UND set to square off against DU for the third time this season

GRAND FORKS --- There will be much to look forward to this weekend at the Ralph Engelstad Arena. 

Kevin O'Leary, of the hit TV show Shark Tank will be a part of an honorary puck drop to start the weekend against the University of Denver Pioneers. Additionally, CBS Sports will broadcast the game Friday night, bringing fan-favorite play-by-play announcer Alex Heinert and his analyst Dave Starman back into the Ralph. The college hockey media company Everything College Hockey (ECH) will also be in the building for the game. However, as exciting as those things are, they aren't even the most important part of the weekend.

The Fighting Hawks are set to face off against the Pioneers for the third time this season; UND split its series in Denver last December (7-5 win - 3-2 OT loss).

The Pioneers currently sit third in the NCHC standings, three points behind UND's 26. Both teams also are ranked within the top 10 in the pairwise, UND three, Denver six.

"Iron sharpens iron," UND head coach Brad Berry said in a press conference Wednesday morning. "I firmly believe that's playoff hockey; you know what you're seeing in St. Cloud and what you're going to see this weekend. That's what you're going to see when you're in the NCHC playoffs and the national tournament."

North Dakota and Denver are not unfamiliar with each other; both teams have played hundreds of regular season matchups in addition to many WCHA/NCHC playoffs and national tournament games.

Denver is coming off a sweep against the University of Nebraska-Omaha. The Pioneers dominated the Mavericks in their own arena, outscoring them 12 - 5 on the weekend.

North Dakota will need to bring their A-game on defense; DU has had no trouble finding scoring this season. They lead the country in goals per game (5.19) while having the nation's leading goal scorer, Jack Devine (21). DU forward  Massimo Rizzo also leads the country in points with 42. 

Wednesday morning, UND captain Riese Gaber gave insight into their game plan for the Pioneers . "We're going to do a good job and focus on shutting them down, and the rest will kind of take care of itself as long as we play our way."

North Dakota will hope to carry their momentum from the previous weekend in St. Cloud. UND still has not lost in regulation in their last 16 games.

"It shows we're a confident group," Gaber said. "Obviously, there's that stretch of the overtime losses, and that is behind us, but I think being that shows that we've been really good in 60 minutes."

UND will need to be sharp this weekend if they want to take down the Pioneers; this will be the last home series at the Ralph until the weekend of February 23rd/24th against the University of Minnesota Duluth.

Puck drop is set for 7:36 PM Friday night.

**NOTE**  ND Ice will have a live in-game coverage from Ralph Engelstad Arena Friday night.