DENVER – The University of Denver hockey team returns to game action following its holiday break on Saturday night as the No. 5 Pioneers host the Minot State Beavers in an exhibition at 6 p.m. MT at Magness Arena.
 
The game will be broadcasted on NCHC.tv and on Denver Sports 104.3 The Fan HD3. Tickets are available at DenverPioneers.com.
 
Denver's last games were three weeks ago on Dec. 8-9 at No. 13 Western Michigan. The Pios (12-5-1, 5-3-0 NCHC) split the weekend set, as they won 6-5 in overtime in the series finale after falling 7-3 the previous night.
 
Minot State has a 17-4 record and ranks No. 1 in the American Collegiate Hockey Association rankings. The Beavers, who won the ACHA Division-I national championship last season, have won each of their last five games. MSU defeated University of Mary 3-1 at home in its last contest on Dec. 13.
 
The Beavers are set to play two games in Colorado this weekend, as they begin a pair of exhibitions on Friday night at Colorado College.
 
Denver will be playing an exhibition against an ACHA team for the third consecutive season after the squad began the 2021-22 campaign against Lindenwood and started 2022-23 versus UNLV. DU outscored both teams by a combined 19-1 mark and won 10-0 last year for its largest margin of victory in an exhibition since a 17-4 win against DU Alumni on Oct. 6, 1984.
 
DU has won each of its last seven exhibition contests dating back to 2014, and this is the third straight season that the Pioneers have played an exhibition. Denver last played an exhibition after having already started the regular season on Oct. 20, 2001 vs. the U.S. Under-18 Team. This is the latest in the season that DU has played an exhibition outing since 1987-88 when DU hosted the U.S. National Team on Feb. 3 and Feb. 23 (losing both).
 
The Pioneers own a 42-25-7 all-time record in exhibition games in program history; they are 35-7-5 in season-opening exhibitions.
 
Not counting Saturday's exhibition, DU is in a stretch of playing 10-of-12 contests at home. The Pioneers resume the regular season by wrapping up non-conference play on Jan. 5-6 against Niagara before concluding its homestand on Jan. 13-14 versus NCHC-foe St. Cloud State.

CONNECTIONS: Junior Tristan Broz played junior hockey in North Dakota with the USHL Fargo Force from 2019-2021 while freshman Peter LaJoy skated in four games with the NAHL Bismarck Bobcats in 2020-21.
 
SCOUTING THE BEAVERS: Defenseman Christan Kadolph leads the team in scoring with 27 points on five goals and 22 assists, while forward Reid Arnold is the top goal scorer with 13 goals and has added six assists. Goaltender Jake Anthony has started most of the games for the Beavers and owns a 10-3-0 record, 2.14 goals-against average and .913 save percentage in ACHA play. Netminder Riley Wallace is 6-1 in seven outings and owns a 1.72 goals-against average and .904 save percentage.
 
LAST TIME OUT: The Pioneers split their weekend series at then-No. 13 Western Michigan on Dec. 8-9, falling 7-3 on Friday before earning a 6-5 overtime victory on Saturday. Miko Matikka scored twice in both games while fellow freshman Zeev Buium combined for four assists to push his point streak to 12 straight outings.
 
Western Michigan went 3-for-3 on the power play and added two empty-net goals to pull away for the victory on Friday. DU tied the contest at 3-3 early in the third period, and it was a one-goal game up until four minutes remaining in regulation.
 
The teams played a back-and-forth affair on Saturday, with WMU rallying to tie the outing at 4-4 early in the third period and then at 5-5 with 14 seconds left in regulation.  Massimo Rizzo scored the game-winner for Denver at 1:02 of OT, and goaltender Paxton Geisel earned the victory in his NCAA debut.
 
NOTABLES

• The Pioneers are at the halfway point of their season with a 12-5-1 overall record.  DU's 12 victories are tied for the second-most at the halfway point of a 36-game regular-season campaign in the last 10 years.
• DU is now 2-1-1 in overtime games this year, with it earning extra-time wins in two of the last three contests.  Massimo Rizzo scored his first career overtime goal in the victory on Dec. 9.
• The Pioneers' games at Western Michigan marked their only two road games in a 12-game stretch from Nov. 17 to Jan. 13.
• Miko Matikka has recorded consecutive multi-goal games and owns three such performances this year.  His goal at 0:43 of the second period on Dec. 9 marked the fastest to begin a period this season.
• Goaltender Paxton Geisel stopped 31 shots while making his NCAA debut and first career start on Dec. 9. The 31 saves were the most in a game by a DU goalie this season.
• Goaltender Freddie Halyk started 12 consecutive games from Oct. 28-Dec. 8 (8-4-0) and posted career highs with 30 saves and 35 shots faced on Dec. 8.
• Defenseman Sean Behrens blocked four shots in each game at Western Michigan, tying a career best for the most in a single contest (six times)
• Jack Devine tied a team-season high with six shots on Dec. 9.
• McKade Webster scored his seventh goal of the season on Dec. 3 and has now set career highs this season in goals (7), assists (10) and points (17).
• Aidan Thompson appeared in his 50th career game on Dec. 9.

