Puck drop for Friday night’s series opener is scheduled for 7 p.m. MT, with a Sunday matinee at 12 p.m. MT to wrap up the set. Both contests will be broadcast on NCHC.tv and regionally on Altitude Sports.
DU bolstered its record to 5-2-1 overall on the season and is on a four-game unbeaten streak (3-0-1) after opening National Collegiate Hockey Conference play last weekend with a home sweep of the Omaha Mavericks. Freshman Jack Pridham tallied his first collegiate goal to kick off Friday’s scoring just 1:32 into the second period, executing on a breakaway after a stretch pass from fellow rookie Ryan Lin. Omaha tied the game midway through the final frame before sophomore Kristian Epperson hit the twine just 1:54 later to lift Denver to a 2-1 victory.
The Pioneers earned their second victory over the Mavs on Saturday night, scoring four unanswered goals en route to a 4-1 win on Halloween. Trailing by one after the first period, DU evened the score with a tally from sophomore Kyle Chyzowski, followed by a gritty rebound finish by Ryan Miller in the second period. Freshman defenseman Daxon Rudolph wristed one home on the power play in the third frame, and Epperson scored his third goal in as many games with an empty-net insurance marker. Epperson, Chyzowski, Miller and Rudolph each added an assist on Saturday to finish with multi-point outings.
Sophomore netminder Johnny Hicks made both starts in his return to action, making 44 saves on 46 shots over the weekend. The Kamloops, British Columbia, native is now on a 20-game unbeaten streak (19-0-1) to start his college career, a run that began last season on Jan. 24 versus St. Cloud State.
Rudolph picked up his second NCHC Rookie of the Week honor of the season as he was named this week’s winner on Tuesday. The fourth-overall pick in the 2026 NHL Draft combined for two points, 12 shots and four blocks in the sweep of the Mavericks. Rudolph is tied for first on the Pioneers with nine points through eight games, while his three goals are one off the team lead. He also spearheads the squad with 15 blocked shots.
The Sun Devils (5-3-0, 1-1-0 NCHC) split their two-game series last weekend as they opened conference play on the road against St. Cloud State. ASU scored a late goal to secure a 3-2 victory in Friday’s game but came up short the following day in a 2-1 defeat. Newly-minted head coach Dave Hakstol will make his home-coaching debut behind the bench at Mullett Arena this week against the Pios after being hired to the position on Oct. 15.
Denver went 3-1-0 against Arizona State last season, with its only loss coming in overtime in Tempe. The Pioneers won both games of the regular-season finale on Feb. 27-28 to eliminate the Sun Devils from making the conference tournament. DU has a 14-6-1 overall record against ASU and is 6-4-0 in its last 10 meetings.
This weekend marks DU’s only two road contests in a 12-game stretch, as the program just wrapped up a season-long, six-game homestand. The Pioneers will host Lindenwood and St. Thomas in back-to-back weekends upon returning from the desert.
SUNDAY FUNDAY: The Pioneers get set to play a rare Sunday matinee game this weekend at Arizona State, with the series finale beginning at 12 p.m. MT.
The last time that DU played on Sunday was in last year’s NCAA Tournament when the Pioneers won 6-2 against Western Michigan on March 29 in the NCAA West Regional Final at Blue Arena in Loveland, Colo. (a 1 p.m. MT start). The previous time that the Pioneers played a regular-season game on a Sunday was Oct. 6, 2024 when they wrapped up their season-opening series at Alaska Anchorage.
Denver has had success over the years with early start times, as the program owns a 6-3 record in contests that begin before 5 p.m. local team. Among those victories were three “day” games in the 2024 NCAA Tournament. The Pioneers’ last matinee was on April 11 with a 2:30 p.m. local time start in the NCAA National Championship Game vs. Wisconsin in Las Vegas, Nevada—a 2-1 victory.
LAST TIME OUT: Denver earned a series sweep and stretched its unbeaten streak to four games (3-0-1) with two wins last weekend against Omaha. The Pioneers defeated the Mavericks 2-1 on Friday before earning a 4-1 victory on Saturday on Halloween.
Freshman Jack Pridham scored his first career goal on Friday, while sophomore Kristian Epperson scored in both contests, including the game-winner in the third period in the opener. Epperson, Kyle Chzywoski, Ryan Miller and Daxon Rudolph each had a goal and assist on Saturday. Goaltender Johnny Hicks returned to the net and made 44-of-46 total saves while starting both games on the weekend.
RUDOLPH NAMED ROOKIE OF THE WEEK: Defenseman Daxon Rudolph picked up his second NCHC Rookie of the Week Award on Tuesday from the conference after recording two points, 12 shots and four blocks in the Pioneers’ series sweep of Omaha last weekend.
