ST. CLOUD, Minn. – The No. 3 Denver Pioneers hockey team heads to Minnesota this weekend for top-five matchup against the No. 4 St. Cloud State Huskies on Friday and Saturday at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center.
 
Both contests will be broadcasted on NCHC.tv, with Friday's game starting at 6:30 p.m. MT and Saturday's beginning at 5 p.m. MT.
 
Denver and St. Cloud are atop of the NCHC standings, with the Pioneers first with 29 points and a 10-2-0 conference record and the Huskies right behind with 23 points and an 8-4-0 mark in league play. The squads are not just separated by one spot in the standings and national polls but also in the Pairwise rankings that determine seeding and the field for the national tournament—DU is fourth while SCSU is fifth.
 
This weekend will mark the final two contests of the schools' four-game season series after the teams' split their set on Nov. 4-5 in Denver. St. Cloud rallied in the third period and won 4-3 in overtime in the series opener before DU responded the next night with a 3-2 victory.
 
The Pioneers have won their last five conference games and are on a three-game winning streak, with them having scored seven goals in each of their recent games. Denver is coming off a pair of 7-0 wins last weekend at home against Miami, which featured a hat tricks from Carter King (Friday) and Tristan Broz (four goals, Saturday) and shutouts from goaltender Magnus Chrona.
 
St. Cloud State split its home series last week against Colorado College, falling 4-2 on Friday before earning a 5-0 shutout victory on Saturday. SCSU has split its last three weekend sets versus CC, Minnesota (Jan. 7-8) and Miami (Dec. 9-10), but the team own a 9-2-0 record on home ice this season and is 5-1-0 in its past six outings in St. Cloud.
 
These are the Pioneers' first road games since taking both contests in overtime at Minnesota Duluth on Dec. 9-10. Denver has won its last six road outings, its longest winning streak away from Magness Arena during the regular season since a six-game run in 2016-17 en route to a national championship.
 
Due to the NCHC bubble and the COVID-shortened 2020-21 campaign and the conference's uneven schedule matrix last year, the Pioneers will be making their first visit to St. Cloud since Feb. 28-29, 2020. That was DU's final road trip outside of the state of Colorado before the 2019-20 season was ultimately cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
 
SCOUTING THE HUSKIES: Four Huskies have recorded 20 or more points this season, as Jani Krannila leads the team in scoring with 25 points (11g/14a). Grant Cruikshank is the top goal scorer with 15 tallies (24 points).  Defenseman Dylan Anhorn is first on the squad with 18 assists and is tied as the nation's leaders in scoring by a blueliner with 23 points (5g/18a), one more than DU's Mike Benning (7g/15a).  St. Cloud has split its netminders fairly evenly this season between Jaxon Castor and Dominic Basse.  Castor has played 12 games and owns an 8-4-0 record, 2.01 goals-against average, .923 save percentage and one shutout, while Basse has guarded the pipes in 10 contests and is 8-2-0 with a 1.61 goals-against average, .937 save percentage and three shutouts.
 
CONNECTIONS: Denver has five Minnesota natives on its roster in Tristan Broz (Bloomington), Casey Dornbach (Edina), Tyler Haskins (Rochester), Lane Krenzen (Twig) and Jared Wright (Burnsville) … Shai Buium (2017-21) and McKade Webster (2015-17) played prep school hockey at Shattuck St. Mary's in Faribault, Minn. … Mason Reiners and Dornbach are from the same hometown (Edina) … DU's Matt Davis, Carter King and Rieger Lorenz and SCSU's Dylan Anhorn and Ethan Aucoin all hail from Calgary, Alberta … Cooper Wylie played on the Waterloo Black Hawks of the USHL with Owen Ozar in 2020-21, while Mason Reiners was teammates with Connor Caponi (2019-20) and Ozar (2020-21) when he played at Waterloo as well … Webster played on the USHL Green Bay Gamblers with Brady Ziemer in 2019-20 … Justin Lee was on the Fargo Force (USHL) with Mason Salquist in 2018-19, while Broz played in Fargo with Jack Peart in 2020-21 … Grant Cruikshank was teammates with Broz at the University of Minnesota last season … Cruikshank played three years of college hockey in the state of Colorado at Colorado College (2018-21) while Dominic Basse played two seasons at CC (2020-22).
 
IN THE POLLS: Denver ranks No. 3 in the nation in both the USCHO.com and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine polls after the latest national rankings were released on Monday.  DU has been inside the top four all season.  In the Pairwise Ranking to determine the field for the national tournament, Denver comes in at No. 4 behind Minnesota, Quinnipiac and Penn State.
 
