DENVER – The No. 3 Denver Pioneers hockey team returns to conference play this weekend as they host the Omaha Mavericks at Magness Arena in a two-game series that begins on Friday.
 
Friday's game is at 7 p.m. MT and Saturday's contest begins at 6 p.m. MT. Both will be broadcasted on NCHC.tv and regionally on Altitude 2. Limited tickets are still available.
 
Denver has a 7-2-1 mark after 10 games this season and split its series at Arizona State last weekend. The Pioneers fell 6-5 in overtime on Friday before rebounding with an 8-4 comeback win on Saturday in the desert. DU scored five unanswered goals on Saturday against ASU after trailing 3-0 in the second period for its most goals in a game and largest comeback since also erasing a three-goal deficit and winning 8-4 against St. Cloud State on Feb. 4, 2022.
 
Omaha is 5-2-1 on the year and sports a 1-1 record in conference play. The Mavericks have won three games in a row, including picking up a pair of one-goal victories last weekend by defeating Long Island University 3-2 and 5-4 in overtime.
 
These with be UNO's first road games of the season after playing each of their first eight contests in its friendly confines at Baxter Arena. The Mavs will now play five of their next six games on the road, with the only exception being a home-and-home series against Augustana on Nov. 24-25.
 
Omaha is DU's second NCHC foe the team has faced this year after sweeping a home-and-home set against Colorado College on Nov. 3-4 on the conference's opening weekend. The Pioneers and Mavericks only played twice in 2022-23, with DU losing 3-0 and winning 6-3 on Nov. 25-26, 2022 in Denver.
 
The Pioneers have a 37-13-5 all-time record and a 22-4-2 mark at home against the Mavs. DU is 14-2-0 in the last 16 meetings against UNO at Magness Arena.
 
This weekend marks the start of a season-long six-game homestand and a stretch where Denver will play 10 of the next 12 regular season games on home ice. The only time the Pios will be away from the Mile High City around the holiday season is Dec. 8-9 at Western Michigan.
 
LAST TIME OUT: Denver split its non-conference series at then-No. 16 Arizona State last weekend, falling 6-5 in overtime on Friday before rallying for an 8-4 victory on Saturday.  Despite two short-handed goals from Carter King on Friday, ASU tied the contest four times after DU took the lead before winning 2:55 into OT.
 
The Sun Devils led 2-0 in the first period on Saturday and jumped out to a three-goal advantage before the Pioneers scored five unanswered markers and tallied eight of the next nine to earn the comeback victory.  Jack Devine had two goals, King had four points (1g/3a) and goaltender Freddie Halyk made a season-best 29 saves.
 
DON'T CALL IT A COMEBACK: The Pioneers erased a three-goal deficit on Saturday to win 8-4 at Arizona State. It was the team's largest comeback victory and the most goals it has scored since also rallying from a 3-0 deficit in an 8-5 win against St. Cloud State at home on Feb. 4, 2022.
 
The Pioneers scored four times in both the second and third periods—the most in a single frame this season. DU's previous high mark for goals in a stanza was three, which it had done six times this year.
 
Denver has five comeback wins this season, with the previous four being by one goal. This season, DU is 5-1-1 when the opponent scores first and 3-0-0 when the other team has the lead at the first intermission.
 
KING HIM: Forward Carter King is on a career-long seven-game point streak (7g/6a) and five-game goal streak (6g/5a) and has points in eight of the 10 contests this year. King's goal streak is the longest of the season and the longest by a Denver player since Cole Guttman from Dec. 7, 2019 to Jan. 4, 2020 (6g/2a).
 
The junior combined for six points in DU's two games at Arizona State on Nov. 10-11, registering three goals and three assists. King scored two short-handed goals on Nov. 10 at ASU, becoming just the fifth Pioneer to score multiple short-handed goals in the same game and the first to do so since Tyler Bozak on Nov. 4, 2007 vs. Minnesota.
 
