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Scouting No. 1 Denver

Michigan Tech set to face top-ranked team in the country

Denver goalie Tanner Jaillet (36) reaches for a rebound on a shot by North Dakota during the first period of an NCAA Frozen Four semifinal college hockey game Thursday, April 7, 2016, in Tampa, Fla. Looking on are North Dakota's Drake Caggiula and Denver's Tariq Hammond. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

CINCINNATI — On Saturday, the top-ranked Denver Pioneers will look to build upon their modest one-game winning streak when they face off at U.S. Bank Arena in Cincinnati against the No. 19 Michigan Tech Huskies.

Pioneers head coach Jim Montgomery’s club, which has produced winning streaks of six games, five games, and 13 games, will be looking to build a new streak to get them through the NCAA Midwest Regional and then the Frozen Four.

He knows it will not be easy. After all, the Huskies, who defeated Bowling Green in double overtime to clinch their NCAA berth, are a tough opponent, especially defensively.

“It’s going to be a really good game against Michigan Tech,” said Montgomery. “Michigan Tech has a great [defensive] core, a phenomenal freshman goalie and their forwards are really committed to playing team defense as well. The strength of their team is the same as our team.”

On the other end of the ice, Huskies head coach Mel Pearson knows his team comes in as the underdog in this scenario, and that suits him and the team just fine.

“All the pressure is on them,” said Pearson. “No one is expecting us to do anything. We are just going to show up and have fun.”

The Pioneers, not unlike the Huskies, got off to a slow start, dropping both games of their season-opening weekend in nonconference tilts with Ohio State and Boston College. But then, unlike the Huskies, they found confidence quickly with a sweep at home over Boston University to right the ship early as they followed that up with four more wins before tying North Dakota, 1-1.

“Early in the year, we weren’t a finely-tuned machine, very similar to Michigan Tech,” said Montgomery. “It takes a while in college hockey. You don’t get enough practice time before you get everybody on the same page.”

Denver then stumbled a bit as their confidence sagged, tying Miami twice before bouncing back with wins over Air Force, Wisconsin, Colorado College and Minnesota-Duluth before losing to the Bulldogs leading into a 20-day layoff where freshman Henrik Borgstrom and sophomore Troy Terry left the team to participate in the World Junior tournament.

Without two of their top scorers, the Pioneers tied and lost to Providence to close out 2016.

Borgstrom, who was held scoreless at the World Juniors, returned to the team for their first game of 2017 against Arizona State and exploded for four goals and six points in a sweep. Terry returned for the second game against the Sun Devils, scoring two goals and five points in the game.

After back-to-back splits with Western Michigan and St. Cloud State, the light switch flipped on for the Pioneers, who figured out how to consistently score as part of that 13-game winning streak. During the run, the Pioneers scored five or more goals six times over that stretch.

“It was a good run where we were finding ways to win games,” said Montgomery. “We were able to win games not only when we played really well, but when we didn’t have our ‘A’ game, which is a credit to our team defense and our goaltender.”

Their season-long streak ended in the NCHC semifinals against North Dakota, where the Fighting Hawks held the Pioneers to just 21 shots in a 1-0 loss. Denver responded by winning the third-place game, 3-1, over Western Michigan.

LEADING THE PACK

Borgstrom, a Florida Panthers’ first-round draft pick, leads the Pioneers with 21 goals and 38 points in 33 games. Terry, a fifth-round pick of Anaheim, sits third in scoring with 19 goals and 36 points.

Junior Tanner Jaillet has been the main man in goal for the Pioneers, appearing in 34 games and sporting a 24-5-4 record. His goals against average is 1.82 and his save percentage is .930.

“He gives our entire team confidence with the way he handles himself,” said Montgomery.

COMPARING STATISTICS

The Huskies have played four more games than the Pioneers this season and sport a record of 23-14-7 overall, compared to 29-7-4 for the Pioneers.

The Pioneers have scored 132 goals on the season with 60 of those coming in the second period of games. The Huskies have scored 129 goals with 45 coming in the third period.

Both teams sport five players with 10 or more goals. Freshman Henrik Borgstrom leads the Pioneers with 21 goals, while junior Joel L’Esperance, senior Reid Sturos and freshman Gavin Gould all have 11 for the Huskies.

The Huskies have nine skaters with 20 points. The Pioneers have seven with 20 points. Both teams have 15 skaters with at least 10 points.

The Pioneers’ power play runs at a 21-percent efficiency, while the Huskies are currently at 18.8 percent. Denver’s penalty kill efficiency is 84.8 percent; the Huskies are currently at 86.5.

The Pioneers’ goals against average per game is 1.78 with junior Tanner Jaillet leading the way with a 1.82 GAA in 34 appearances. The Huskies’ GAA is 2.03 with freshman Angus Redmond posting a 1.76 GAA in 37 appearances. Redmond has four shutouts this season while Jaillet had none.

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