TRIPLE 7s: The Pioneers have scored seven goals in each of their last three wins, with them defeating Alaska Fairbanks 7-2 on Jan. 7 before the two 7-0 wins last weekend against Miami.
 
The last time Denver has scored at least seven goals in three straight wins was in November 1989, when DU beat Alaska Fairbanks 12-5 and 8-1 on the road on Nov. 3-4, 1989 before winning 8-6 at Michigan Tech on Nov. 10, 1989.  DU last accomplished the feat on home ice at the start of the 1987-88 campaign, as it beat Minnesota Duluth 7-1 and 7-3 on Oct. 9-10, 1987 before downing Wisconsin by an 8-3 score on Oct. 16, 1989.
 
Overall, Denver's three-game streak of seven or more goals in a single season is just the third instance in the last 21 years in college hockey, as the Pioneers join Michigan (Jan. 10-23, 2015) and North Dakota (Oct. 31-Nov. 7, 2003) as schools to accomplish the feat.
 
The last time the Pios scored seven goals in consecutive games over a weekend was on Feb. 22-23, 2020 when it also did it against Miami, winning 7-3 and 7-0 at Magness Arena.
 
BROZ FOUR GOALS: Sophomore forward Tristan Broz recorded his first career hat trick as he scored four goals on Saturday against Miami. He is the 31st player in school history to tally four or more times in a game and the first DU player to achieve the feat in nearly 20 years, as Kevin Doell was the last to do it on Feb. 21, 2003 vs. Michigan Tech.
 
More on Broz's four-goal game:

• Scored on each of his four shots in the contest.
• After tallying in the second period, he scored three consecutive goals in the third period. The three goals in the third period were the most in a single frame this season by a DU player, while his three points in the stanza tied a season-best mark on the Pioneers.
• His three goals in the third marked the 23rd time in school history that a player tallied that many times in one period.
• The four goals are the most by an NCHC player this season and are tied for the most in a game in conference history.
• His four points tied a team high for a single contest in 2022-23 and matched his career high that he set on Dec. 17 vs. Lindenwood (1g/3a).
• Broz tallied his second game-winning goal of the season and the third of his career.

 
BROZ BREAKING OUT: The Minnesota native now has points in nine of his last 11 games, which included a career-long, four-game point streak from Dec. 9-17 (3g/5a).  Broz, who transferred from the University of Minnesota in the offseason, has registered 18 (8g/10) of his 20 points on the season in the 11 games since Nov. 26 against Omaha.
 
KING HIM: Sophomore Carter King scored his first career hat trick on Friday against the RedHawks.  His three goals tied a career high for points in a game, as he posted three assists on Nov. 20, 2021 vs. Miami.  It was his second consecutive multi-point performance, as he had two points (1g/1a) on Jan. 7 vs. Alaska Fairbanks.
 
King has already posted career highs this season in goals (8) and points (14) and leads the team in faceoff winning percentage at .548.  The Calgary, Alberta, native has won at least 10 faceoffs in five straight games and has 12 contests this year where he has 10 or more wins at the dot.
 
TRICKS ON TIME: Carter King and Tristan Broz scored goals in a hurry last weekend against Miami.  King tallied his hat trick on a Friday in a matter of 17:57, the ninth-fastest three goals at DU since 1999.  Broz scored the final three of his four goals in just 6:57 in Saturday's third period, the second-fastest three goals by a Denver player in the last 24 seasons.  Only Rhett Rakhshani's three goals in 5:21 on Dec. 8, 2007 vs. St. Cloud State have been faster in that time frame.
 
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: Three Pioneers were recognized on Monday as NCHC Players of the Week, as Tristan Broz was named Forward of the Week, Sean Behrens was named Defenseman of the Week and Magnus Chrona was named Goaltender of the Week.  Chrona posted 20-save shutouts on both Friday and Saturday vs. Miami, while Broz had for six points (4g/2a) and Behrens totaled three points (1g/3a) and four blocks over the weekend.
 
QUICK STRIKES: Denver combined for nine goals in the first nine minutes of last weekend's two second periods, with the Pios tallying five times in the first 6:59 on Friday and four times in the first 8:36 on Saturday.  Denver added a sixth goal in Friday's middle frame, marking the most goals it has score in a period this season.  Last year's high was five goals, which came on April 9, 2022 vs. Minnesota State in the third period of the national championship game.
 
Friday marked the fastest two (0:09), three (1:20), four (5:52), five (6:33) and six goals (14:39) of the season, as well as the fastest marker to start a period (0:26) and two goals by one player (Carter King, 0:41).  At the time, King also tallied the fastest three goals by a player (17:27), a mark that was bested on Saturday when Tristan Broz tallied three times in 6:57.
 