He owns three short-handed goals this season, which leads the NCAA and is tied for the fifth-most in a single season in school history. Kyle Ostrow was the last DU player to score at least three goals while with the man disadvantage in 2010-11. King has four career shorties, tied with Logan O'Connor (2015-2018) for the 11th-most in the program annals.
 
DU's alternate captain also tied a Denver season best and recorded a career-high four points (1g/3a) the next night, reaching 50 career points in the process (21g/29a). His previous personal best was three points, with him recording a hat trick on Jan. 13, 2023 vs. Miami and a trio of assists on Nov. 20, 2021 vs. Miami. King also won a DU season-high and career-best 16 faceoffs on Saturday vs. ASU.
 
MATIKKA NAMED ROOKIE OF THE WEEK: Freshman forward Miko Matikka picked up his first career honor from the NCHC as he was named the conference's Rookie of the Week on Monday. Matikka totaled three goals in the series vs. Arizona State, recording his first career multi-point game on Friday with two goals before tallying again on Saturday.
 
The Helsinki, Finland, native has points in each of the last four contests (4g/1a) and is on a three-game goal streak. This was the third-straight week that a Pioneer was chosen as Rookie of the Week.
 
CARLE CLIMBING THE CHARTS: Head coach David Carle is two victories away from 125 in his career, which would tie his predecessor, Jim Montgomery, for fifth on DU's all-time wins list. His current .677 winning percentage is presently the best in program history (Murray Armstrong, 1956-1977, .674; Jim Montgomery, 2013-2018, .663).
 
The Anchorage, Alaska, native is eight games away from being the fifth head coach at DU to manage the bench in 200 career contests.
 
CENTURY CLUB: Junior Massimo Rizzo became the 102nd Pioneer to reach 100 career points with an assist on Nov. 11 at Arizona State. He is the first Denver player to join the century club since Cole Guttman on Jan. 22, 2022 vs. Colorado College.
 
Rizzo is one of just seven players to reach 100 career points in the last 10 years and accomplished the feat the second quickest in 87 games. Only Dylan Gambrell made the Century club sooner, doing so in his 86th contest in 2018.
 
RIZZO'S STRONG START: Forward Massimo Rizzo recorded points in each of the first eight games of the year from Oct. 7-Nov. 4 (5g/12a), the longest season-opening point streak by a DU player since Jarid Lukosevicius had points in each of his first nine contests in 2018-19 (8g/5a). The Burnaby, B.C., native also had a four-game goal streak during that run from Oct. 20-28 (5g/2a), matching his career long.
 
DEVINE PERFORMANCES: Junior Jack Devine ranks first in the nation in goals (10) and is tied for first in overall scoring with 18 points. He recorded his fourth multi-goal and seventh multi-point outing of the season on Saturday at Arizona State.
 
The Glencoe, Illinois, native began the season with a career-long, five-game point streak (6g/7a), which also included posting multiple points in each outing. It was the longest multi-point streak by a Pioneer since Massimo Rizzo also had a five-game stretch from Oct. 21-Nov. 4, 2022 (4g/9a). He also started this year on a personal-best, three-game goal streak (5g/2a) from Oct. 7-21, 2023.
 
BIG FRED IN GOAL: Freshman goaltender Freddie Halyk won each of his first three career starts, including posting a shutout in his debut on Oct. 28 at Air Force and allowed to two totals in a sweep of Colorado College on Nov. 4-5. Magnus Chrona was the last DU goalie to win each of his first three career starts to begin the 2019-20 campaign.
 
Halyk stopped all 24 shots against Air Force to be the first Denver netminder to record a clean sheet in his first career start since Matt Davis on Oct. 16, 2021 vs. the AFA Falcons (25 saves). Halyk, who made his NCAA debut by playing the final 3:29 on Oct. 8 at Alaska Fairbanks, also picked up his first career point in the outing against the Academy by registering a secondary assist on Massimo Rizzo's insurance goal in the third period.
 