The freshman had five shots, two blocks and two penalty minutes on Friday in DU’s 2-1 win. The freshman then recorded his third multi-point game of the season on Saturday with a power-play goal and an assist while also registering two blocks and matching a team-season high with seven shots in the 4-1 victory.
EPPY ON A ROLL: Sophomore forward Kristian Epperson has scored in three straight games, the longest goal streak of his career. Overall, he has totaled four points (3g/1a) since his run began on Oct. 24 vs. Boston College and has six points (4g/2a) in his last five games.
Epperson’s four goals are tied for first on the team with Kieran Cebrian (4g/2a) and Sam Harris (4g/3a) while his nine points on the year are also tied for first overall in scoring on the squad with Clarke Caswell (0g/9a) and Daxon Rudolph (3g/6a). The Mequon, Wisconsin, native has picked up points in six of the eight games this year.
His three-game streak ties his longest run with a point in his career as he finished the 2025-26 campaign with assists in each of the last three outings of the NCAA Tournament (0g/3a, March 29-April 11, 2026).
HARRIS’ DANCE WITH THE DEVILS: Senior forward Sam Harris recorded four points in last year’s four-game series against Arizona State (2g/2a) and now owns 15 points (11g/4a) in 11 career contests against the Sun Devils, which included a hat trick on Feb. 8, 2025 in Tempe.
Harris’ 56 career goals lead all active NCAA players and is two points shy of becoming the 106th Pioneer to record 100 points and the first since former captain Carter King was in 2024-25. The San Diego, Calif., native became the 63rd player in program history to score 50 career goals after tallying twice on Feb. 28, 2026 against Arizona State.
King was the last Pioneer to reach the half-century mark in goals, doing so on March 28, 2025 vs. Providence in the NCAA Tournament, while Jack Devine also reached the 50-goal threshold during the 2024-25 season. Harris was the fifth active player in the NCAA last season to reach the 50-goal mark.
NOTABLES
- Denver improved to 8-0-1 in its last nine meetings against Omaha dating back to Jan. 19, 2024.
- DU improved to 13-2-1 in its last 16 home games dating back to Jan. 24 of last season.
- The Pios picked up their first weekend sweep at home since defeating Miami in two games on March 6-7 in the NCHC Quarterfinals and their first such sweep in the regular season since Feb. 27-28 against Arizona State.
- The Pioneers finished their season-long six-game homestand with a 3-2-1 record.
- Denver matched a season high for shots on goal with 39 on Friday (Oct. 2 at Alaska Anchorage).
- The Pioneers blocked season-high shots for the second straight game, with 14 blocks on Saturday after blocking 13 on Friday.
- Freshman Ryan Miller scored his first career game-winning goal and first even-strength tally on Saturday. He also added an assist for his first career multi-point game of his career (1g/1a).
- Rookie Max Heise picked up his first collegiate point with the primary assist on Ryan Miller’s goal.
- Freshman Jack Pridham scored his first career goal on Friday and fellow rookie Ryan Lin picked up his first assist on the play.
- Lin recorded assists in both games, marking the first time in his career he’s recorded points in consecutive games.
- Clarke Caswell’s career-long assist streak (0g/7a) ended at five games. The run also tied his personal-best point streak from Oct. 10-24, 2025.
- Sam Harris owns five points (2g/3a) in the last five games.
- Brady Milburn made his season debut on Saturday.
- Daxon Rudolph scored his third goal of the season and fired a season-high seven shots on goal, which matched the most in a game by a Pioneer this year.
- Brendan McMorrow missed his first contest of the season with a lower-body injury (day-to-day).
- Goaltender Johnny Hicks returned to the lineup last Friday (upper body) and played his first game since the season opener on Oct. 2 at Alaska Anchorage.
DEFENDING DENVER: The Pioneers held the Omaha Mavericks to just one score in each contest last weekend and have now allowed two or fewer goals in six of their eight games this season. DU is currently allowing 2.1 goals against per game.
Denver is also among the league leaders in shots against, as the squad presently ranks tied for sixth by allowing just 22.0 shots per outing. The Pios have yet to allow 30 shots on goal in any of their eight contests and are outshooting opponents by a 10.4 margin per outing.
Last season, DU tied for fourth in the nation by allowing 2.1 goals per game, and the team held opponents to one goal or fewer in 19-of-43 contests during the year. Of the Pioneers’ 25 losses since 2024-25, 16 have been by a single goal while five other games featured empty-net markers by the opponent.