Denver's two goals in nine seconds on Friday (McKade Webster, PP, 1:37; Aidan Thompson, 1:46) are tied for the second-fastest pair of markers in the last 24 years (Zac Larraza, Quinten Shore, Dec. 29, 2012 vs. Boston University).  Matt Carle and Jonathan Foster have the quickest strikes since 1999, doing so in seven seconds on Oct. 22, 2004 vs. St. Cloud State.
 
IN THE CHRONA ZONE: Goaltender Magnus Chrona posted consecutive shutouts for the second time in his career last weekend against Miami.  It was his third clean sheet of the season, which have all come vs. the RedHawks as he made all 24 saves on Oct. 28 in Oxford.  Chrona is on a 126:01 shutout streak against MU that dates back to the Oct. 29 contest in Ohio (W, 4-2).
 
The Swede is presently on a season-long 126:01 shutout streak (since the third period vs. UAF on Jan. 7), becoming just the third netminder in DU history to register multiple shutout streaks of at least 120 minutes in length (Wade Dubielewicz, 3; Peter Mannino, 2).  Chrona already owns the program's third-longest shutout streak (198:10) after not allowing a goal across parts of five games (three full) from Jan. 15, 2022 vs. Omaha to Jan. 28, 2022 at Miami.
 
Chrona now has 12 career shutouts, sharing third place in school history with Adam Berkhoel (2000-2004) and is tied for the second-most in NCHC history.  Last season, he recorded six shutouts, tied for third-most in a campaign in the school annals 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 in 2021-22 came vs. rival Colorado College, with whom he currently owns a 246:07 shutout streak against across five outings.
 
MAGNUS IN THE RECORD BOOKS: Magnus Chrona made his 100th career start in net on Friday vs. Miami after playing in his 100th career game on Jan. 7 vs. Alaska.  The only game of Chrona's career that he did not start and entered in relief was on Feb. 28, 2020 at St. Cloud State.  He is the eighth Pioneer netminder to reach the century mark in games played and is one outing away from tying Peter Mannino (103) for sixth-most in school history.  His 66 career wins are the fourth-most in the DU annals.
 
CHRONA ON RICHTER WATCH LIST: Chrona was named to the Mike Richter Award Watch List last week, as he was one of seven NCHC goaltenders and among 41 keepers nationally to be up for the honor.  College hockey's goaltender of the year award will be narrowed down to approximately 15 players in the coming weeks, and the winner will be chosen on Friday, April 7 during Frozen Four festivities in Tampa, Florida.
 
MASS-IVE STREAK: Sophomore forward Massimo Rizzo extended his career-long point streak to 11 games last weekend after registering three assists in the two games vs. Miami.  It is tied for the second-longest point streak in the NCAA this season, as only Austen Swankler of Bowling Green has a longer one with a current 16-game run.
 
Rizzo's run started on Nov. 26 vs. Omaha and is tied for the fourth-longest at DU since the 2005-06 season, as only Danton Heinen (18 games), Bobby Brink (14 games) and Dylan Gambrell (13 games) have had better runs.  Rizzo has recorded at least a point in 21-of-24 contests this season.
 
STREAKING: In addition to Massimo Rizzo's 11-game point streak (6g/8a), six other Pioneers are on streaks of at least three games and four have set or matched personal longs.

• Sean Behrens is on a season-long three-game assist/point streak (1g/4a)
• Jack Devine is on a three-game point streak (1g/2a), tying a career high.
• McKade Webster tied a career high with his current three-game point streak (2g/2a).
• Shai Buium is on a career-long, three-game assist/point streak (0g/4a).
• Rieger Lorenz is on a career-long three-game assist/point streak (1g/3a).
• Tristan Broz is on a three-game point streak (4g/3a).

 
BATTLE AT BALL ARENA: The Pioneers' game next Friday, Jan. 27 against rival Colorado College has been moved from DU's Magness Arena to downtown Denver's Ball Arena, home of the 2022 Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche. Buy Tickets
 
On the heels of Denver earning the moniker of being "Hockey Capital USA" with national championships at the NHL, college, high school and pee-wee level, the game vs. CC will mark DU's first regular-season contest at the NHL arena.  The Pioneers did play an exhibition outing at the then-called Pepsi Center on Oct. 6, 2012 vs. the University of British Columbia to accommodate a U.S. Presidential Debate that occurred the same week at Magness Arena.
 