STREAKING

• Shai Buium is on a three-game assist streak and a four-game point streak, tying a personal best.
• Zeev Buium is on a person-best four-game point streak (1g/4a).
• Carter King is on a seven-game point streak and five-game goal streak, both career highs.
• Miko Matikka is a season-long three-game goal streak and four-game point streak.
• Jared Wright is on a career-high four-game point streak and has recorded assists in consecutive games for the first time in his career.

NOTABLES

• Captain McKade Webster played in his 100th career game last Friday night at Arizona State.
• Denver was playing its first two games ever at Mullett Arena.
• The Pioneers played their second overtime game of the season on Friday, falling to 0-1-1 in the extra period this year.
• DU had its six-game winning streak against ASU come to an end, but the Pioneers are still 9-2-1 all-time vs. the Sun Devils after their win on Saturday. DU owns a 3-2-1 record in Arizona.
• Denver scored the fastest two (0:35), three (1:20), four (10:24), five (16:40) and six goals (26:36) of the season on Saturday. DU's three goals in 1:20 matched its best from 2022-23 (Jan. 13, 2023).
• Saturday's meeting marked the final non-conference game between the teams before ASU joins the NCHC next season.
• Goaltender Freddie Halyk has started five consecutive games, tied with Matt Davis most by a DU goalie this season.
• Alex Weiermair recorded his first career point with an assist on Saturday.

THAT'S A PLUS: Four Pioneers rank in the top five in plus/minus rating in the country, with defenseman Shai Buium tied for first with a plus-13 rating. Forwards Massimo Rizzo and McKade Webster are tied for third with a plus-12 rating and Jack Devine is tied for fifth at plus-11.
 
Buium combined for a plus-6 rating in DU's two games at Arizona State last weekend, earning a +3 in each contest.  It was Buium's sixth and seven outing of his career where he was a plus-3, a career best, with two occurrences happening this season.
 
HISTORY VS. OMAHA: Denver and Omaha met just twice last season with the Pioneers losing 3-0 before rebounding with a 6-3 victory on Nov. 25-26 at home.  DU is 37-13-5 all-time against UNO, which includes a 22-4-2 record at home and 25-10-5 in conference play.  Denver is 6-4 in the last 10 games in the series.  The Pioneers are 14-2 in the last 16 home outings against the Mavericks, which included an 11-game winning streak.  DU is 22-4-3 in the previous 29 contests since Jan. 8, 2016, which included a series-long 15-game winning streak from Jan. 8, 2016-March 1, 2019.
 
SCOUTING THE MAVERICKS: Omaha has been on the edge of entering the national polls, as the program owns a 5-2-1 record and 1-1-0 in NCHC play.  The Mavs' series in Denver is their first road games of the season, as each of their first eight games of the year were played at Baxter Arena. This weekend is the beginning of a stretch of five-of-six away from home. UNO has won each of the last three games, with two coming in overtime. The Mavericks swept Long Island last week with a 3-2 win on Friday and a 5-4 victory in OT on Saturday. They began conference play the previous week on Nov. 3-4 and split the series against then-No. 11 Western Michigan. Ty Mueller (3g/4a) and Griffin Ludtke (2g/5a) are tied for the team lead in scoring with seven points. Mueller's three goals are tied Joaquim Lemey (five games) and Nolan Sullivan for the first on the team. Ludtke and Jacob Guevin are both tops on the team charts with five assists.
 
