DENVER – The No. 3 Denver Pioneers hockey team takes on the Miami RedHawks at Magness Arena this weekend in a rematch of the teams' 2023 NCHC Quarterfinal series.
 
Friday's game begins at 7 p.m. MT, and Saturday's outing starts at 6 p.m. MT and will be broadcasted regionally on Altitude 2. Both contests will also be available on NCHC.tv. Limited tickets are available.
 
This weekend marks the two programs' only two games of the season, as Miami is the only NCHC squad that the Pioneers won't visit. Minnesota Duluth, which DU just played, is the only conference opponent not slated to visit Denver in 2023-24. The Pios and Hawks had previous played each other six times in each of the past two campaigns.
 
Denver and Miami last met in the 2023 NCHC Quarterfinals where the Pioneers swept the best-of-three series in two games, picking up 6-2 and 7-2 victories at home. DU and MU also met in the 2022 conference first round, which also saw the Pios earn a two-game sweep.
 
The Pioneer have won 12 consecutive games against the RedHawks dating back to Nov. 19, 2021—the longest winning streak for either team in the all-time series. Denver has won 11 straight outings against Miami at Magness Arena dating back to Feb. 23, 2019.
 
The RedHawks are on an eight-game losing streak, but two of those defeats came in overtime. Miami is coming off a bye weekend and last played on Feb. 9-10 against St. Cloud State, losing 5-2 and 3-1 at home.
 
Denver played its first games out of its final bye of the season last week at Minnesota Duluth and picked up a weekend sweep of the Bulldogs. Aidan Thompson scored twice and recorded the overtime-winning goal on Friday in a 5-4 victory, and Sam Harris found the back of the net two times as well on Saturday to help the Pioneers secure a 5-2 win.
 
Saturday's win improved Denver's overall record to 20-8-2 on the campaign, extending its "Tenzer" Streak to 22 consecutive full seasons with 20 or more victories.
 
DU is presently fourth in the NCHC standings with 31 points and a 11-6-1 conference record. The Pioneers trail third-place Colorado College by two points (33) and second-place St. Cloud State by five points (36). The team's final four games of the regular season are against the SCSU Huskies and the CC Tigers.
 
Miami is eighth in the league standings with six points and a 1-16-1 mark. The RedHawks have a 7-19-2 overall record this season.

 
PIONEERS IN THE POLLS: Denver moved up to No. 3 in both national polls on Monday after previously being No. 5 in the USCHO.com and USA Hockey/The Rink Live ranking (tied) last week.  The Pioneers are presently No. 5 in the Pairwise Rankings, which determines the NCAA Tournament field.
 
The NCHC's six ranked teams are tied for the most among all conferences with Hockey East.  The NCHC is also tied with Hockey East and the Big Ten for the most squads in the top 10 with three.
 
Colorado College moved into No. 10 in both national polls for the first time since Feb. 6, 2012 after sweeping then No. 2-North Dakota at home last weekend. UND dropped to No. 4(t)/5. Western Michigan (13/12), St. Cloud State (15/15) and Omaha (19/19) are the other conference programs ranked in each poll.
 
LAST TIME OUT: The Pioneers swept the weekend series at Minnesota Duluth, earning five of a possible six conference points.  Denver won 5-4 in overtime on Friday and picked up a 5-2 victory on Saturday at Amsoil Arena.
 
Aidan Thompson (2g/0a), Sean Behrens (0g/2a), Tristan Broz (1g/1a) and McKade Webster (1g/1a) all had multiple points on Friday, with Thompson scoring the game-winner in overtime after the Bulldogs tied the game late in the third period with two pulled-goalie goals.  Sam Harris tallied twice on Saturday, while Zeev Buium recorded a goal and an assist.  Goaltender Matt Davis made 32 saves each night.
 
TENZER STREAK EXTENDED: The victory on Saturday was Denver's 20th of the season, stretching the program's "Tenzer" Streak of earning 20 or more wins to 22 consecutive full seasons dating back to 2001-02, the longest active streak in the country.  The Pioneers were the ninth squad in the country and the second in the NCHC to reach the 20-win mark.
 
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.  The program only played 24 total contests in the COVID-shortened 2020-21 campaign.
 
D-MAN OF THE WEEK HONORS: Junior Sean Behrens was chosen as the NCHC Defenseman of the Week on Monday after totaling three assists in DU's two wins at UMD.  He had two assists, including one on the OT-winner, on Friday and a helper and tied a career high with four blocked shots on Saturday.
 
It was Behrens' sixth Defenseman of the Week award of his career and his first of the season.  He is the fourth different Pioneer to earn the accolade this year.
 
SHAI'S SCORING TOUCH: Junior defenseman Shai Buium matched a career long with a six-game point streak from Jan. 20 to last Friday, Feb. 16 (3g/5a).  He has recorded 11 points in the past 10 games dating back to Jan. 12 vs. St. Cloud State, including scoring in consecutive games for the first time in his career on Feb. 2-3 vs. Western Michigan.
 