The Pioneers and CC Tigers have met 332 times previously in their history, presently the second-most played rivalry in college hockey behind only Michigan and Michigan State (335 games).  Fans who previously had tickets for the Jan. 27 game at Magness Arena will be reseated in a comparable location at Ball Arena.
 
ROAD WARRIORS: Denver has won its last six road games, improving to 6-2-0 away from Magness Arena this season.  It is the school's longest road winning streak since the Pioneers also had a six-game run from Jan. 21-March 4, 2017 as part of their championship winning campaign (non-neutral site games).  The last time the team has won seven or more consecutive road contests was Nov. 26, 2005-Jan. 28, 2006 when it won eight in a row.
 
Each of DU's six road wins have come against NCHC opponents, with the squad earning series sweeps each weekend.  This is the first time in the Pioneers' NCHC era that the squad has three road sweeps in a season, as the Denver last accomplished the feat in 2009-10 in the WCHA with road series wins at Minnesota, North Dakota and Minnesota State.
 
The Pioneers picked up their first weekend sweep of Minnesota Duluth since Dec. 1-2, 2017 and swept North Dakota in Grand Forks on Nov. 11-12 for the first time since Jan. 29-30, 2010.  This is the first time in program history that DU has compiled road sweeps at UND and UMD in the same season.
 
MONTH-BY-MONTH: Denver is 3-1-0 in the month of January and has now posted at least a .500 record in 14 straight months dating back to January 2021. DU has been greater-than .500 in 10 straight months and can make it 11 in a row if it can earn another win this month.
 
HOME SWEET HOME: Denver just wrapped up a season-long, six-game homestand—going 5-1-0 in contests from Dec. 16 to Jan. 14.  The homestay was separated by the two-week holiday break, as the Pios had consecutive weekends off after facing Lindenwood in that initial weekend.  Denver, which owns a 13-3-0 record at Magness Arena, also concluded a stretch where it played 10-of-12 contests on home ice, with its only road games coming at Minnesota Duluth on Dec. 9-10.  Minus the two bus trips down to Colorado College for games on Feb. 4 and March 4, the Pioneers only have two more road trips out of the state during the regular season: Jan. 20-21 at St. Cloud State and Feb. 24-25 at Western Michigan.
 
BEHRENS AT THE WORLD JUNIORS: Sophomore defenseman Sean Behrens won a bronze medal with the United States at the 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and Moncton, New Brunswick, from Dec. 26-Jan. 5.  After falling to eventual gold-medal winner Canada in the semifinals, the Americans pulled off an 8-7 win in overtime last Thursday against Sweden to earn a medal at its 14th under-20 tournament.  Behrens finished with three points (1g/2a) in seven games and was named the U.S.'s player of the game in the opener on Dec. 26 vs. Latvia after producing a goal and an assist in the victory.
 
BENNING'S DECEMBER TO REMEMBER: Mike Benning was named the NCHC Player of the Month for December after he led all conference skaters with 10 points (3g/7a) in six games during the month.  DU teammate Tristan Broz (3g/6a) and Western Michigan forward Ryan McAllister (3g/6a) ranked second in the conference with nine points each. St. Cloud State's Dylan Anhorn and Jack Peart were the next top-scoring NCHC defensemen with six points apiece.
 
Benning had four multi-point efforts in December, and his 10 points were the most he ever produced in a month, surpassing his previous high of seven that he accomplished three times previously: December 2020 (1g/6a), February 2022 (4g/3) and March 2022 (1g/6a). 
 
SEASON BENCHMARKS: The Pioneers owned a 16-4-0 record and an .800 winning percentage at the 20-game mark this season (games through Dec. 17), the program's best marks since also starting the season 16-4-0 (.800) in 2007-08.  Denver sported a 14-4-0 record and .777 winning percentage at the halfway mark of its season prior to its games vs. Lindenwood on Dec. 16-17, which was also its best since 2007-08 (14-4-0, .777). 
 
The Pioneers were 9-3-0 (.750) at their one-third mark this season, the team's most wins since 2012-13 (9-3-0) and its best winning percentage since 2019-20 (8-2-2, .750).  Denver is playing 36 games this season instead of the usual 34 due to the exemption given to teams that participate in the Ice Breaker Tournament.
 
 
TICKETS: Single-game tickets are on sale now. Click here for more.

Visit DenverPioneers.com for complete coverage of all 18 of DU's NCAA Division I sports
Like Denver Pioneers and Denver Hockey on Facebook
Follow @DU_Pioneers and @DU_Hockey on Twitter
Follow @DenverPioneers and @DU_Hockey on Instagram