GRAND FORKS, N.D. – The No. 2 Denver Pioneers hockey team continues conference play this weekend as the squad heads north to take on the No. 12 North Dakota Fighting Hawks on Friday and Saturday night at Ralph Engelstad Arena.
 
Both games will be broadcasted on NCHC.tv, with Friday's contest starting at 6 p.m. MT and Saturday's beginning at 5 p.m. MT.
 
The Pioneers are coming off a weekend split at home against No. 4 St. Cloud State in a top-five NCHC matchup and are 3-1-0 in conference play this year. Despite going 1-1 against SCSU, Denver did gain the slight edge in the set by picking up four of a possible six points in the NCHC standings.
 
DU fell 4-3 in overtime on Friday as the Huskies rallied from two, one-goal deficits—including tying the game with 1:17 left in the third period—before scoring the game-winner in the 3-on-3 extra session. The Pios responded on Saturday with a 3-2 win, as Casey Dornbach and Jack Devine recorded goals just 2:27 into the contest, and Kyle Mayhew tallied the eventual game-winner on the power play in the third period. Denver held off a late push by St. Cloud, as 15 of goaltender Magnus Chrona's 28 saves came in the final frame—the most stops in a period this season by the team.
 
North Dakota opened its NCHC slate last week in Omaha, winning 4-1 on Friday before tying 3-3 on Saturday (lost the shootout). The Fighting Hawks own a 4-3-2 record on the season and is 2-1-1 on home ice this year. After starting the season with a sweep of Holy Cross, the Fighting Hawks have gone 2-3-2 and have played four overtime contests (1-1-2). NoDak participated in the annual U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Game on Oct. 29 but fell 3-2 to Arizona State in the contest that was played at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
 
Chris Jandric leads the Fighting Hawks in scoring with 12 points and ranks tied for third in the nation with 11 assists. Riese Gaber is UND's top goal scorer with eight tallies and is second on the squad with 11 points. Goaltender Drew DeRidder has guarded the pipes the most this season (seven games) and has a 3-2-1 record, 2.65 goals-against average, .906 save percentage and one shutout on the campaign.
 
The Pioneers are looking for their first win versus the Fighting Hawks since Jan. 17, 2021 (seven games) and their first win at Ralph Engelstad Arena vs. UND since Dec. 8, 2018 (also seven game). DU did win a game at North Dakota's home rink on March 13, 2021, doing so against Omaha in the NCHC Quarterfinals.
 
Denver (7-3-0, 3-1-1 NCHC) is riding a two-game road winning streak and hasn't lost in regulation in its last six overall games (five wins, one OT loss) dating back to a defeat at then-No. 13 UMass on Oct. 15.
 
FACING NORTH DAKOTA: Denver has a 131-155-16 all-time record against North Dakota, with Fighting Hawks earning victories in the only two meetings last year. UND won 3-1 on Nov. 5 and 4-1 on Nov. 5, as the teams only played one another in Grand Forks. DU and North Dakota have played 302 games in their all-time series, with the Hawks being DU's second-most common opponent behind Colorado College (328 games). Denver owns a 114-130-14 record in conference play versus North Dakota and is 44-93-10 all-time in Grand Forks.
 
CONNECTIONS: Justin Lee is from "nearby" Waskada, Manitoba—228 miles northwest of Grand Forks and played part of the 2018-19 season in Fargo, North Dakota, with the USHL's Fargo Force … Lee was teammates in Fargo with UND's Ethan Frisch … Dylan James and Louis Jamernik are from the same hometown (Calgary, Alberta) as Denver's Kent Anderson, Matt Davis and Rieger Lorenz … Lorenz played with James on the AJHL's Okotoks Oilers in 2020-21 … Owen Ozar was teammates with Luke Bast and Dane Montgomery with the USHL Waterloo Blackhawks in 2020-21, while Connor Caponi and UND's Bast and Griffin Ness played together in Waterloo in 2019-20 … Goalie Matt Davis was teammates with Fighting Hawks' Jake Schmaltz and Jackson Kunz in 2020-21 with the Green Bay Gamblers, while McKade Webster was teammates with Schmaltz and Kunz in 2019-20 with the Gamblers … Shai Buium played with Matteo Costantini at Sioux City in 2020-21 … Tyler Haskins and Brent Johnson were teammates on the USHL Sioux Falls Stampede in 2020-21 … Sophomores Sean Behrens and Jack Devine both played at the U.S. National Team Development Program at the same time as UND junior Tyler Klevin in 2019-20.
 
TOUGH EARLY SEASON STRETCH: The Pioneers will be playing their fifth opponent and eighth and ninth games in the first six weeks of the season against a ranked squad, all of whom have been inside the top 15.
 