Buium, who also had a six-game point streak earlier this year from No. 3-19 (2g/6a) has posted career bests this season in all three scoring categories.  He ranks fifth on the team with 26 points, tied for fifth with 19 assists and his seven goals are the second-most by a Denver defenseman.  His plus-21 rating is tied for the second-highest on the Pioneers.
 
SOMETHING ABOUT DULUTH: Sophomore Aidan Thompson tallied twice on Friday against Minnesota Duluth at Amsoil Arena for his first career multi-goal game, including scoring the game-winner in overtime to lift the Pioneers to a 5-4 victory.
 
It was Thompsons' third career game-winning goal and his second OT marker, as he also scored the extra-time clincher in the same building in Duluth on Dec. 10, 2022.  Thompson's two tallies marked his fifth multi-point contest of the season and 12th of his career.
 
DOMINANT AT THE DOT: Denver won 71-of-115 faceoffs (.617) over the two games at Minnesota Duluth, including going 40-for-58 at the circle on Friday night.  DU's season-best 69-percent faceoff-winning percentage on Friday was its highest in a single contest in the last three seasons (since 2021-22).
 
Carter King led the Pios on Friday night with 16 faceoff wins, tied for the second most of his career behind his 17 draw wins earlier this year on Nov. 24 vs. Yale.  It was the 13th time this season where King has recorded double-digit faceoff victories.
 
QUICK STRIKE: Freshman defenseman Zeev Buium scored 31 seconds into the first period on Saturday for the fastest goal to begin a game and period by a Pioneer this season, besting the previous fastest by his brother, Shai Buium, who tallied 37 seconds into first period on Feb. 3 against Western Michigan.
 
Zeev Buium's goal was the fastest to start an outing since Cameron Wright notched a marker 30 seconds into the Dec. 31, 2021 game vs. Alaska Fairbanks.
 
NOTABLES

CAREER HIGHS: The following Pioneers have already set or matched their previous career highs this season:

PIONEERING OFFENSE: Denver leads the country in offense, averaging 4.8 goals per game.  Michigan is second at 4.4 goals per contest.  The Pioneers are third in the NCAA in scoring margin, winning by 1.67 goals per game; Quinnipiac is first at 2.19 goals and Boston College is second at 2.10 goals.
 
DU also leads the nation in shooting percentage at 15.1%, with Boston College being the next closet team at 13.5%.  On special teams, the Pios have the 11th-best power play at 24.1% and have scored the fifth-most man-advantage goals in the NCAA (32), with only Michigan (40), Long Island (39), Boston College (35) and Arizona State (34) having more.
 
HOME ICE ADVANTAGE:  The Pios are 51-10-1 in their last 64 contests at Magness Arena and sport a 59-14-4 record on the DU hilltop since the start of the 2019-20 campaign.  DU hasn't lost consecutive home games since March 31-Feb. 1, 2020 vs. Minnesota Duluth. Denver went unbeaten in its first four home games this year (3-0-1) and is 10-3-2 in its friendly confines in 2023-24. 
 
HISTORY VS. MIAMI: Denver and Miami are set to meet in their only series of the season after the teams played 12 times over the previous two campaigns.  DU and MU have faced off in the NCHC Quarterfinals in each of the last two seasons, with the Pioneers sweeping the best-of-three series at home in two games each time. Denver has won 12 straight games against Miami dating back to the start of the 2021-22 campaign for the longest winning streak for either team in the all-time series—the RedHawks' last victory over the Pios was a 3-0 win on Dec. 19, 2020 in the NCHC Pod in Omaha, Nebraska. The Pioneers are 32-13-3 all-time against the RedHawks and are 18-1-0 in the last nine matchups and are 23-3-3 since Jan. 30, 2016. At home, DU has a 17-5-3 record in the series that dates back to Nov. 14, 1986. The Pios' last lost to the Hawks at Magness Arena was on Feb. 22, 2019 (3-1).
 
SCOUTING THE REDHAWKS: Miami is eighth in the NCHC standings with six points and a 1-16-1 record in conference play, which includes two overtime losses and one shootout loss.  The RedHawks have a 7-19-2 overall record this season and are on an eight-game losing streak.  They lost back-to-back OT games on Jan. 27 at Minnesota Duluth and Feb. 2 vs. North Dakota.  Miami went 4-1-1 to start the season, including posting a four-game winning streak from Oct. 8-Oct. 27 with victories against Ferris State, Canisius (twice) and Arizona State.  PJ Fletcher leads the team in goals (11) and points (23) and ranks second in assists (12).  Matthew Barbolini is the top assist-getter on the squad and is second with 22 points (9g/13a).  John Waldron is third on the team in scoring with 19 points (8g/11a).  Goaltender Logan Neaton has started the most games for Miami and has a 6-10-2 record, 3.06 goals-against average, .901 save percentage and one shutout in 18 contests. Bruno Bruveris has started 10 of his 11 games played in net and sports a 1-9-0 mark, 3.27 goals-against average and .873 save percentage.
 
