This weekend, the top-ranked North Dakota travels to Denver, Colorado, to take on their arch rival Denver in a two-game conference series. UND enters the weekend unbeaten in five games (4-0-1, .900). This is the final series of 2014. UND will be off until January 3, 2015, when they play an exhibition game against U.S. Under-18 team
Series History
All-time, UND has a 138-118-9 (.537) record against Denver. On home ice, UND leads 81-42-6 (.651). In Denver, UND trails the series 52-69-3 (.431). At neutral sites, UND trails Denver 5-7-0 (.417). Under head coach Dave Hakstol, UND has 15-17-1 (.470) record against Denver. Last 10 games, UND leads 6-3-1 (.650). For those keeping track at home, the last four games of the series have been played in Denver (2-2, .500).
Tale of the tape
#1 North Dakota (12-3-1, 5-2-1 NCHC) vs. #11Denver (9-4-0, 3-2-0 NCHC).
Date: December 12-13, 2014
Game Time: Friday 7:37, Saturday 7:07 p.m. MT
Location: Magness Arena, Denver Colorado
Last time out: Denver split with Cornel (1-4 L, 3-1 W)
Last time out: UND swept Lake State (7-4 W, 3-1)
DU Offense: 11th Nationally
DU Defense: 22th Nationally
UND Offense: 10th Nationally
UND Defense: 13th Nationally
TV: Friday – ROOT Sports Rocky Mountain, DirecTV (channel 683), DISH Network (channel 414)
TV: Saturday – None
Live Streaming: NCHC.TV
UND series notes
Denver series notes
Key players to watch
North Dakota – Forwards: Drake Caggiula (7g-14a—21pts), Michael Parks (6g-13a—19pts), Mark MacMillan (8g-7a—15pts), Nick Schmaltz (2g-12a—14pts), Luke Johnson (4g-5a—9pts), Brendan O’Donnell (5g-2a—7pts). Defense: Jordan Schmaltz (3g-11a—14pts), Tucker Poolman (5g-2a—7pts), Paul LaDue (3g-6a—9pts), Gage Ausmus (2g-1a—3pts). Goalies: Zane McIntyre (12-3-2, 1.94 GAA, .929 SV%), Cam Johnson (0-0-0, 5.54 GAA, .765 SV%).
UND Injuries: Troy Stecher (1g-8a—9pts) 6-8 weeks (lower-body injury).
Denver – Forward: Danton Heinen (6g-10a—16pts), Daniel Doremus (4g-11a—15pts), Trevor Moore (5g-9a—14pts), Quentin Shore (5g-6a—11pts). Defense: Joey LaLeggia (5g-6a—11pts), Nolan Zajac (3g-7a—10pts). Goalies: Evan Cowley (6-4-0, 1.98 GAA, .922 Sv%, Tanner Jaillet (3-0-0, 2.34 GAA, .909 SV%).
Special teams
Denver – The Pioneers penalty kill is ranked 27th in the nation (50/59, 84.7%). The Pioneers power play is ranked 4th in the nation (16/58, 27.6%).
North Dakota – UND’s penalty kill is ranked 14th in the nation (66/75, 88.0%). UND’s power play is ranked 10th in the nation (18/78, 23.1%).