Denver has a 4-3 record against ranked teams this season heading into its two-game set at No. 12/13 North Dakota. After opening the season with a vs. No. 11/9 Notre Dame, the Pioneers have a weekend sweep of No. 11/9 Providence (Oct. 21-22) and a split vs. No. 4 St. Cloud State (Nov. 4-5). DU dropped both games at then No. 13/14 UMass on Oct. 14-15.
 
MAYHEW EARNS NCHC HONORS: Senior Kyle Mayhew was recognized as the NCHC Defenseman of the Week on Monday after recording two points in two games vs. St. Cloud State. He had an assist on Friday before scoring the game-winning goal on Saturday, his second career game-winner.
 
This is Mayhew's first career conference weekly honor and the fourth of the season for the Pioneers, as Magnus Chrona (Goaltender, Oct. 31), Rieger Lorenz (Rookie, Oct. 24) and Carter Mazur (Forward, Oct. 31) have also picked up hardware this year. Mayhew is on a three-game point streak, tying a career long that he accomplished twice last season (Oct. 8-15, 2021; Dec. 4-11, 2021).
 
MULTIPLE, MASSIMO: Forward Massimo Rizzo had his five-game, multi-point streak end on Saturday against St. Cloud State, the longest such stretch by a Pioneer since Troy Terry also had a five-game multi-point run from Oct. 21-Nov. 4, 2018. Rizzo registered four goals and nine assists in five contests from Oct. 21 to Nov. 4, including posting career highs in points on Oct. 28 (0g/3a) and Oct. 29 (1g/3a) at Miami.
 
While the multi-point streak is over, Rizzo still registered a point on Saturday (assist) and is now on a six-game overall point streak, which is tied for the longest of his career as he also went on such a run last season from Nov. 12-Dec. 4, 2021 (4g/7a). His current six-game assist streak is the longest of his NCAA tenure.
 
LAST WEEKEND NOTABLES

• Denver had its four-game winning streak and seven-game home winning streak come to an end on Friday. The Pioneers had won eight straight home games vs. St. Cloud State at Magness Arena dating back to Feb. 24, 2017.
• DU had its three-game overtime winning streak and four-game unbeaten streak (3-0-1) in overtime come to an end. DU suffered its first OT loss since March 15, 2021 at North Dakota in the NCHC Semifinals.
• The Pioneers blocked a season-high 19 shots on Friday.
• Carter Mazur appeared in his 50th career game on Saturday. He had his three-game goal streak end on Friday and four-game point streak end on Saturday (6g/2a).
• Nine different Pioneers recorded a point in Saturday's win.
• McKade Webster returned to the lineup after missing seven games with an upper-body injury and recorded an assist in the outing for his second point of the season.
• Justin Lee posted points in both contests over the weekend.
• Casey Dornbach's tally at 1:13 of the first period on Saturday marked the fastest goal to begin both a game and period this season.
• Aidan Thompson made his NCAA debut on Friday and recorded his first collegiate point with an assist on Saturday.
• Magnus Chrona made 28 saves on Saturday and stopped 15 shots in the third period, the most in a single frame this season.
• The Pioneers won a season-high 42 faceoffs on Saturday and posted a 60.9-percent success rate at the dot, also a season's best.
• Denver is halfway through an eight-game stretch where it is only playing conference opponents.

STREAKING

• Massimo Rizzo has tied his career-long point streak at six games (4g/10a) and is on a personal-best six-game assist streak.

• Casey Dornbach is on a six-game point streak (3g/6a), tying his career long that he accomplished twice previously while at Harvard (Dec. 7, 2019-Jan. 11, 2020, 4g/5a; Oct. 29-Nov. 12, 2021, 3g/6a).
• Kyle Mayhew is on a three-game point streak (1g/2a), tying his career long.
• Mike Benning is on a three-game point streak (1g/3a).

NATIONAL LEADERS

• Carter Mazur ranks second in the country in goals (10) and tied for 14th in points (13).
• Massimo Rizzo ranks second in the nation in assists (13) and tied for third in points (17).
• Casey Dornbach is tied for eighth in the NCAA in assists (9) and tied for 10th in points (14).

DARN GOOD DORNBACH DEBUT: Fifth-year senior Casey Dornbach is on a six-game point streak (3g/8a) after starting his Denver tenure with points in each of his first three games (3g/2a). The transfer from Harvard has points in nine of 10 contests this season, including recording a season-best three assists on Oct. 28 at Miami to reach 100 career points.
 
Dornbach tallied twice in his Denver debut on Oct. 7 versus Notre Dame and appeared in his 100th career game the next night on Oct. 8 against Maine. He joined the Pioneers this past summer after spending the previously four years at Harvard where he served as the Crimson's team captain in 2021-22 and graduated with his bachelor's degree in May.
 
