DENVER – The No. 11 University of Denver hockey team returns from its bye week to play two games against the No. 8 North Dakota Fighting Hawks at Ralph Engelstad Arena this weekend. The teams face off in Grand Forks, North Dakota, on Friday at 6 p.m. MT and Saturday at 5 p.m. MT.
 
The Pioneers (4-2-0) dropped both games on their first road trip of the season on Oct. 22-23 in New England, falling 6-5 at Providence College on Oct. 22 and 5-1 at Boston College on Oct. 23. Providence rallied from a three-goal deficit in the third period and then erased a one-goal deficit later in the frame for the comeback victory. On the next night, Boston College pulled away with three goals late in the third period after Denver cut the deficit to 2-1 early in the final frame.
 
The Fighting Hawks are 4-3-0 on the season after falling 6-4 to Penn State last Saturday in the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Game in Nashville, Tenn.  The Nittany Lions took a two-goal lead in the first period and never relinquished it en route to the victory in front of 14,569 fans at Bridgestone Arena. After starting the season 3-0-0, UND has gone 1-3-0 in its past four contests.
 
DU and UND faced off in seven contests against one another last year and have met 17 times since the start of the 2018-19 season. This is the first game between the teams since the 300th all-time meeting on March 15 in the 2021 NCHC Frozen Faceoff Semifinals where the Hawks won 2-1 in overtime on home ice—the conference tournament was held in Grand Forks.
 
North Dakota is Denver's second-most common opponent behind in-state rival Colorado College, as the Pioneers have played the Tigers 328 times in their history.
 
Denver is wrapping up a stretch where it is playing four straight and five of six on the road. This is tied for the Pios' longest road "trip" of the season (Also Dec. 3-11). DU returns home for four games with series versus Western Michigan on Nov. 12-13 and Miami on Nov. 19-21.
 
NORTH DAKOTA CONNECTIONS
Justin Lee (from "nearby" Waskada, Manitoba—228 miles northwest of Grand Forks) played part of the 2018-19 season in Fargo, North Dakota, and was teammates on the Fargo Force with UND's Ethan Frisch … North Dakota's Brendan Budy played six games for Denver in 2018-19 before returning to junior and eventually transferring to North Dakota … Cameron Wright was a teammate with UND's Connor Ford for four years at Bowling Green before both transferred this past spring … Owen Owar was teammates with Luke Bast ane Montgomery with the Waterloo Blackhawks in 2020-21, while Conor Capnoi and UND's Bast and Griffin Ness played together in Waterlook in 2019-20 … Freshmen Sean Behrens and Jack Devine both played at the U.S. National Team Development Program at the same time as UND sophomores Tyler Klevin and Jack Sanderson … Goalie Matt Davis was teammates with Fighting Hawk freshmen Jake Schmaltz and Jackson Kunz in 2020-21 with the Green Bay Gamblers … Shai Buium played with Matteo Costantini at Sioux City last season … Jack Works and North Dakota's Louis Jamernik were teammates with the Okotoks Oilers from 2018-2020.
 
RIZZO NAMED ROOKIE OF THE MONTH
Massimo Rizzo was named the NCHC's Rookie of the Month for October on Tuesday after leading all conference freshmen with five goals and tying for first among first-year players in scoring with eight points (5g/3a). Nationally, the forward enters the weekend tied for first in goals and is second in points per game at 1.34 among rookies (minimum four games played).
 
Rizzo's eight points are the most by a DU freshmen in the month of October since Emilio Pettersen also recorded eight points in October 2018 (two goals, six assists in four games). Henrik Borgstrom registered nine points (four goals, five assists) in eight games in October 2016.
 
This is the 11th time and 10th different Denver player to earn the conference honor, with Carter Savoie last doing so in December 2020. Bobby Brink won the award twice in 2019-20.
 
ALL GOOD THINGS MUST COME TO AN END
Forward Carter Savoie (6g/6a) and freshman defenseman Sean Behrens (0g/7a) had their season-opening point streaks end at five games after being held off the scoresheet in the Pios last game vs. Boston College.
 
Savoie's streak of five games tied his career long after beginning his college career with a five-game goal streak last season (6g/2a)—which set the school record for the longest to start a season by a freshman.
 
Forward Brett Stapley had a four-game point streak (1g/4a) end on Oct. 22 at Providence, with that stretch being tied for the second-longest of his career. Stapley still has six points (1g/5a) in the first six games of the season.
 
CONFERENCE LEADERS
Three Pioneers are among the leaders in the NCHC in scoring, with sophomore Carter Savoie second in the conference with 12 points (6g/6a) but is tied for first in points per game (2.0). Cole Guttman and Bobby Brink are tied for third with nine points each.
 
In the country, Savoie is tied for ninth in scoring while also being tied for first in points per game (minimum four games played).
 
Massimo Rizzo leads all conference freshmen with five goals and is tied for first in the NCHC among first-year players with eight points (5g/3a); he is tied for the national lead for frosh tallies as well.  Fellow newcomer Sean Behrens leads the conference and is tied for first nationally is scoring by a defenseman with seven points (0g/7a).
 
Savoie and Brink are first and second in shots per game at 5.67 and 4.67, respectively. Savoie leads the conference with 34 total shots, while Brink is third at 28. Cole Guttman is fourth on the team with 21 total shots (3.5 per game).
 
THAT'S A PLUS
Six Pios rank in top 10 in the NCHC in plus-minus rating with Bobby Brink (+9) leading the conference and ranking tied for third nationally. He's followed by linemates Cater Savoie (+8) and Cole Guttman (+8), both tied for second. Defenseman Mike Benning is close behind at +7 (tied-fifth), while fellow rear guards Shai Buium and Antti Tuomisto both have +6 plus/minus ratings (tied-seventh).
 
SCORING SAVOIE
Carter Savoie leads the team with 12 points (6g/6a) through the first six games of the season and ranks:

• Second in the NCHC and tied for ninth in the nation in scoring
• First in points among NCAA players that have played six or fewer games
• Tied for first in both the NCHC and NCAA in points per game at 2.0 (min. 4 GP)
• Tied for second in the NCHC and seventh in the NCAA in total goals
• Tied for second in the NCHC and tied for third in the NCAA in goals per game (1.0, min. 4 GP)

PRO PIPELINE
Denver has 12 NHL drafted players on its roster, tied for the second most in the nation behind Boston University (14).
 
OFFENSIVE OUTPUT
Denver continues to have the highest-scoring offense in the country among teams that have played four or more games this year, with the Pios averaging 5.0 goals per game. Harvard is averaging 8.0 goals per game but have only played two contests.
 
DU began the season with goals in each of their first 12 periods and have recorded 40 or more shots in five-of-six games this year.
 
AROUND THE WORLD
The Pioneers are represented by four countries on their roster, the second-most in the NCHC behind St. Cloud State (five). DU has 13 Canadians, 11 Americans and one player each from Finland (Antti Tuomisto) and Sweden (Magnus Chrona).
 
St. Cloud State is represented by players from the United States, Canada, Czech Republic, Finland and Slovakia.
 
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