The No. 6 Denver Pioneers hockey team (19-9-5, 9-8-4-3) looks to control its own destiny in the battle for home-ice advantage in the first round of the NCHC playoffs with its regular-season series finale against St. Cloud State on Saturday at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center in St. Cloud, Minn.
 
Entering Saturday's game, Denver (4^th) leads St. Cloud State (5^th) and trails Western Michigan (3^rd) by one point in the conference standings with three games left in the regular season. Puck drop is set for 5:07 p.m. MT.
 
DENVER: LAST GAME
St. Cloud State 5, DU 1 (St. Cloud, Minn.)
• The Huskies scored three times in the second period to defeat Denver for the first time this season. The Pioneers trailed for the majority of the night as it took St. Cloud State only 13:07 to turn a 1-1 game into a 4-1 lead just past the midway point of the second period
• Emilio Pettersen scored Denver's lone goal. Devin Cooley made 15 saves in 32:57, while Magnus Chrona made eight saves in 23:13 in replacement
 
RACE FOR HOME-ICE ADVANTAGE
• The top four teams in the NCHC standings host a best-of-three first-round conference playoff series on March 13-15
• Denver is 4th in the NCHC standings, one point behind Western Michigan (3rd) and one point ahead of St. Cloud State (5th) with three games remaining in the regular season. The Pioneers' magic number to secure home-ice advantage in the first round of the NCHC playoffs outright is 10 between Denver points earned and fifth-place team points lost for the remainder of the season
• The Pioneers have had home-ice advantage for the first round of the conference playoffs for 16 of the last 20 seasons, including each of the last five. Since 1999-00, Denver is 12-4 in advancing to the second round of the conference tournament when hosting a first-round series and 10-1 in the last 11 seasons
 
DENVER: UP NEXT
March 6-7 vs. Colorado College (Colorado Springs & Denver, Colo.)
• Denver is 182-120-20 all-time against the Tigers and swept Colorado College earlier this season on Dec. 13-14 (3-0 W, 3-1 W). With a win or tie next weekend, the Pioneers will regain possession of the Gold Pan
• The all-time Battle for the Gold Pan series stands at 13-13. Denver lost the Gold Pan last season for the first time in five years
 
ST. CLOUD STATE: SNAPSHOT
• St. Cloud State is on a seven-game unbeaten streak (5-0-2) after tying and beating then-No. 1 North Dakota (3-3 T, 2-1 W) last weekend
• The Huskies have upsets against then-No. 1 North Dakota (Feb. 22), then-No. 8 Minnesota Duluth (Jan. 17-18) and then-No. 2 Minnesota State (Dec. 28)
• Easton Brodzinski leads St. Cloud State with 26 points (12-14-26) 
• In their seven-game unbeaten stretch, the Huskies have allowed an average of 1.57 goals against per game and their penalty kill is operating at 92.0% (23/25)
 
ST. CLOUD STATE: UP NEXT
March 6-7 at Minnesota Duluth (Duluth, Minn.)
• St. Cloud State is 17-13-1 all-time against Minnesota Duluth and has won five of the last six meetings
• The Huskies swept the Bulldogs earlier this season on Jan. 17-18 in St. Cloud, Minn. (2-1 W, 2-0 W)
 
DENVER VS. ST. CLOUD STATE
• The Pioneers (4th) have a one-point lead on the Huskies (5th) in the NCHC standings with three games remaining in the regular season
• Denver is 52-47-6 all-time against St. Cloud State with a 21-22-4 road record. The Pioneers swept the Huskies (6-3 W, 5-3 W) on Jan. 10-11 in Denver earlier this season
• Entering this weekend, Denver was 2-6-2 in its last 10 games at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center and 6-12-2 in its last 20. The Pioneers have not swept a series in St. Cloud, Minn. since Dec. 7-8, 2007 (3-2 W, 3-2 W)
• With a win or tie against St. Cloud State this weekend, Denver will hold the tiebreaker against the Huskies in the NCHC standings
 
FAVORABLE FINISH
• The Pioneers are 4-1-0 this season against the teams remaining on their schedule and have outscored their upcoming opponents, 18-12
 
HIGHS & LOWS
• Oct. 11 – Nov. 2: Denver opened the season on an eight-game winning streak, its best start to a season since its program-best 9-0-0 run in the 2001-02 season
• Nov. 8 – Dec. 7: The Pioneers had one win in eight games, going 1-4-3
• Dec. 7 – Jan. 25: Denver went on an 11-game unbeaten stretch, its best single-season unbeaten streak since the 2016-17 season (13)
• Jan. 31 – Feb. 15: The Pioneers lost four straight games for the first time since December 2015
 
HOT STREAKS & UPCOMING MILESTONES
• Bobby Brink is on a six-game point streak with three goals and four assists
• Liam Finlay is five points shy of joining the 100-point club
 
MITCHELL & GUTTMAN NAMED NCHC PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
• Cole Guttman and Ian Mitchell were named NCHC Players of the Week on Feb. 24. Guttman (Forward) led all NCHC skaters with six points (3-3-6), while Mitchell (Defenseman) led all conference defensemen with four points (2-2-4)
 
EXTENDING THE STREAK
• On March 15, 2019, the Pioneers became only the third team in NCAA history to compile 18-consecutive 20-win seasons. The last time Denver missed the 20-game mark was 2000-01 when the team went 19-15-4
• 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
 
