DENVER – The No. 1 University of Denver hockey team takes on the Alaska Fairbanks Nanooks this weekend at Magness Arena in the Pioneers' first games following the two-week holiday break.
 
Friday's contest begins at 7 p.m. MT and will be televised regionally on Altitude 2, while Saturday's outing starts at 6 p.m. MT. Both games will also be broadcasted on NCHC.tv.
 
DU is on a season-long, seven-game winning streak and has won its last five home contests after sweeping the Lindenwood Lions in its previous series in mid-December. Goaltender Matt Davis earned his second career shutout on Dec. 16 in a 5-0 win for the Pios before Justin Lee scored the game-winning goal with 2:27 remaining on Dec. 17 to lift the Pioneers to a 5-4 victory.
 
Denver is set to play Alaska Fairbanks in their fourth series in the last five years, as the only season since 2018-19 when DU and UAF didn't play one another was in the COVID-shortened 2020-21 campaign. The Pioneers own a 9-2-2 all-time record against the Nanooks and are 4-0-2 on home ice after going 1-0-1 in matchups last year at Magness Arena. The Pios won 7-2 on Dec. 31, 2021 before playing to a 4-4 tie on Jan. 1, 2022.
 
Alaska owns a 10-8-2 overall record this season as an NCAA independent squad. UAF split last weekend's series against No. 19 Notre Dame, winning 3-2 on Saturday before falling 2-0 on Sunday. Prior to Sunday's loss, the Nanooks were on a season-long five-game winning streak, which included a four-game sweep of in-state foe Alaska Anchorage to win the Governor's Cup. 
 
This weekend marks the middle two outings of Denver's season-long, six-game homestand, as the Pioneers wrap up their homestretch on Jan. 13-14 against Miami. The meetings against Alaska are also Denver's final two non-conference games of the season, with the Pioneers owning an 8-2-0 mark in non-NCHC contests in 2022-23.
 
The Pioneers are 10-2-0 at home this year and aim to continue their success at Magness Arena against non-NCHC foes. DU is unbeaten in its last 27 contests versus non-conference opponents, going 24-0-3 since Dec. 30, 2017. The team's last non-win at home was the tie versus UAF on New Year's Day last season.
 
SCOUTING THE NANOOKS: Jonny Sorenson leads Alaska in scoring with 12 points (6g/6a) and is also tied for the team lead in goals with Harrison Israels (6g/4a).  Payton Matsui is the squad's top-assist getter with nine (1g/9a). Goaltender Matt Radomsky has stared all 20 games this season for the Nanooks and has a 1.91 goals-against average, .921 save percentage and two shutouts to go along with his 10-8-2 record.
 
CONNECTIONS: Head coach David Carle was born and raised in Alaska (Anchorage) ... Assistant coaches Dallas Ferguson and Tavis MacMillan played and graduated from UAF, and they both later served as assistant and head coaches of the team … MacMillan led the Nanooks as the head coach from 2004-2007 while Ferguson was the bench boss from 2008-2017 … Current UAF head coach Erik Largan was a goaltender under MacMillan and Ferguson when they were coaches there … Kyle Mayhew played for the Fairbanks Ice Dogs of the NAHL from 2016-2018, while Jack Caruso also skated for the Ice Dogs in 2019-20 … Brett Edwards played two seasons on the AJHL Drumheller Dragons with Daniel Allin (2018-19), Brayden Nicholetts (2017-2019) and Brady Risk (2017-2019) … Carter Mazur was on the USHL's Tri-City Storm's roster in 2019-20 with Allin … Matt Davis played with the AJHL's Spruce Grove Saints with Brayden Nicholetts in 2019-20 … Lane Krenzen was a teammate of Connor Mylymok with the NAHL's Austin Bruins in 2018-19 … Tristan Broz and Jonny Sorenson played together with the University of Minnesota last season … Brayden Nicholetts spent the 2015-16 season with the Colorado Thunderbirds 16U AAA.
 
