DENVER – The No. 4 Denver Pioneers hockey team wraps up its season series against rival North Dakota this weekend as the Fighting Hawks visit Magness Arena on Friday and Saturday for the first time in two years.
 
Friday's game begins at 7:30 p.m. MT and will be broadcasted nationally on CBS Sports Network. Saturday's contest starts at 6 p.m. MT and will be available on NCHC.tv.
 
This will be the third and fourth meetings of the season between the two conference foes after the Pioneers picked up a pair of wins in Grand Forks on Nov. 11-12. It was DU's first weekend sweep with two regulation victories at UND since Jan. 29-30, 2010.
 
Denver (21-7-0, 12-4-0 NCHC) is atop the conference standings and is coming off victories the past two weeks against in-state foe Colorado College. After winning 2-0 at Ball Arena on Jan. 27, the Pioneers beat the Tigers 4-1 last Saturday at Ed Robson Arena in Colorado Springs—the program's ninth in a row versus CC.
 
North Dakota had a bye last week and swept a road set in its last games on Jan. 27-28 at Miami. UND has a 12-11-4 record on the season and is sixth in the NCHC standings with a 6-8-2 conference record and 21 points. The Fighting Hawks sport a 5-3-3 mark on the road this year.
 
This is the first time that North Dakota has traveled to Denver since January 2021 during the COVID-shortened campaign, and it will be the first meetings between the teams with fans in the stands on the DU campus since Nov. 15-16, 2019. Each of the last seven games have come in Grand Forks, while 11 of the past 13 matchups between the squads have come away from the Mile High City.
 
SCOUTING THE FIGHTING HAWKS: Jackson Blake leads the team in scoring with 30 points (12g/18a), while Riese Gaber is the top goal scorer with 16 tallies and is second with 28 points (16g/12a).  Chris Jandric is first in assists with 23 (3g/23a).  Goaltender Drew DeRidder has made the most starts among the UND goalies with 17 and has a 7-5-2 record, 2.62 goals-against average, .900 save percentage and three shutouts.  Jakob Hellseton has played 14 outings and has started nine, posting a 5-5-2 record, 2.77 goals-against average and .873 save percentage.
 
HISTORY VS. NORTH DAKOTA: Denver has a 132-156-16 all-time record against North Dakota, winning both matchups earlier this season on Nov. 11-12 in Grand Forks.  DU and North Dakota have played 304 games in their all-time series, with the Hawks being DU's second-most common opponent behind Colorado College (334 games).  Denver owns a 115-131-14 record in conference play vs. North Dakota and is 77-56-6 all-time in the series at home.  The teams will be playing their first games at Magness Arena since Jan. 17-18, 2021 during the COVID-shortened campaign and are set to play the first contests with fans in the stands at DU since Nov. 15-16, 2019 (each of the last seven meetings have come in North Dakota).  The Pioneers are 7-3-2 in their last 12 outings against the Hawks at Magness Arena (since 2015-16).
 
CONNECTIONS: Justin Lee is from "nearby" Waskada, Manitoba—228 miles northwest of Grand Forks and played part of the 2018-19 season in Fargo, North Dakota, with the USHL's Fargo Force … Lee was teammates in Fargo with UND's Ethan Frisch … Dylan James and Louis Jamernik are from the same hometown (Calgary, Alberta) as Denver's Kent Anderson, Matt Davis and Rieger Lorenz … Lorenz played with James on the AJHL's Okotoks Oilers in 2020-21 … Owen Ozar was teammates with Luke Bast and Dane Montgomery with the USHL Waterloo Blackhawks in 2020-21, while Connor Caponi and UND's Bast and Griffin Ness played together in Waterloo in 2019-20 … Davis was teammates with Fighting Hawks' Jake Schmaltz and Jackson Kunz in 2020-21 with the Green Bay Gamblers, while McKade Webster was teammates with Schmaltz and Kunz in 2019-20 with the Gamblers … Shai Buium played with Matteo Costantini at Sioux City in 2020-21 … Tyler Haskins and Brent Johnson were teammates on the USHL Sioux Falls Stampede in 2020-21 … Sophomores Sean Behrens and Jack Devine both played at the U.S. National Team Development Program at the same time as UND junior Tyler Klevin in 2019-20.
 
