DENVER – The No. 4 University of Denver hockey team faces one of its biggest challenges of the season this weekend as the Pioneers host the No. 7 St. Cloud State Huskies in a top-10 showdown at Magness Arena.
Friday's game begins at 7 p.m. MT and will be televised nationally on CBS Sports Network. Saturday's contest starts at 6 p.m. MT and will be broadcasted regionally on Altitude 2 and will be available on NCHC.tv. A limited number of tickets are still available for both games.
Denver was previously scheduled to have a bye this weekend, but its regular-season slate had to be adjusted due COVID protocols within multiple NCHC programs. DU and SCSU were originally supposed to play on Jan. 14-15 in Denver, but that series was rescheduled to this weekend due to issues with the Huskies at the time.
DU is returning home after playing its past three games on the road, most recently a sweep last weekend at Miami. Denver played two close matchups in Oxford, Ohio, against the Miami RedHawks and came away with two victories.
Denver rallied from being down by two goals with a pair of markers from captain
Cole Guttman in the final 3:03 in the third period to force overtime on Friday before Guttman had the primary assist on
Mike Benning's OT-winning tally at 3:03 of the extra frame, giving the Pios a 5-4 win. On Saturday,
Ryan Barrow netted the go-ahead goal early in the third period and
McKade Webster scored into an empty-net as Denver earned a 4-2 victory.
Brett Stapley had three assists on Saturday, while Avalanche prospect
Sean Behrens had two points (one goal, one assist) in the contest.
The Pioneers have won six straight games and are on a season-high, eight-game unbeaten streak (7-0-1). The team leads the NCHC with an 11-3-0 record and 32 points, while sporting an 18-5-1 overall mark on the season.
Nationally, DU ranks No. 4 in the DCU/USCHO.com poll and moved up to No. 3 in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll. It's Denver's highest ranking since beginning the 2020-21 campaign at No. 4 in the country.
St. Cloud State (14-7-1, 6-5-1) is coming off a 0-1-1 weekend at North Dakota, losing 7-1 on Friday before tying the Fighting Hawks 3-3 the next day. The Huskies fell 1-0 in the shootout on Saturday that determined the extra conference point.
SCSU will be a bit shorthanded this weekend as Sam Hentges and Nick Perbix and head coach Brett Larson are currently with the United States Men's National Team for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.
The Huskies will be making their first trip to Denver since Jan. 10-11, 2020, when the Pios won both matchups. Due to the NCHC scheduling quirk, this is the only series this season between the teams, as St. Cloud is the only school Denver won't visit during the regular season.
This weekend begins a four-game homestand for the Pioneers and is part of a stretch that has them playing nine-of-12 contests at Magness Arena. DU hosts No. 6 Minnesota Duluth on Feb. 11-12 before traveling to face No. 6 Western Michigan on Feb. 18-19 and No. 18 Omaha on Feb. 25-26.
BEHRENS PICKS UP MORE HARDWARE: Freshman
Sean Behrens was named the NCHC Defenseman of the Week on Monday after recording three points (1g/2a) and five blocked shots last weekend at Miami. He had the primary assist on
Cole Guttman's goal that began a two-goal comeback on Friday before recording two points in Saturday's victory. It was his third Defenseman of the Week honor this season.
TOP GOALIE HONORS: Junior
Magnus Chrona was named the NCHC Goaltender of the Month on Tuesday after recording a 6-0-1 mark, 1.67 goals-against average, .920 save percentage and three shutouts in seven starts during January. It was his second goalie of the month honor of his career, as he also earned the accolade in his first month as a freshman in October 2019
CHRONA SHUTOUT STREAK: Goaltender
Magnus Chrona's career-long shutout streak ended at 198:10 following Miami's goal with 5:06 remaining in the first period on Friday. The streak was the longest in the NCHC this season and the fifth-longest in the history of the conference. Chrona's run from Jan. 15-29 was the third-longest in program history, as only
Marc Cheverie (223:51, Oct. 9-30, 2009) and
Peter Mannino (208:42, Feb. 26-March 27, 2005) have had longer stretches. He has already set a new personal best with four shutouts this season and now ranks tied for seventh in school history with seven in his career (Sam Brittain, 2010-2014; Stephen Wagner, 1996-2000).
TO THE BRINK: Junior forward
Bobby Brink ranks first in the nation with 27 assists and is third in the country in points with 35. He is on a career-long eight-game point streak (2g/12) and has recorded 26 points (5g/21a) in his last 16 contests dating back to Nov. 12 vs. Western Michigan.
STAYING UNBEATEN: Denver has won six straight games for the second time this season (seven games, Nov. 12-Dec. 10) and is on a season-long, eight-game unbeaten streak (7-0-1). DU's current unbeaten stretch is its longest since an 11-game run from Dec. 7, 2019-Jan. 25, 2020 (8-0-3)—the team also began that 2019-20 campaign with an eight-game win streak and nine-game unbeaten streak (8-0-1).
HOME COOKING: Denver is 11-0-1 at Magness Arena this year, with its 12-game home unbeaten streak to start the season tied for the third-longest in program history as the 1973-74 team also began that campaign 11-0-1. Only the 1967-68 (19-0-0) and 1960-61 squads (23-0-1) have had longer home unbeaten stretches to start a campaign. Denver began the season on an eight-game winning streak, which was longest in the modern era and tied for the third-longest to start a campaign in the team annals (also 1958-59). The stretch was also the longest ever at Magness Arena, which first opened for the 1999-00 season.
Following Cornell's loss at home to Princeton on Jan. 21 and UMass-Lowell's loss vs. Merrimack the following day, Denver is now the only team in the nation to be unbeaten at home in 2021-22. Prior to Jan. 21, Cornell had been 6-0-0 in its arena while UMass-Lowell was 7-0-3 in its home rink.
At home, DU is averaging 5.41 goals per game while its defense has kept other teams at by, allowing only 1.75 goals against per outing.
RECENT MILESTONES REACHED:
- Ryan Barrow appeared in his 150th career game last Friday at Miami, becoming the 68th player in program history to reach the mark. He is 16 games away from tying the school record held by Ed Cristofoli (167).
- Carter Savoie recorded two points on Friday to reach 50 in his career.
UPCOMING MILESTONES:
AWARD NOMINATIONS: DU's top line of 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.
FACING ST. CLOUD: Denver will welcome the St. Cloud State Huskies into Magness Arena in the only matchup of the season between the two squads. The Huskies, who lost in last year's NCAA National Championship Game to UMass, are making their first trip to Colorado in more than two years as they last played in the Mile High City on Jan. 10-11, 2020. Due to the NCHC's scheduling quirk, SCSU is the only program that DU won't visit this season while North Dakota is the only team that won't make a trek to Denver in 2021-22. DU is 53-49-6 all-time versus SCSU, which includes a 44-44-6 mark as conference foes that date back to their time in the old WCHA. The teams last met in December 2020 in the NCHC Pod in Omaha, with St. Cloud winning 4-3 on Dec. 5 and 3-1 on Dec. 20.
TICKETS: Single-game tickets for the 2021-22 campaign are on sale and can be purchased here.
CORONAVIRUS UPDATES: Masks are required at all indoor athletic events. For the latest University of Denver updates on the coronavirus, click here.
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