MILLER’S “GORDIE HOWE” – COLLEGE VERSION: With fighting being frowned upon and extremely rare at the NCAA level, freshman Ryan Miller picked up his own collegiate version of a Gordie Howe Hat Trick (goal, assist, fight) on Saturday night against Omaha. The freshman forward recorded his first multi-point game with a goal and assist and picked up 15 penalty minutes after being called for roughing and given a game misconduct at the end of the contest following a scrum with the Mavericks’ Cameron Briere. His tally was the game-winner, the first of his career.
Miller’s goal, assist and 15 PIM performance marked just the third such instance by a Pioneer since 1999, with Tyler Ruegsegger on Oct. 13, 2006 vs. St. Cloud State (1g/1a, 15 PIM) and Matt Laatsch on Dec. 20, 2003 vs. Minnesota State (1g/1a, 17 PIM) also achieving the feat.
This was the second time this season in the NCAA that a player did the college version of a Howe Hat Trick, as Mikko Buttazoni did it with a three-point night (2g/1a, 15 PIM) on Oct. 24 vs. Sacred Heart. Will Zellers of North Dakota was the last NCHC player to record such a feat, doing so in last year’s NCHC Quarterfinals against Omaha on March 7, 2026 (1g/2a, 15 PIM).
JOHNNY BE GOOD, JOHNNY BE GREAT: Goaltender Johnny Hicks has picked up where he left off last season when he went on a historic run to help lead the Pioneers to the national title as a freshman in 2025-26.
The now-sophomore returned to action after missing two-plus weeks with an upper-body injury and stretched his unbeaten streak to 20 career decisions (19-0-1) since entering early in the first period on Jan. 24 of last season vs. St. Cloud State following an injury to starter Quentin Miller. It is the longest unbeaten streak to begin a college career in Denver history, and Hicks has also won 16 straight contests since Feb. 7 against Colorado College.
A HANDFUL OF HELPERS: Forward Clarke Caswell leads the team in scoring through eight games with nine points—all of which are assists. He owns three multi-assist outings on the season, including in both games against Boston College on Oct. 23-24.
The sophomore went on a five-game assist streak from Oct. 16-30 (0g/7a), which marked the longest such run of his career and matched his career-long point streak. He also recorded points in his first five career games last season from Oct. 10-24, 2025 (2g/4a).
The Brandon, Manitoba, native’s nine assists on the year presently rank fifth in the country. Last season, he led the Pioneers in helpers (26) and ranked first among rookies in scoring with 34 points.
HISTORY VS. ASU: Denver and Arizona State get set to play the first two of four meetings this season, as the teams will meet again at Magness Arena on Feb. 5-6. The Pioneers went 3-1-0 against the Sun Devils last season, with their lone loss coming in overtime in Tempe. DU has ended ASU’s season the past two campaigns, with a 4-2 defeat in the NCHC Frozen Faceoff Semifinals in St. Paul, Minn., in 2025 and a weekend series sweep last year in Denver on Feb. 27-28 to keep the Sun Devils out of the conference tournament. The Pios won 5-2 and 4-1 in those home games and won 7-1 and lost 3-2 in overtime in the last series in Arizona on Nov. 21-22, 2025. DU owns a 14-6-1 overall record against ASU and is 8-2-0 at home and is 5-4-1 on the road in the all-time series. The Pioneers are 6-4-0 in the last 10 meetings and are 4-4-0 in the series since the squads became conference foes in 2023-24. The Pios are 3-3-0 all-time at Mullett Arena, with four of the six contests needing overtime. Denver and Arizona State have faced off in six straight seasons dating back to 2021-22 when the teams were non-conference foes. DU played ASU four times during the 2021-22 campaign, marking the most contests for the Pioneers against a then-non-conference opponent in a single season since also playing four games against U.S. International University (San Diego, Calif.) in 1983-84.
