
• Devin Cooley has a 1.85 GAA, 4th in the NCAA, and a .934 SV%, 3rd in the NCAA
• Filip Larsson has a 1.97 GAA, 10th in NCAA, and a .932 SV%, 5th in the NCAA
• Jarid Lukosevicius is T-1st in the NCAA with seven game-winning goals
• Emilio Pettersen is 4th among NCAA freshman with 30 points
• Cole Guttman is T-7th among NCAA freshmen with 12 goals
• Slava Demin is T-6th among NCAA freshmen with a +19 plus/minus rating
 
ACADEMIC HONORS
• Denver had 14 student-athletes named to the NCHC Academic All-Conference team and nine student-athletes named NCHC Distinguished Scholar-Athletes, second-most in the conference
• To be eligible for the NCHC Academic All-Conference Team, a student-athlete must compile a grade-point average of 3.0 or higher while having completed at least one academic year at his institution. Student-athletes who have accrued a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or higher are honored as NCHC Distinguished Scholar-Athletes, in addition to Academic All-Conference. Qualified freshmen will be added to the lists at the conclusion of the school year
 
LUKO LEADS THE WAY
• Denver is 11-0-2 when Jarid Lukosevicius scores and 12-11-3 when he doesn't
• Lukosevicius has the all-time school record and is the NCAA active leader in career game-winning goals with 20. Three players share the all-time career record (23)
 
WORKING OVERTIME
• The Pioneers have played 10 overtime games this season, T-6th-most in the NCAA. Denver is 4-1-5 in the extra period, T-2nd in the NCAA in overtime wins
 
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
• The Pioneers have 19 freshmen and sophomores, the most since the 2007-08 season when Tyler Bozak was a freshman
 
EXPERIENCED STAFF
• Assistant Coach Tavis MacMillan served as head coach of Alaska-Fairbanks from 2004-07
• Assistant Coach Dallas Ferguson served as head coach of Alaska-Fairbanks from 2008-17
• Volunteer Assistant Coach Steven Reinprecht played 663 NHL games over 11 NHL seasons, winning a Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche in 2001
• Team Manager Ben Scrivens played 144 NHL games over five NHL seasons in addition to representing Canada at the 2018 Winter Olympics
 
PIONEER MOVEMENT:
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