IN THE POLLS: Denver ranks No. 1 in the nation in the DCU/USCHO.com poll and is second in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine ranking behind only Minnesota, which has just one more point (648-647) and first-place vote (15-14) than the Pioneers in the poll.  DU has been in the top four all season and been at least No. 1 in one of the polls for nine weeks.  In the Pairwise Ranking to determine the field for the national tournament, Denver comes in at No. 3 behind Minnesota and Quinnipiac.
 
DEFENSEMAN OF THE WEEK: Junior Mike Benning was named the NCHC Defenseman of the Week on Monday for his performance in the Dec. 16-17 series vs. Lindenwood (Denver was the only NCHC team in action that weekend).  After starting the series with two assists in the opener, the St. Albert, Alberta, native contributed two goals in Saturday's game to help the Pios sweep the set.
 
This is Benning's first weekly honor of the season and the fourth of his career, as he was named defenseman of the week three times in 2021-22.  Senior Kyle Mayhew (Nov. 7) is the only other Pioneer to earn top D-man honors from the conference this season.
 
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's 10 points were the most he ever produced in a month, surpassing his previous high of seven that he accomplished on three occasions: December 2020 (1g/6a), February 2022 (4g/3) and March 2022 (1g/6a).  The blueliner had four multi-point efforts in the month and is now on a career-long seven-game point streak (5g/7a) after his two-goal performance on Dec. 17.  Benning leads all team defensemen in scoring with 19 points (7g/12a) in 20 contests, and he ranks fifth nationally among D-men in scoring and just two behind leader Anhorn (21).
 
BROZ BREAKING OUT: Sophomore-transfer Tristan Broz has points in six of his last seven games and is currently on a career-long, four-game point streak (3g/5a).  Broz is coming off a personal-best, four-point performance on Dec. 17 vs. Lindenwood where he scored added three helpers, which was also a career high.  His previous personal high in a game was three points (1g/2a) on Feb. 26, 2022 vs. Wisconsin while playing at the University of Minnesota.  He transferred to Denver in the offseason.
 
MASS-IVE MARKERS: Sophomore forward Massimo Rizzo had his career-long goal streak end at four games after being held without a marker on Dec. 10 at Minnesota Duluth, but he continued his point streak in the outings afterward and is now on a career-long seven-game run (4g/4a). His four-game goal streak was the longest of the season by a Pioneer and matched the 2021-22 season high from Carter Mazur (Nov. 12-20, 2021). Rizzo leads Denver in scoring with 26 points (8g/18a) in 20 games this season. He now has 62 points (20g/42a) in 59 career contests.
 
BEHRENS AT THE WORLD JUNIORS: Sophomore defenseman Sean Behrens is currently representing the United States at the 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and Moncton, New Brunswick.  Behrens and Team USA are set to play in the Bronze Medal Game on Thursday against Sweden.
 
Behrens helped the Americans to first place in Group B during the preliminary round (3-1 record) and has three points (1g/2a) in six games at the under-20 tournament.  He had a goal and an assist in USA's 5-2 win over Latvia in the opener on Dec. 26, earning player of the game honors.
 
AFTER 20: The Pioneers own a 16-4-0 record and an .800 winning percentage after 20 games this season, 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.
 
BATTLE AT BALL ARENA: The Pioneers' game on 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.
 
HOME SWEET HOME: Denver is in the middle of a season-long, six-game homestand and is in the back half of a stretch of playing 10-of-12 contests at Magness Arena.  The homestay was separated by a two-week holiday break, as the Pios had consecutive weekends off after playing Lindenwood on Dec. 16-17.  Denver owns a 10-2-0 record at home this season and is on a season-best five-game winning streak in its friendly confines.  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, with their next set for Jan. 20-21 at St. Cloud State.
 