CONNECTIONS: Denver’s Max Heise, Eric Jamieson and Ben MacBeath and ASU’s Nathan Behm are all from Calgary, Alberta … Reid Varkonyi and Rylan Brown are both from Sherwood Park, Alberta … The Sun Devils’ Jack O’Brien was born in Denver and was on the WHL Portland Winterhawks with Kyle Chyzowski (2021-2024) and Ryan Miller (2023-24) before playing two seasons of pro hockey … Filip Nordberg played with Reid Varkonyi on the Sioux Falls Stampede in 2024-25 as well as Paxton Geisel on the Muskegon Lumberjacks in fall 2023 … Tory Pitner played with Jack Wilson on the USHL Youngstown Phantoms for two seasons from 2022-2024 and won the 2023 Clark Cup championship together … James Reeder skated with both Michael Barron and Teddy Merrill on the USHL Dubuque Fighting Saints in 2023-24 … Blake Fiddler was a teammate of Lukas Sawchyn with the WHL Edmonton Oil Kings for two years from 2024-2026 … Kristian Epperson and Brendan McMorrow were at the U.S. National Team Development Program at the same time as Lincoln Kuehne in 2023-24 … Nic Chin-Degraves and Johnny Hicks were teammates on the AJHL Brooks Bandits in 2023-24 … Payton Nelson was a teammate of Ben Kevan with the USHL Des Moines Buccaneers in 2023 … ASU’s Sean McGurn won a U Sports Championship in an undefeated season in 2023-24 at the University of New Brunswick with DU Director of Hockey Operations Will Healey, who was in the same position at the time … Arizona State head coach Dave Hakstol spent 2025-26 and the start of this season as an assistant coach on the NHL Colorado Avalanche … DU Head Athletic Trainer Aaron Leu worked at the Sports Medicine Institute Physical Therapy Clinic and Arizona Boys Ranch in Phoenix, Arizona, from 1996-1999.
PREVIOUS MEETING (FEB. 28, 2026): Senior Samu Salminen netted both the game-equalizing and winning goals on senior night to lead the No. 8 Denver Pioneers hockey team to a 4-1 win against the Arizona State Sun Devils on Saturday at Magness Arena. The Pioneers earned their second straight weekend sweep and conclude the regular season on a season-best, nine-game unbeaten streak (8-0-1). DU also finished its four-game yearly series against ASU with a 3-1-0 mark, with its lone loss coming in overtime in Tempe. Salminen scored twice for the second straight game and finished senior weekend with five points on four tallies and an assist. He has registered nine points on four goals and five assists during a four-game point streak. Freshman forwards Kyle Chyzowski and Kristian Epperson also tallied for Denver and six other players recorded a point on the night, with senior Rieger Lorenz, juniors Eric Pohlkamp and Sam Harris, sophomore James Reeder and freshmen Clarke Caswell and Reid Varkonyi each picking up an assist. Rookie goaltender Johnny Hicks earned the win by saving 25-of-26 shots that were sent his way. Junior Paxton Giesel entered the Pio net late in the third period and played the final 2:50. Arizona State struck first with a marker from Noah Powell on a backhanded shot during a breakaway just 4:06 into the game, but Salminen tied the contest less than a minute later off a pass from Lorenz. The Pioneers recorded three goals in less than four minutes midway through the third period to give them the lead and the weekend sweep. Salminen registered the game-winner and his second of the night at 10:55, marking his third multi-marker contest of the season. Chyzowski netted his ninth goal of the campaign at 12:17 before Epperson finalized the scoring at 14:19.
SCOUTING THE SUN DEVILS: Arizona State owns a 5-3-0 overall record this season and is 1-1-0 in NCHC play after splitting its road series at St. Cloud State last weekend, winning 3-2 and losing 2-1. The team began the season with a 2-2 mark with series splits at Lindenwood on Oct. 2-3 and Holy Cross on Oct. 9-10 before former Avalanche assistant coach Dave Hakstol was hired as head coach on Oct. 15. Hakstol is getting set to coach at home for the first time this weekend, as the squad is 3-1-0 under him after starting with a road sweep at UMass Lowell on Oct. 16-17. Jack Beck (3g/6a) and Jonas Woo (1g/8a) lead the team with nine points each, with Woo ranking first with eight assists. Four ASU players are tied atop the standings with four goals: Kyle Smolen, Nathan Behm, Ben Muthersbaugh and Daniel Shlaine. Samuel Urban has played six of the eight games in net for ASU and has posted a 4-2-1 record, one shutout, 2.85 goals-against average and .916 save percentage.
PIONEERS IN THE POLLS: Despite earning a weekend sweep, Denver dropped one spot to No. 4 in both the USCHO.com and USA Hockey media polls that were released on Monday. DU was the top team in the country in each of the first three polls after winning the national title last season.
The NCHC leads all conferences with four teams ranked in the top 10, while its five total squads ranked are first in the USCHO.com poll and tied for first on the USA Hockey list (Hockey East). Joining Denver in the top 10 are Western Michigan (5/5), Minnesota Duluth (T6/7) and North Dakota (10), while Colorado College is just outside at No. 11/11. Miami and Arizona State also received votes in both polls, while St. Cloud State was listed on the ballot in the USA Hockey rankings.
TICKETS: Single-game tickets as well as mini plans and group packages for the DU hockey’s championship-defense campaign in 2026-27 are on sale now. Click here for more information.
Source: denverpioneers.com