CONNECTIONS: Denver's Kent Anderson, Matt Davis, Carter King and Rieger Lorenz and Miami's Brayden Morrison are all from Calgary, Alberta … Zane Demsey, Michael Feenstra, Axel Kumlin and William Hallen played on USHL Dubuque with Denver's Paxton Geisel, Tristan Lemyre and Lucas Olvestad in 2021-22, while Geisel was also a teammate of with Brayden Morrison in 2022-23 …  Connor Caponi played with John Waldron with the Waterloo Black Hawks in 2019-20 … McKade Webster played with Dylan Moulton on the Green Bay Gamblers in 2019-20 … Alex Weiermair (Los Angeles), Shai Buium (San Diego), Zeev Buium (San Diego) and Sam Harris (San Diego) and Miami's PJ Fletcher (Dana Point) are all from Southern California … Lucas Olvestad and Miami's Axel Kumlin are from Stockholm, Sweden, while MU forward William Hallen (Gothenburg), Albin Nilsson (Ljungby) and Hampus Rydqvist (Gothenburg) are also from the country … Thomas Daskas played college hockey in Colorado in 2020-21 with the Air Force Academy.
 
PREVIOUS MEETING (MARCH 11, 2023): The Pioneers secured a spot in the NCHC Frozen Faceoff with a 7-2 victory over the Miami RedHawks in Game 2 of the conference quarterfinals on at Magness Arena. Denver swept the best-of-three series to start the playoffs and picked up its 30th win of the season, the eighth time in school history the has reached the threshold. DU, which won 31 games last year, has posted consecutive 30-win seasons for the first time in the program existence. Denver scored three goals in the first 3:24 on Friday versus Miami, led 4-1 after the first period and added three more tallies en route to the five-goal victory. The Pioneers won 6-2 on Friday in the series opener. Fifth-year senior Kyle Mayhew led the team in scoring with a career-high four points—all of which were assists—in his final game at Magness Arena. Sophomore Owen Ozar and freshman Lucas Olvestad both scored their first career goals in the contest, and rookie forward Tyler Haskins picked up his first collegiate point with an assist.
 
TRULY DEVINE: Junior Jack Devine is tied for third in the nation with 21 goals and ranks tied for third in overall scoring with 44 points with teammate Massimo Rizzo.  He has seven multi-goal games this year and has picked up multiple points in 14 outings this year.
 
The Denver forward was the first player in the country to reach the 20-goal threshold on Jan. 19 at Omaha.  He accomplished the feat in just 23 games to become the quickest Pioneer in recent history to hit the mark.
 
RIZZO CLIMBING THE LEADERBOARD: Forward Massimo Rizzo is tied for first the nation with 34 assists and is tied for third with 44 points, as he's recorded at least a point in 22-of-28 games he's played this season.  The junior, who became the 102nd member of the DU's 100-point club on Nov. 11 at Arizona State, has recorded 126 points in 105 career games and is tied for 44th in program history in all-time scoring.
 
The last DU player to lead the NCAA in scoring at the end of the season was Bobby Brink in 2021-22 when he registered 57 points (14g/43a) in 41 games (1.30 pts/game).  Prior to Brink, the previous time a Pioneer led the country in points was Ed Beers in 1981-82 (50g/34a).  Brink's 43 assists that year was an NCHC record while his 57 points were second all-time in the conference behind UND's Brock Boeser's 60 in 2015-16.
 
MONTH BY MONTH: Denver is 3-1-0 in February, guaranteeing its 21st straight month where it has posted at least a .500 record dating back to January 2021.  The Pios had their run of posting a greater-than .500 mark for 15 straight months end in December after going 2-2-0 (streak began October 2021).
 
MILESTONE GAMES: Junior Sean Behrens is two contests away from playing in his 100th career game and is expected to reach the milestone on Saturday vs. Miami.  He will be the eighth Pioneer to join DU's 100-game club this season, joining Connor Caponi (Oct. 7 at Alaska Fairbanks), McKade Webster (Nov. 10 at Arizona State), Carter King (Jan. 13 vs. St. Cloud State), Massimo Rizzo (Jan. 19 at Omaha) and Shai Buium (Jan. 20 at Omaha), Tristan Broz (Jan. 26 at North Dakota) and Jack Devine (Jan. 27 at North Dakota).  Caponi also skated in his 125th career outing on Jan. 27 at North Dakota and Webster is five games away from hitting the 125-game threshold.
 

TICKETS: Limited single-game tickets are available. Click here to learn more.