SWEEP IN NORTH DAKOTA: The Pios ended a six-game losing streak to North Dakota with two wins on Nov. 11-12 and grabbed a rare weekend sweep as well.  Denver's last two-game sweep of North Dakota was March 15-16, 2019 during the NCHC Quarterfinals at Magness Arena, and the team's last wins during the regular season where it earned all six conference points was Feb. 12-13, 2016 in Denver.
 
The Pioneers picked up two regulation wins over a weekend in North Dakota for the first time in the NCHC era, as they last accomplished the feat on Jan. 29-30, 2010 when both squads played in the old WCHA.  DU won two NCHC overtime games in Grand Forks on Jan. 26-27, 2018, but both of those officially went down as a tie as they came in the second OT, earning the extra point for the purposes of the NCHC standings only. 
 
FRESHMEN SHINE IN NO-DAK: Rookies Jared Wright and Aidan Thompson scored their first collegiate goals on Nov. 11 at UND and led Denver offensively in the weekend sweep of the Fighting Hawks.  Wright scored the game-winning goal in both contests and finished with three goals and one assist in the two outings after posting multiple points each night.  Wright had a goal and an assist on Nov. 11 before picking up his first career multi-goal contest on Nov. 12 and earning NCHC Forward of the Week honors on Nov. 14.
 
Thompson finished the two games with two goals and one assist.  He had his first career multi-point contest on Nov. 11 as he added a helper with his first tally and then recorded his second marker the next night.  The Fort Collins, Colorado, native was recognized as the NCHC Rookie of the Week on Nov. 14.
 
LAST TIME OUT: Four different Pioneers scored, and goaltender Magnus Chrona made 22 saves as Denver defeated Colorado College 4-1 on Saturday at Ed Robson Arena in Colorado Springs.  Casey Dornbach and Mike Benning tallied on the power play for the Pios while Justin Lee scored at even strength and Carter King buried an empty-netter.  Hunter McKown scored for CC on a penalty shot to break Chrona's shutout streak, and goalie Kaiden Mbereko stopped 23 shots.
 
GOLD PAN SECURED: Denver captured the Gold Pan trophy on Saturday at Colorado College with the victory, marking the fourth-straight season and 17th time overall where the school has won the hardware.
 
In circulation since 1993-94, the Gold Pan is given to whatever team wins the season series between the in-state rivals. Since they previously held the trophy, the Pioneers only needed a series split to retain it while the Tigers had to win the four-game series outright.
 
The teams wrap up the regular season against one another with a home-and-home weekend on March 3 in Denver and March 4 in Colorado Springs.
 
LAST GAME NOTABLES

• The Pioneers have now won nine straight games over the Tigers and are 13-1-1 in the last 15 matchups.
• Saturday's game marked the 334th all-time meeting between DU and CC, the second-most played rivalry in college hockey behind only Michigan and Michigan State (335).  DU leads the all-time series 192-121-21.
• The Pioneers finished 2-for-5 on the power play, the eighth game this season they have recorded multiple markers on the man advantage.
• Denver had a season-high 23 penalty minutes on Saturday at CC, with Justin Lee posting a Pioneer 2022-23 high of 17 in the game.
• Chrona's 133:39 shutout streak bested his previous season high of 132:36 set last month from Jan. 7-20.  It is the 12th-longest shutout streak in program history.
• Casey Dornbach scored his 12th goal of the season, matching a career high that he set in 2019-20 as a sophomore at Harvard.
• Justin Lee scored his fourth goal of the season, tying a personal best from his sophomore campaign of 2020-21.
• Mike Benning recorded his eighth goal of the year, tied for the seventh most in the nation by a defenseman.  He is now two goals away from tying Will Butcher for 10th place in school history for a blueliner
• Hunter McKown's penalty shot was the first attempt by an opposing team on DU since Stanley Cooley of CC last season on March 5, 2022.  It was the first penalty shot goal allowed by the Pioneers since Danny Kristo of North Dakota on Feb. 24, 2012

 
CHRONA CAGING THE TIGERS: Goaltender Magnus Chrona had his shutout streak against Colorado College end at 350:11 after Hunter McKown scored on a penalty shot at 4:04 of the third period on Saturday.
 
