No. 4 St. Cloud State Men's Hockey Opens NCHC Play on the Road at No. 2 Denver

*NO. 4 ST. CLOUD STATE AT NO. 2 DENVER*
*OPPONENT*	*LOCATION*	*DAY*	*TIME (CT)*	TV	*RADIO*	*STATS*	*GAME NOTES*
#2 Denver	Denver, Colo.	Friday, Nov. 4	8:00 p.m.	NCHC.tv	KNSI	Stats	SCSU Notes
#2 Denver	Denver, Colo.	Saturday, Nov. 5	7:00 p.m.	NCHC.tv	KNSI	Stats	DU Notes

THE MATCHUP

No. 4 St. Cloud State Men's Hockey will open its 2022-23 conference schedule this weekend with the Huskies travel to Denver, Colo., to face No. 2 Denver. Puck drop from Magness Arena is scheduled for 8:00 p.m. CT / 7:00 p.m. MT on Friday and 7:00 p.m. CT / 6:00 p.m. MT on Saturday. The series will be broadcast locally on Altitude on Friday and Evoca on Saturday, as well as streamed on NCHC.tv for both contests. Husky Hockey veterans Jim Erickson and Dave Reichel will have the radio call on KNSI (1450 AM / 99.3 FM) for both games. Last week, the Huskies split a home-and-home series with Bemdiji State, while the Pioneers swept Miami on the road to open NCHC play.

SERIES HISTORY

Ever since St. Cloud State moved to Division-I, the Huskies and Pioneers have had a long-standing rivalry, meeting 110 times since November 1988. The all-time series is a close one between the two programs, as Denver holds a slight advantage at 54-50-6. Last season, Denver swept the Huskies in its lone meetings during the 2021-22 season, taking both games of a series at Magness Areana, 8-5 and 2-0 on Feb. 4-5. In Denver alone, the Huskies are 24-32-2 and just 4-12-0 at Magness since 2012-13. After this weekend, the Huskies and Pioneers are scheduled to play again in the second half of the year, this time Jan. 20-21 at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center.

A LOOK BACK AT LAST SERIES

Last weekend, the Huskies split a home-and-home series with Bemidji State, falling 3-1 in Bemidji on Friday before bouncing back and winning 4-1 at the Brooks Center on Saturday. The Huskies dominated the pace of the game from the start, outshooting the Beavers 36-19, its second-best shot margin of the season. Four different Huskies found the back of the net, including junior forward Veeti Miettinen on the power play and a shorthanded goal from senior forward Jami Krannila. However, the highlight of the night came on St. Cloud State's second goal, the game-winning goal, as freshman forward Adam Ingram toe-dragged around a defender and between his legs before backhanding a wrist shot above the blocker of the Bemidji State goalie for a highlight goal. They play was easily the play of the night, and ranked as the fourth-best play on Sportscenter's Top-10 plays.

BASSE NAMED NCHC & HCA GOALIE OF THE MONTH

St. Cloud State has received superb goaltending from both of its netminders in the early going of the 2022-23 season, and junior goalie Dominic Basse was recognized for his efforts in the season's opening month. Basse was named the National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) and Hockey Commissioners Association (HCA) National Goaltender of the Month after recording a 4-0-0 mark with a conference leading 1.25 goals against average and 94.5 percent save percentage. In four starts, Basse leads the NCHC in GAA (1.25) and S% (.945), while ranking third and fourth, respectively, in those categories nation-wide.
Basse's four-game winning streak to start the season is a career long, as he has allowed one or less goal in three games. In his SCSU debut, he made 15 saves in a 4-0 shutout victory over St. Thomas (Oct. 2). He made a season-best 34 saves to lead the Huskies to a 4-3 win over No. 2 Minnesota State on Oct. 22. Basse, a sixth-round draft pick by the Chicago Blackhawks in 2019, played his first two collegiate seasons at Colorado College (2020-22).

CRUIKSHANK'S OFFENSIVE EMERGENCE

St. Cloud State senior forward Grant Cruikshank has been an offensive juggernaut for the Huskies through the first eight games of the season, as he leads the team in goals (six) and points (10), while ranking fifth in assists (four). Among national leaders, the fifth-year senior transfer ranks sixth in goals (six) and 14th in points (10). He earned NCHC Forward of the Week honors after leading SCSU to a sweep of No. 2 Minnesota State by recording five points (three goals / two assists) in SCSU's sweep over No. 2 Minnesota State.
In SCSU's win over Minnesota State on Friday (3-2), Cruikshank helped lead a comeback, scoring the game-tying goal late in the second period before assisting on the game-winning goal early in the third period. In Saturday's victory (4-3), Cruikshank scored the game's first goal, a shorthanded goal, assisted on the team's second goal, then scored the game-winning goal with less than four minutes remaining in the game. It was his first goal of either kind as a Husky, and fourth of either kind overall in his career.
The fifth-year senior has six goals in five consecutive games between Oct. 2 and Oct. 22, a scoring stretch not seen by an SCSU skater since Judd Peterson did so from Oct. 15-29, 2016. He is the first Husky to score six goals in the first six games of a season since Matt Hendricks and Nate DiCasmirro both did so to open the 2001-02 season.
Since 2001-02, Cruikshank is one of 10 Huskies to record a 5-game or more goal streak, and the first since Veeti Miettinen did so in the 2020-21 season.

DEFENSE, PENALTY KILL HAS BEEN SHARP

St. Cloud State's defense and penalty kill has been among the nation's best in the early parts of the 2022-23 season, ranking in the in the top-10 nationally.
The Huskies have yielded 1.50 goals per game through eight contests, a mark which ranks first in the NCHC and third nationally. The dynamic duo of senior Jaxon Castor and junior Dominic Basse have combined for a .936 save percentage, which ranks sixth nationally.
On the penalty kill, the Huskies rank first in the NCHC and 10th in the nation at 87.1 percent (27-of-31) while its three short-handed goals are the second-most in the nation. St. Cloud State killed off its first 14 penalties to start the season, its longest streak to start a season since 2018-19 when it stopped the first 16 power play chances of the season.