CARLE AMONG THE BEST AFTER 200 GAMES: Head coach David Carle guided the Pioneers' bench for the 200th game on Dec. 9 at Western Michigan to become the fifth DU coach to reach the milestone, joining Murray Armstrong, Ralph Backstrom, George Gwozdecky and Jim Montgomery.
 
Carle's .675 winning percentage is the second-best among that group through 200 games, with only Armstrong having a better mark at .735—he won three national championships in his first six-plus years at the helm of the program.
 
MIKO EARNS ROOKIE OF THE WEEK HONORS: Freshman forward Miko Matikka picked up his third NCHC Rookie of the Week award of the season on Dec. 11 after totaling four goals in the series at Western Michigan, scoring twice both nights.
 
Each of Matikka's three top rookie honors have come in the last five selections. Overall, this is the sixth time that a DU player has been named Rookie of the Week this season, and it is the team's 13th NCHC weekly award of the campaign.
 
PIONEERS AT THE WORLD JUNIORS: There are plenty of Pioneer connections on Team USA at the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championship, which is currently underway in Gothenburg, Sweden, and runs until Jan. 4, 2024.  Among the 25 players on the roster is DU freshman defenseman Zeev Buium, who is one of 11 players with a 2005 birthday and the youngest of the entire group.
 
Denver head coach David Carle is serving in the same role for Team USA at the under-20 tournament after being named to the position on April 4.  This is Carle's first time coaching Team USA at any level, and he will be the first Denver coach to guide the U.S. World Junior squad since Marshall Johnston at the 1977 tournament. 
 
Denver Director of Hockey Operations Travis Culhane is also on Carle's staff as the video coach and Equipment Manager Nick Meldrum is serving in the same role at his second World Juniors.  Former DU assistants Steve Miller (University of Minnesota) and David Lassonde (USA Hockey) and St. Cloud State head coach Brett Larson and Augustana head coach Garrett Raboin are also USA coaches.
 
The United States is presently second in Group B with two regulation wins and one shootout victory. USA plays group-leading Slovakia in the final game of the preliminary round on Sunday. The knockout round begins on Tuesday, Jan. 2.
 
RIZZO REPRESENTING CANADA AT SPENGLER CUP: Forward Massimo Rizzo is currently with the Canadian National Team at the 2023 Spengler Cup after being named to the roster on Dec. 22.  Rizzo is the first NCAA player to suit up for Canada at the event since DU's own Ian Mitchell did it in 2019.  Denver alum Joey LaLeggia is also on Canada's roster.
 
The Spengler Cup is an annual invitational tournament held every December in Davos, Switzerland. The tournament primarily features professional hockey teams in Europe, but Canada has sent a squad every year since 1984 (tournament wasn't played in 2020 or 2021 due to the COVID-19 Pandemic).
 
Canada, which is 2-1 in the tournament, will play Czechia's HC Dynamo Pardubice in the semifinals on Saturday. The championship game is set for Sunday.
 
BUIUM ON HISTORIC POINT STREAK: Denver rookie Zeev Buium has points in each of his last 12 games, surpassing Boston University's Lane Hutson's 11-game run from last season for the longest point streak by a freshman defenseman in the NCAA in more than 21 years, courtesy of College Hockey News (online databases presently do not go back further than 2002).
 
Buium has four goals and 17 assists in the dozen games dating back to Nov. 3 vs. Colorado College.  Hutson posted similar numbers with three goals and 16 assists during his 11-game stretch from Dec. 11, 2022-Feb. 6, 2023.  Both players are on Team USA for the 2024 World Juniors.
 
The run by Buium is the longest by a Denver player since Bobby Brink had a 14-game point streak from Dec. 31, 2021-Feb. 19, 2022 (7g/21a).  Buium is also on a personal-best five-game assist streak, with him totaling 10 helpers in that timeframe since Nov. 25.
 
STREAKING: In addition to Zeev Buium's 12-game point streak, the following Pioneers are also on runs:

• Miko Matikka has points in each of his last 11 games he's played (11g/4a).
• Massimo Rizzo is on a six-game assist/point streak (2g/9a), tying a career-long stretch for helpers.  He has recorded a point in all but two games this season.
• Carter King is on a five-game point streak (3g/2a) and has points in 14 of the last 15 games (10g/11a) since Oct. 21.
• Sean Behrens is on a three-game point streak (1g/2a) and has seven points in the last eight games (2g/5a).

TICKETS: Single-game tickets as well as partial-season ticket plans are available. Click here to learn more.