HOME-ICE ADVANTAGE: The Pios are 34-5-1 in their last 40 contests in their own rink and sport a 42-9-2 record at Magness Arena since the start of the 2019-20 campaign.  Denver went 17-1-1 during the 2021-22 season in its own barn and had a 22-1-1 mark in games in the state of Colorado, including winning both matchups at the Denver-hosted NCAA West Regional in Loveland.
 
NON-CONFERENCE SUCCESS: The Pioneers have won all eight home non-conference matchups this season an own a 24-0-3 record in their last 27 non-NCHC games at Magness Arena dating back to Dec. 30, 2017.
 
This weekend's series wraps up Denver's 12 non-conference games this season against seven different opponents.  The Pioneers previously played home games against No 11 Notre Dame and Maine on Oct. 7-8, No. 11 Providence on Oct. 21-22, Arizona State on Dec. 2-3 and Lindenwood on Dec. 16-17.  The season-opening contests vs. Notre Dame and Maine marked the only time before the postseason that Denver will play two different opponents on back-to-back days.  DU's only two road non-conference contests took place with a series at No. 13 Massachusetts on Oct. 14-15. 
 
STREAKING:

• Mike Benning is on a career-long seven-game point streak (5g/7a).
• Massimo Rizzo is on a career-long seven-game point streak (4g/4a).
• Tristan Broz is on a career-long four-game point streak (3g/5a).
• Jack Devine has recorded a point in each of his last three games (0g/3a), tying a career-long streak (Dec. 3-10, 2021, 1g/4a).
• Aidan Thompson is on his third, three-game point streak of the season (1g/2a).
• Casey Dornbach is on a three-game point streak (2g/2a).

• Owen Ozar has registered points in consecutive contests for the first time in his career (0g/2a).
• Goaltender Magnus Chrona has won his last five games, a season best.

 
NOTABLES

• The Pioneers' seven-game win streak is their longest since a nine-game run last season from Jan. 15-Feb. 11, 2022.
• Matt Davis picked up his second career shutout on Dec. 16 (previous: Oct. 16, 2021 vs. Air Force) and has won his last six starts dating back to last season. He made his first career Friday start in the shutout as well.
• Davis had a shutout streak of 75:24 come to an end at 10:59 of the first period on Dec. 17—the second-longest run of his career.
• Tristan Lemyre scored his first career goal on Dec. 16.
• Mike Benning tallied twice on Dec. 17 for his sixth career multi-goal game and his second of the season.
• Carter Mazur had his three-game goal streak and four-game point streak (3g/1a) end, while Mike Benning's five-game assist streak (tying a career high) also concluded on Dec. 17.
• Mazur has 15 goals on the season, a new career best for a campaign (14 in 2021-22).
• The weekend series marked the first-ever series between Denver and Lindenwood, which is in its first season at the NCAA Division-I level.
• Denver recorded multiple power-play goals in a contest for the fifth time this season.
• Goaltender Magnus Chrona has won his last four starts dating back to Nov. 25, tying a season long (Oct. 21-29).  He is two games shy and three starts short of 100 in his career.

 
MONTH-BY-MONTH: DU went 6-0-0 in games during the month of December, marking the 10th straight month since the start of last season where it posted a greater-than .500 record.  The Pioneers have gone at least .500 in 13 straight months dating back to January 2021.
 
CARLE WINS 100TH GAME: Richard and Kitzia Goodman Hockey Head Coach David Carle earned his 100th career win on Dec. 10 at Minnesota Duluth to join Murray Armstrong (460), George Gwozdecky (443), Ralph Backstrom (182) and Jim Montgomery (125) as Denver bench bosses to reach the milestone.  He recorded his 100th victory in his 160th career game—the second-fastest Pioneer coach behind Armstrong (143 games) and five games faster than his predecessor Montgomery (165 games) to reach the milestone.  In addition, his .666 winning percentage (100-47-13) is also the second-best mark among DU coaches during their quest to get 100 victories (Armstrong, 100-34-9, .731).
 
 
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