Chrona's streak stretched seven games and included five full shutouts over the course of three seasons. CC's Brian Hawkinson tallied the previous goal against him at 13:53 of the 3rd period on Feb. 25, 2021 at World Arena.  He posted clean sheets in the first three meetings last year against the Tigers—Matt Davis played the series finale.
 
The Swedish keeper also owns an active shutout streak against Miami University that totals 151:15 dating back to Oct. 29 of this season.
 
120 AND BEYOND: Chrona recorded a season-long shutout streak of 133:39 from Jan. 21-Feb. 4, his second stretch of at least 120 minutes this season (132:36, Jan. 7-20).  It was his third career shutout streak of at least 120 minutes, as he posted the third-longest run in program history last season at 198:10 last season (Jan. 15-28, 2022).  Chrona is the second goalie in school history to record three shutout streaks of at least 120 minutes (Wade Dubielewicz).
 
IN THE CHRONA ZONE: Magnus Chrona has posted shutouts in three of his last six games, including consecutive clean sheets for the second in his career on Jan. 13-14 against Miami. 
 
Chrona earned his fourth shutout of the season and 13th of his career on Jan. 27 vs. Colorado College and moved into a tie with Gerry Powers (1966-1969) for second place in school history.  He is two shy of matching the program record of 15 held by Peter Mannino (2005-2008).
 
Last season, Chrona 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).
 
HOME SWEET HOME: Denver is 14-3-0 at home this season, winning each of its last four contests.  The Pios wrapped up a season-long six-game homestand from Dec. 16-Jan. 14 with a 5-1-0 mark and had 10 contests at Magness Arena in a 12-game stretch from Nov. 25-Jan. 14 (8-2-0).  DU will play eight of its final 10 remaining outings in Colorado, as the only time the squad will be out of state is at Western Michigan on Feb. 24-25.  The Pioneers are in midst of a stretch where they're playing five-of-six and six-of-nine at home.
 
HOME-ICE ADVANTAGE: The Pios are 37-6-1 in their last 44 contests at Magness Arena and sport a 45-10-2 record on the DU hilltop 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, Colorado.
 
PIONEERS IN THE POLLS: Denver remains No. 4 in the country for the second both national polls after the USCHO.com and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine rankings were released on Monday.  DU has been inside the top five all season in each weekly poll. 
 
In the Pairwise Ranking that determines the field for the national tournament, Denver is presently sixth behind Minnesota, Quinnipiac, Boston University, Michigan and Penn State.
 
Overall, the NCHC has four teams in the two national polls with St. Cloud State (6/6), Western Michigan (9/9) and Omaha (16/16) joining DU in both rankings.  North Dakota and Minnesota Duluth also received votes in at least one of the polls.
 
IN THE NCHC: DU is first in the NCHC standings with 35 points and a 12-4-0 conference record.  The Pioneers are two points ahead and have two games in hand on second-place Western Michigan and St. Cloud State (33 points).  Denver is playing league opponents in each of their final eight weeks of the regular season.
 
TENZER STREAK LIVES: The Pioneers were the first team in the country to reach the 20-win mark with their victory over the CC Tigers on Jan. 27, doing so in 27 games.  Denver has now won at least 20 games in each of the last 21 full seasons, dating back to the 2001-02 season.  The Pios only played 24 total contests in the COVID-shortened 2020-21 campaign.
 
The "Tenzer" Streak is named after former DU Director of Hockey Operations David Tenzer, who spent 16 seasons with the program from 2001-02 (the start of the streak) until retiring in 2017.
 
