KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The No. 3 University of Denver hockey team heads out or five straight games on the road beginning this weekend at the No. 6 Western Michigan No. 6 Broncos. Both games on Friday and Saturday night at Lawson Arena begin at 5 p.m. MT.
Denver is coming off a weekend split against the then-No. 6 Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs, winning 5-3 last Friday before falling 3-2 on Saturday.
Mike Benning, Bobby Brink and
Cole Guttman each had a goal and an assist on Friday as DU used a three-goal second period to break a 1-1 tie. On Saturday, defensemen
Shai Buium and
Justin Lee scored, but the Bulldogs' Kobe Roth tied the outing at 7:46 of the third period before Darian Gotz tallied the game-winner with 4:44 remaining.
The loss ended DU's season-long nine-game winning streak and 11-game unbeaten streak (10-0-1). The nine-game run was DU's longest since winning 13 games in a row from Jan. 21-March 11 in its NCAA championship season of 2016-17, and the unbeaten stretch was its longest since also having an 11-game streak from Dec. 7, 2019-Jan. 25, 2020 (8-0-3).
The loss was also Denver's first defeat on home ice this season, ending the Pioneers' 15-game unbeaten streak to begin the year. The stretch was the longest-ever at Magness Arena and the third-longest to start a campaign in program history (1960-61, 23-0-1; 1967-68, 19-0-0).
Despite the loss, Denver is still 17-2-1 in its last 20 games and leads the NCHC for the Penrose Cup as regular-season champions with 41 points (14-4-0). The Pioneers are two points up on second-place North Dakota (12-5-1, 39 points) and can secure home-ice advantage for the NCHC Quarterfinals on March 11-13 with a win and a loss by St. Cloud State in any fashion on Friday.
Western Michigan was on a three-game winning streak before going 0-1-1 last weekend at St. Cloud State, tying 5-5 on Friday before losing 4-1 on Saturday. The Broncos did win the shootout on Friday to earn the extra NCHC point in the standings.
The Pioneers won both contests against the Broncos earlier this year on Nov. 12-13, winning 5-3 and 5-2 at Magness Arena. DU is 4-0-1 vs. WMU in its last five meetings (Denver won in the shootout in the one tie) and has a 21-10-2 record in the all-time series. However, Denver has dropped the last four games at Lawson Arena, with its last victory in Kalamazoo coming on Jan. 14, 2017 (W 7-2).
These next five games mark Denver's longest road trek of the season. The team plays at Omaha on Feb. 26-27 before closing the regular season with a home-and-home set against Colorado College on March 4-5.
CONNECTIONS: DU Director of Hockey Operations
Travis Culhane is from Kalamazoo, Mich., and graduated from WMU in 2017. Culhane is the son of former Broncos head coach Jim Culhane and served as Western's Director of Hockey Ops during the 2018-19 season …
Carter Mazur is from Jackson, Mich., and was drafted in the third round by the Detroit Red Wings … Defensemen
Shai Buium and
Antti Tuomisto are also Red Wings draft picks …
Jack Devine and
Sean Behrens played the previous two seasons in Plymouth, Mich., with the U.S. National Team Development Program …
Matt Davis and WMU's Xan Gurney were teammates on the Green Bay Gamblers last season …
Connor Caponi was a teammate with Wyatt Schingoethe from 2018-2020 with Waterloo Black Hawks, while
Owen Ozar played with Max Sasson in Waterloo in 2020-21 …
Mike Benning and
Carter Savoie and WMU's Jarred White played together on the Sherwood Park Crusaders in 2019-20 …
Lane Krenzen and Hugh Larkin were teammates on the Austin Bruins in 2018-19.
SECOND PERIOD SUCCESS: The Pioneers scored three times in the second period on Friday and added another tally in the middle frame on Saturday. Denver has now outscored opponents 56-16 in the second period, with the plus-40 margin its best in any of the three stanzas. DU has outshot teams 355-226 in the second frame.
TO THE BRINK: Junior forward
Bobby Brink took over national lead in scoring with 44 points after producing a goal and two assists last weekend against Minnesota Duluth. Brink is also first in the country in points per game (1.57) and assists (34), the latter of which is the most by a Pioneer since Troy Terry in 2017-18 (also 34). He is on a career-long 12-game point streak (4g/19a), with him also producing assists in each of those 12 contests. It is the longest point streak by a Pioneer since Danton Heinen had an 18-game run from Jan. 22-March 27, 2017 (14g/20a).
BIG BEHR ON DEFENSE: Freshman defenseman
Sean Behrens had his career-long point streak end at eight games (2g/10a) after being held off the scoresheet on Friday. Behrens' eight-game run was the longest by a rookie blueliner in conference history and tied for the longest by a defenseman with Minnesota Duluth's Andy Welinski (2013-14). The Colorado Avalanche prospect began his college career on a five-game point streak, and he is presently tied for eighth among all D-men in scoring and ranks fourth among all freshman blueliners with 25 points. His 22 assists are tied for the third-most by a defenseman (second highest for a freshman D).
DOMINANT AT THE DOT: Senior
Cole Guttman set a career high with 29 faceoffs wins on Saturday vs. Duluth, going 85.3 percent on draws (29-for-34). Denver won a season-best 67.1 percent of its faceoffs in that game against the Bulldogs, with 49 wins and 24 losses. Guttman, who crushed his previous personal best of 20 faceoff wins of 20 on Dec. 3 at Arizona State, has won 14 or more draws in 17 games this year, including in each of the last seven outings and in 10 of the last 11. The Denver captain leads the team with a 63.5-percent success rate and has finished 50 percent or better at the dot in 26 of the 28 contests this year.
MORE MILESTONES FOR GUTTMAN: Cole Guttman scored his 50th career goal on Friday vs. Duluth, becoming just the 60th player in program history reach the half-century mark and the first since
Jarid Lukosevicius in 2018-19. Guttman, who appeared in his 100th career contest on opening night on Oct. 8 vs. Arizona State, recorded his 100th career point on Jan. 22 at Colorado College—the 101st Pioneer to reach that milestone. This season, he is third on the team in goals (14) and fourth in points (32).
RECENT MILESTONES:
UPCOMING MILESTONES:
FROM THE PORTAL: Fifth-year senior
Cameron Wright leads DU with 17 goals this season, the most in a campaign by a Pioneer since
Jarid Lukosevicius had 19 in 2018-19. His 17 tallies rank tied for eighth in the country and are tied with Arizona State's Colin Theisen for the most in the nation by a player that transferred during the summer. Wright spent the previous four years with Bowling Green, where he recorded a career-high 20 goals in 2019-20.
AWARD NOMINATIONS: DU senior
Cole Guttman, junior
Bobby Brink and sophomore
Carter Savoie are among an initial 77 players nationally to be nominated for this year's 2022
Hobey Baker Award, which is given annually to college hockey's top player. The list will be cut down to 10 on March 17 and the three "Hobey Hat Trick" finalists will attend the award ceremony on Friday, April 8 during Frozen Four festivities in Boston.
Magnus Chrona was named to the watch list last week for the
Mike Richter Award, given in the top division-I goaltender. He is one of six keepers in the NCHC and one of 28 in the nation to be listed for the honor, which will be announced during the Frozen Four. Chrona ranks in the top 10 nationally in wins, shutouts and goals-against average.
TICKETS: Single-game tickets for the 2021-22 campaign are on sale now and can be purchased here.
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