CONNECTIONS: Assistant Coach Ryan Massa graduated from Nebraska Omaha and spent four years as a goaltender for the Mavericks (2011-2015), helping the program to its first Frozen Four in 2015 … Head Athletic Trainer Aaron Leu is from Nebraska, and he earned his bachelor's degree in Exercise Science from Creighton University in Omaha in 1995 and picked up his master's degree from the University of Nebraska at Kearney in 1996 … Cale Ashcroft (Tri-City Storm, 2022-23), Boston Buckberger (Lincoln Stars, 2022-23), Kieran Cebrian (Tri-City Storm 2020-23), Aidan Thompson (Lincoln Stars, 2020-22) and Jared Wright (Omaha Lancers, 2021-22) played junior hockey in the state of Nebraska … Freddie Halyk and UNO's Ty Mueller are both from Cochrane, Alberta … Tristan Broz and the Mavs' Tyler Rollwagen are both from Bloomington, Minn., and played together in 2020-21 with the USHL Fargo Force … Wright was a teammate with Cam Mitchell in Omaha in 2021-22 … Thompson played with Joaquium Lemay and Tanner Ludtke with Lincoln in 2021-22 … Victor Mancini played on Green Bay with Matt Davis in 2020-21 … Shai Buium played with Griffin Ludtke with the Sioux City Musketeers in 2020-21 … Massimo Rizzo was a teammate of Ray Fust with the BCHL Chilliwack Chiefs in 2020-21.
 
PREVIOUS MEETING VS. OMAHA (NOV. 26, 2022): Then-No. 1 Denver found its offensive touch as the Pioneers defeated the Omaha Mavericks 6-3 at Magness Arena to split the weekend series. DU responded from a shutout loss on Friday by having five different goal scorers and 11 players earn a point in the victory. Defenseman Mike Benning led the Pioneers with two goals, while Tristan Broz, Casey Dornbach and Aidan Thompson each contributed a goal and an assist. Massimo Rizzo also found the back of the net, and DU goaltender Magnus Chrona made 23 saves.
 
MAGNESS MADNESS: Denver had a sold-out crowd of 7,021 for its last home game vs. Colorado College on Nov. 3 in what was the highest attended hockey game at Magness Arena in program history. The previous high was 6,683 on Jan. 19, 2019 vs. CC
 
The Pioneers averaged 5,788 fans at Magness Arena in 2022-23 (23 games), the second-highest for the team since the building first opened for the 1999-2000 season.  Only 2006-07 saw larger crowds on the hilltop since the turn of the century, as the Pios averaged 6,022 over the course of 24 games that season.
 
Overall, 133,117 people watched the Pioneers at Magness Arena in 2022-23, the second-highest attended season in the rink's history.  If the 17,952 that witnessed Denver defeat Colorado College at Ball Arena on Jan. 27 are included in the data (it officially counted as a DU home game), then 151,069 people have watched Pioneer home games this year—the highest total attendance for the team since 1999.
 
PIONEERS IN THE POLLS: Denver moved down to No. 3 in the USCHO.com poll but stayed put at No. 2 in the USA Hockey/The Rink Live rankings for a fifth straight week. DU received three first-place votes in both polls
 
The Pioneers and North Dakota both rank in the top five for the NCHC, with the Fighting Hawks coming in at No. 2 in the USCHO.com ranking and No. 4 in USA Hockey/The Rink Live. Two other conference squads are in the polls, as Western Michigan is at No. 16/16 and St. Cloud State is at No. 19/17. Colorado College, Omaha and Minnesota Duluth also received votes.
 
CAPTAINING THE SHIP: Senior forward McKade Webster was named the 94th captain in program history on Oct. 2 after serving as an alternate during the 2022-23 campaign.  Webster, who previously served as a team captain with the USHL's Green Bay Gamblers in 2019-20, is joined on DU's leadership group by three alternates in senior Connor Caponi and juniors Carter King and Massimo Rizzo.
 
FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH: Denver is welcoming 10 freshmen to its roster this season, one of the largest incoming classes in recent years.  The last time DU had 10 freshmen on its roster was in 2018-19, one season after having 11 freshmen in 2017-18.  The Pioneers' 10 freshmen are tied for the seventh-most in the NCAA this season.
 
Denver's average age at the start of the season is 20.9 years-old, tied with Harvard for the second-youngest in the country behind Boston College (20.6).  Freshman defenseman Zeev Buium is the second-youngest player in the country, as he won't turn 18 years old until Dec. 7.  Boston University's Macklin Celebrini is the youngest, turning 18 next summer on June 13, 2024.
 

TICKETS: Single-game tickets, as well as 5-game packs and full and half-season ticket plans are all available to purchase here.