RECORD ATTENDANCE: The Jan. 27 game vs. Colorado College at Ball Arena featured an attendance of 17,952, marking the highest-attended indoor NCAA hockey game of the season and the largest crowd to watch an indoor contest since Feb. 10, 2018 when Michigan and Michigan State skated in front of 19,515 at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit.  Overall, the DU-CC matchup at Ball Arena was the second-highest attended college hockey game of the season behind only the 22,500 that witnessed the outdoor contest between Boston College and UMass at Fenway Park on Jan. 7 in Boston.
 
The Jan. 27 contest also marked the second-highest attended college hockey contest in the state of Colorado, with only the Battle on Blake outdoor game between Denver and Colorado College at Coors Field on Feb. 20, 2016 having more fans in the stands at 35,144.
 
MONTH-BY-MONTH: Denver finished the month of January with a 4-3-0 record and has posted at least a .500 record in 14 straight months dating back to January 2021.  DU has been greater-than .500 in 11 straight months.
 
UP FOR THE HOBEY: Three Denver players are nominees for this year's Hobey Baker Award, given to college hockey's top player.  Junior defenseman Mike Benning and sophomore forwards Carter Mazur and Massimo Rizzo are among over 80 players nationally that are up for the award.
 
Fan voting is live and runs through March 5 before 10 finalists will be announced on March 15.  The three Hobey Hat Trick finalists will be released on March 30 and the award will be given out on April 7 during the Frozen Four in Tampa.
 
Two DU players have earned the accolade previously: Matt Carle in 2006 and Will Butcher in 2017.  Last season, Bobby Brink was one of the three Hobey Hat Trick finalists.
 
CHRONA ON RICHTER WATCH LIST: Magnus Chrona was named to the Mike Richter Award Watch List on Jan. 12, 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.
 
NATIONAL LEADERBOARD

• Carter Mazur is tied for third in goals (17).
• Massimo Rizzo is tied for sixth in assists (23) & is tied for 12th for points (33).
• Mike Benning is tied for 10th among defensemen in the country in points (24) and is tied for seventh in goals (8) by a blueliner.
• Magnus Chrona is tied for fourth in wins (17) and tied for fifth in shutouts (4).

 
KING HIM: Sophomore Carter King has already posted career highs this season in goals (10) and points (17) and leads the team in faceoff winning percentage at .535.  The Calgary, Alberta, native has won at least 10 faceoffs in 13 contests this year, including posting a career high 14 draw wins on Nov. 25 vs. Omaha and Jan. 27 vs. Colorado College.
 
King recorded his first career hat trick on Jan. 13 against Miami, with his three goals tying a career high for points in a game (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.
 
MASS-IVE STREAK: Sophomore forward Massimo Rizzo recorded a career-long, 11-game point streak from Nov. 26-Jan. 14 (6g/8a), the fourth-longest by a DU player since the 2005-06 season.  Only Danton Heinen (18 games), Bobby Brink (14 games) and Dylan Gambrell (13 games) had better runs at Denver in that time. 
 
Rizzo's stretch is tied for the third-longest point streak in the NCAA this season and also included a nine-game home point streak (Nov. 26-Jan. 14, 5g/7a).  Overall, Rizzo has recorded at least a point in 22-of-28 contests this season.
 
BROZ BREAKING OUT: Sophomore Tristan Broz has points in 10 of his last 15 games, which included a career-long, four-game point streak from Dec. 9-17 (3g/5a) and personal-best four-goal game on Jan. 14 vs. Miami—the first four-goal by a DU player since Kevin Doell on Feb. 21, 2003 vs. Michigan Tech.  Broz, who transferred from the University of Minnesota in the offseason, registered 18 of his points (8g/10a) this season during an 11-game stretch from Nov. 26-Jan. 14.
 
MAGNUS MONTH: Goaltender Magnus Chrona finished the month of January by starting all seven games and ranking first among conference keepers in shutouts (3) and saves (165). He ranked second in the NCHC in wins (4) and save percentages (.932) and was third in goals-against average (1.79).
 
 
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