POWER-UP
• The Pioneers have scored at least one power-play goal in nine of the last 10 games, going 13/42 (31.0%)
• Denver has converted at 30.3% on the power play in the last 17 games after going 18.4% through the first 16 games
• Four Pioneers have ten or more power-play points: Emilio Pettersen (18), Ian Mitchell (17), Bobby Brink (13) and Cole Guttman (13)
 
HIGH-RANKING STATS
• Denver ranks 2nd in the NCAA in shots on goal per game (34.97). The Pioneers are 18-7-3 when outshooting their opponent and have done so in 28 of 33 games this season
• The Pioneers allow the 12th-fewest goals per game in the NCAA (2.30)
• Denver's goal margin per game ranks 11th in the NCAA (+0.91)
• The Pioneers sophomore class ranks 2nd in NCAA scoring with 129 points (45-85-130), accounting for 43% of the team's production. Denver has three sophomores among its top-four scorers: Emilio Pettersen (10-21-31), Cole Guttman (13-13-26) and Brett Stapley (5-21-26)
 
NATIONAL LEADERS
• Cole Guttman is T-1st in the NCAA for game-winning goals (6) – (T-1st NCHC)
• Ian Mitchell is T-9th in scoring among NCAA defensemen with 28 points (8-20-28) - (T-2nd NCHC defensemen) 
• Bobby Brink is T-10th in scoring among NCAA freshmen with 24 points (11-13-24) – (2nd NCHC freshmen)
• Bobby Brink is T-7th in goals among NCAA freshmen with 11 (2nd NCHC freshmen)
• Magnus Chrona is 3rd among NCAA freshmen with a 2.21 GAA (2nd NCHC goalies), 3rd among NCAA freshmen with a .917 save percentage (1st NCHC goalies) and 3rd among NCAA freshmen with 14 wins (4th NCHC goalies)
 
BIRTHDAY MONTH
• The Pioneers have nine birthdays in February and eight birthdays in nine days from Feb. 15 - Feb. 23
• Kohen Olischefski (Feb. 1), Ryan Barrow (Feb. 15), Jay Feiwell & Tyson McLellan (Feb. 17), Liam Finlay & Griffin Mendel (Feb. 18), Hank Crone (Feb. 19), Lane Krenzen (Feb. 21) and Brett Stapley (Feb. 23)
 
TV TIME
• The Pioneers are on national television (CBS Sports Network) thrice in the final four weekends of the regular season: Feb. 14 at North Dakota, Feb. 28 at St. Cloud State and March 7 vs. Colorado College
 
NCAA REGIONAL 2020 & 2021
• The Pioneers are set to host the 2020 & 2021 NCAA West Regional at the Budweiser Events Center in Loveland, Colo. The 2020 regional is set for March 27-28
• 2020 will mark the first year in which an NCAA hockey tournament game has been held in Colorado since the 2008 Men's Frozen Four at the Pepsi Center in Denver
 
DEMIN DEALT AT DEADLINE
•  The Chicago Blackhawks acquired Slava Demin goaltender Malcolm Subban and second-round pick in the 2020 NHL Draft in exchange for Robin Lehner and Martins Dzierkals. The Vegas Golden Knights drafted Demin in the fourth round of the 2018 NHL Draft
 
NEED FOR THE LEAD
• Denver is 11-0-2 when scoring the first goal of the game, 5-0-2 when leading after the first period and 15-0-2 when leading after the second. Conversely, the Pioneers are 8-9-3 when allowing the first goal of the game, 5-7-1 when trailing after the first period and 1-9-2 when trailing after the second
 
HOME COOKIN'
• Denver is 37-12-8 at home since the 2017-18 season, posting a .649 winning percentage and taking points from 79% of its games
 
HOBEY HOPEFULS
• Ian Mitchell and Emilio Pettersen are among 75+ nominees for the 2020 Hobey Baker Award
• First-round voting can be conducted on hobeybaker.com/vote. First-round voting closes on March 9, 2020
• Denver has had two Hobey Baker winners in its history: Matt Carle ('06) and Will Butcher ('17)
 
GWOZDECKY INDUCTED TO DENVER ATHLETICS HALL OF FAME
• Former head coach George Gwozdecky was named among 12 inductees for the 2020 Denver Athletic Hall of Fame class to be honored on campus May 16, 2020
• Gwozdecky posted a 443-267-64 record with the Pioneers from 1994-2013, winning back-to-back National Championships in 2004 & 2005, three WCHA regular-season titles, four WCHA playoff titles and posting 16 20-win seasons. He received the Spencer Penrose Award as National Coach of the Year in 2005
 
70TH ANNIVERSARY SEASON
• The Pioneers are playing in their 70th Anniversary Season. Since its inaugural season in 1949, Denver has made 30 appearances in the NCAA tournament, 17 appearances in the Frozen Four and won eight National Championships, tied for the second-most titles among any college hockey program
 
UP NEXT: Denver Hockey presented by Centura Health closes its series with St. Cloud State on Saturday, Feb. 28

FROZEN FACEOFF TICKETS: Tickets for the 2020 Frozen Faceoff in St. Paul, Minn. are on sale now. More information is available here.
 
2020 DENVER ATHLETIC HALL OF FAME RECEPTION: Denver announced its 2020 Athletic Hall of Fame class in January. The inductees will be honored on the DU campus May 16. For more information, registration for the reception and donation information, click here. 

DONATE: Fans interested in making a donation to the hockey program can do so by clicking here. Your contribution will make a direct impact on the success of YOUR Pioneers. Thank you in advance for your unwavering support of our student-athletes and their quest for excellence.  
 
SHOP PIONEERS: Get dressed for Game Day! Get your Pioneers gear at ShopPioneers.com, the official online store of University of Denver Athletics.

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