Men's Ice Hockey | October 27, 2016

THIS WEEK
Western Michigan opens National Collegiate Hockey Conference play on the road at No. 3/3 Denver on Friday and Saturday night. Friday's game is set for a 9:30 p.m. puck drop, while Saturday's game is a bit earlier at 9 p.m.

HOW TO FOLLOW ALONG
Friday's game can be seen live on NCHC.tv or on the Altitude Network. Saturday's game can be seen live on NCHC.tv, while both games can be heard on the Bronco Radio Network.

LAST TIME OUT
WMU was off last weekend but the last time the team was in action they beat and tied No. 20 Bowling Green in a home-and-home series. The Broncos opened the series on the road at BGSU and came back from a 4-2 deficit in the third period to tie it up at 4-4. The game ended in a tie but Western Michigan won the exhibition 3-on-3 overtime period that followed. Wade Allison led the way with two goals, while Sheldon Dries and Colt Conrad also tallied in the tie. Senior defenseman Taylor Fleming had three assists for his first career three-point game.

The following night at Lawson Ice Arena, the Broncos put on a power play clinic in a 8-2 win over Bowling Green. Western Michigan went 6-for-10 with the man advantage and Trevor Gorsuch made 18 saves to earn his first win of the season. Matheson Iacopelli recorded a hat trick, while Kyle Novak and Scott Moldenhauer both had a goal and two assists.  

AT A GLANCE: DENVER /// 4-2-0, 0-0-0-0 NCHC
- THE SERIES: Denver lead the all-time series 11-4-1, with only one of the four losses coming in Magness Arena. Last season the Broncos went 0-3-1 against the Pioneers, with a loss and a tie and 3-on-3 overtime in at DU.

- AGAINST THE PIONEERS: Sheldon Dries leads all Broncos with four goals and two assists for six points in 10 career games. Trevor Gorsuch is the lone goalie on the team to see any action against Denver. Last season he made 25 saves in a relief appearance, allowing just one goal in a 5-1 loss to DU.

- SCOUTING THE PIONEERS: Since dropping the first two games of the season against Ohio State and Boston College, Denver has gone its last four. DU swept No. 2 Boston University and then went to Michigan State and swept the Spartans last weekend.

The Pioneers have averaged 2.50 goals per game so far this season. Freshman Henrik Borgström and sophomore Troy Terry both have three goals on the season. Borgström, the 23rd overall pick of the 2016 NHL Draft by the Florida Panthers, leads the team in points with six, adding three assists to his goal total. Sophomore Dylan Gambrell, who tallied 47 points as a freshman last season, has been injured and has only played in two games this season. Denver has always been known for its mobile defensemen that like to jump into play and senior Will Butcher is the best of them. Butcher has a goal and two assists so far this season and has 22 goals and 47 assists for 69 points in his career.

Junior Tanner Jaillet has seen the majority of the time between the pipes with a 4-1-0 record, a 1.82 goals against average and a .927 save percentage. Backup Evan Cowley has made one start, a 3-1 loss to Boston College.

DU's power play is 4-for-32 (12.5 percent) on the season, with the goals coming from Borgström, Jarid Lukosevicious, Butcher and Matt Marcinew. The penalty kill is 23-for-27 (85.2 percent) and ranks 25th in the country.

LET'S TALK ABOUT THE WMU POWER PLAY, BECAUSE IT'S PRETTY GREAT
The Western Michigan power play ranks first in the nation, sitting at 30.8 percent with 12 goals on 39 power plays. The 12 goals are tie with Notre Dame for the most in the nation, but the Fighting Irish have played in two more games than the Broncos.

Freshman Wade Allison leads the team with three power play goals, followed by Scott Moldenhauer with two. Matheson Iacopelli, Sheldon Dries, Griffen Molino, Kyle Novak, Corey Schueneman, Chris Dienes and Jade McMullen have all tallied once with the man advantage. WMU's 12 power play goals account for 63-percent of its scoring in the first four games with the other seven coming five-on-five. It took Western Michigan 16 games and 54 power plays to reach 12 last season.

ALREADY THERE
Two Broncos have already surpassed previous career highs in just four games this season. Matheson Iacopelli sits at four goals through four games, thanks to a hat trick against Bowling Green, surpassing the one goal he scored during the 2015-16 season. Junior defenseman and assistant captain Scott Moldenhauer has five points on two goals and three assists. The two goals matched his career high from last season, while the five points are a new career-best after surpassing last seasons' four.