PIOS IN THE POLLS: Denver remained ranked at No. 2 in the country for the second-straight week after the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine polls were released on Monday. The Pioneers received five first-place votes in the DCU/USCHO.com poll and one top vote in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine ranking.
 
The Pioneers have been ranked in the top four all season, including beginning the season in the No. 1 spot for the first three polls of the campaign.
 
Overall, the NCHC has five teams in the rankings with St. Cloud State (4/4), North Dakota (12/13) and Western Michigan (17/17) in both polls. Minnesota Duluth ranks at No. 20 in the DCU/USCHO.com poll and received votes in the other national ranking.
 
MAZUR NAMED NCHC FORWARD OF THE MONTH FOR OCTOBER: Carter Mazur picked up his first career NCHC Forward of the Month award on Tuesday after tying for first in the country with 10 goals and leading all NCAA players with four game-winning markers in eight games in October.
 
The 2022 NCHC Rookie of the Year won three conference Rookie of the Month awards last season, earning the honor in November, December and at the end of the campaign in March/April.
 
CHRONA CLIMBING THE CHARTS: Magnus Chrona stopped all 24 shots he faced on Oct. 28 at Miami to pick up his first shutout of the season and the 10th of his career. Chrona's 10 clean sheets are tied for fourth all-time in program history with Marc Cheverie (2007-10) and are also the fourth-most in the NCHC annals.
 
Last season, he recorded six shutouts, tied for third-most in a campaign in school history and one behind the record of seven accomplished by both Adam Berkhoel (2003-04) and Gerry Powers (1967-68). Three of Chrona's perfect games came vs. rival Colorado College, with whom he currently owns a 246:07 shutout streak across five outings.
 
MILESTONE NIGHT: In addition to senior Magnus Chrona's 10th career shutout on Oct. 28 at Miami, senior captain Justin Lee appeared in his 100th career game, senior-transfer Casey Dornbach recorded his 100th career point and sophomore-transfer Tristan Broz tallied his first goal as a Pioneer.
 
NON-CONFERENCE SUCCESS: DU has won 15 consecutive home non-conference matchups since Oct. 18, 2019 and is 19-0-2 in the last 21 non-NCHC games at Magness Arena dating back to Dec. 30, 2017.
 
Overall, Denver will play 12 non-conference games against seven different opponents this season.  The Pioneers hosted then-No 11 Notre Dame and Maine on Oct. 7-8 and then-No. 11 Providence Oct. 21-22 and will face Arizona State (Dec. 2-3), Lindenwood (Dec. 16-17) and Alaska Fairbanks (Jan. 6-7) at Magness Arena later this year.  DU's only two road non-conference contests took place with a series at then-No. 13 Massachusetts on Oct. 14-15.  The season-opening games against Notre Dame and Maine marked the only time before the postseason that Denver will play two different opponents on back-to-back days.
 
FAVORITES OF THE NCHC: The Pioneers were voted first to win the NCHC regular season in the conference's annual preseason media poll, announced on Sept. 21.  DU has been voted the preseason favorite one other time in NCHC history, as that was prior to the 2017-18 campaign following the Pios' previous national championship win.
 
WELCOME TO DU: Six of Denver's seven incoming freshmen made their NCAA debuts on opening weekend, with forwards Tristan Lemyre, Rieger Lorenz and Jared Wright and defenseman Kent Anderson playing on Oct. 7 vs. Notre Dame while winger Tyler Haskins and rear guard Lucas Olvestad skated on Oct. 8 vs. Maine.  Lorenz picked up his first career point with an assist in the contest versus the Irish. 
 
Forward Aidan Thompson made his Pioneers debut on Nov. 4 vs. St. Cloud State after missing the first eight games of the year with a lower-body injury he suffered during USA Hockey's National Junior Evaluation Camp in August. He picked up his first point the next night against the Huskies (assist).
 
CAPTAINING THE SHIP: Senior defenseman Justin Lee was named the 93rd captain in program history on Sept. 22 after serving as an alternate during the 2021-22 campaign.  Lee, who is serving as a captain for the first time in his career, will be flanked by three alternate captains in senior Kyle Mayhew, junior McKade Webster and sophomore Carter Mazur.
 
PRESEASON HONORS: Denver had four players named to the NCHC Preseason All-Conference Team with senior goaltender Magnus Chrona, junior defenseman Mike Benning, sophomore defenseman Sean Behrens and sophomore forward Carter Mazur picking up honors.  Mazur (22-of-23 votes) and Chrona (21-of-23 votes) were close to being unanimous choices.  This is the first time that a team had four players named to the NCHC Preseason All-Conference Team since Minnesota Duluth also had four in 2019.
 
 
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