No. 9 Hockey Set For Frozen Four Rematch At No. 7/5 Denver

University of Massachusetts Hockey Game Notes
Games 19-20	#9 Massachusetts Minutemen (13-4-1, 6-3-1 HEA) at #7/5 Denver Pioneers (11-4-3, 3-3-2 NCHC)
Dates \| Times	Friday & Saturday, January 3-4, 2020 \| 7:07 p.m. MT (9:07 p.m. ET)
Location	Denver, Colo. (Magness Arena - 6,026)
Series History	Denver leads 3-1-0
Live Statistics	Friday \| Saturday
Watch Live	NCHC.tv \| Altitude / NESNplus (Friday only)
Listen (Radio)	WHMP AM 1400/1240 FM 101.5/107.5
Listen (Online)	WHMP Streaming Player \| TuneIn App (mobile devices)
Game Notes	Massachusetts \| Denver \| Hockey East
Team Records	Massachusetts \| Denver
Twitter	@UMassHockey \| @UMassAthletics
Instagram	UMass Hockey \| UMass Athletics
Tickets	Friday \| Saturday
Game Promotions	none

Quick Hits: No. 9 UMass Guts Out 5-3 Win At RPI
- After going into the third tied 1-1, No. 9 University of Massachusetts hockey scored four times in the final period to pick up a 5-3 win at Rensselaer last Sunday evening.
- Despite beginning the game with a 9-0 shot advantage, UMass went to the locker room trailing 1-0 after one. Mike Gornall knocked in a rebound from Simon Kjellberg and Ottoville Leppanen on the power play to the put RPI on top at the 18:22 mark of the opening stanza.
- The Minutemen leveled things up at 1-1, 5:43 into the second. Junior Oliver Chau fed senior Jack Suter from behind the net and Suter put home his own rebound from the top of the crease for his first of the season.
- UMass finally pulled ahead 2-1, 6:35 into the third with Reed Lebster scoring on the power play off a pass from John Leonard and Mitchell Chaffee down low.
- The Lebster tally sparked a flurry of scoring as the teams combined for five goals over the next six minutes and four seconds. Daniel DiGrande came up with an answering tally at 7:47 to knot the score at 2-2.
- Just 54 seconds later, freshman Matthew Kessel crashed the net to put home a rebound from freshman Peyton Reeves and Chaffee to put the Minutemen in front once more.
- RPI countered again at the 9:11 mark with Patrick Polino finishing off a pass from Chase Zieky and Zack Dubinsky, tying the score at 3-3.
- Senior Niko Hildenbrand ended the rally by redirecting a shot from Marc Del Gaizo at the left point 12:39 into the third to put UMass in front for good. Hildenbrand later sealed the victory with his second of the night, an empty net goal at 19:43.
- The Minutemen ended the contest with a 37-23 shot advantage and went 1-for-3 on the power play, while the Engineers were 1-for-4. Goaltender Matt Murray totaled 20 saves to improve to 8-1-0.
- Hildenbrand's pair of tallies marked his third career multi-goal game and first since Feb. 20, 2018 at UMass Lowell.
- Lebster's goal marked the first of his career on the power play as he has now found the back of the net in two straight games.
- Chau's assist extended his point streak to five straight games. He has three goals and four assists in that span and 10 points in his last 10 games.
- Chaffee's pair of assists gave him his seventh multi-point game of the season. He now leads the Minutemen in points (24), goals (12) and assists (12) on the year.

Finishing Strong
- The Minutemen have been a strong third period team this season, currently tied for second in the nation with six game winning goals in the final stanza and a nation's best +22 rating over the first 18 games of the season. UMass is averaging 1.78 goals per-game in the third, which leads the nation. The squad has scored 48.5% of its goals in the third with 32 of 66 coming in the frame.
- Individually, eight of John Leonard's 11 goals have been third period tallies, tying him for first nationally, two have been game winners.
- UMass has outscored its opponents 32-10 in the third period this season.

Stingy Goalie
- For the second time in his career, Matt Murray was selected as the Hockey East Defensive Player of the Week on Dec. 9 after posting two wins in a weekend sweep of Maine.
- Murray stopped 43 of 45 shots over the two games for a .956 save percentage and a 1.00 goals against average, not allowing an even strength goal to the Black Bears.
- Currently the St. Albert, Alberta native is 8-1-0 on the year with a 1.57 goals against average and a .924 save percentage. He currently ranks fourth nationally in goals against average, 18th in save percentage and second in winning percentage.

Here's Johnny
- John Leonard was selected as the Co-Hockey East Player of the Week on November 4 for the second time in his career and first time this season. He was also named NCAA Hockey's No. 3 Star of the Week.
- Leonard led the No. 3 Minutemen to a weekend sweep of No. 10 Northeastern on Nov. 1-2 with a pair of multi-goal games, scoring four goals on eight shots, which included a power-play goal and a game winner. The Amherst native also won 16 of 28 faceoffs (57.1%) against the Huskies.
- Leonard became the first player in UMass' Division I history to post three consecutive multi-goal games as he previously scored twice in a 4-1 win over American International on Oct. 25.
- In the Friday matchup against the Huskies, Leonard helped UMass overcome a 2-0 deficit to pick up the squad's first win at Matthews Arena since 2014 as the Minutemen defeated Northeastern 6-3. In the 4-2 victory on Saturday, Leonard broke a 2-2 deadlock in the third period with his seventh goal of the season¬.
- Leonard is currently fifth Hockey East in goals per-game (0.61), tied for first in game-winning goals (3) and seventh in faceoff percentage (.581) through 18 games.

Shots!
- Through 18 games, UMass leads the nation in shots on goal margin per-game at +12.89 and shots on goal margin (+232). The Minutemen allow the second fewest shots on goal per-game than any team in the nation with an average of 22.39.
- UMass has allowed 30 or more shots on goal only once this season (at Northeastern on Nov. 1, a 6-3 win) and has held opponents under 20 shots on five occasions through 18 games. In comparison, the Minutemen allowed 19 or fewer shots six times in 41 games last season and were 6-0-0 in those contests.

Mr. Jones And Me
- Freshman defenseman Zac Jones was selected as the Hockey East Rookie of the Week as well as one of the UMass Student-Athletes of the Week on Oct. 21 following a big weekend against Union. The Glen Allen, Virginia native totaled five points on a goal and four assists and was +4 over the three games in a 2-1-0 week, which included his second and third multi-point games of the season.
- Jones registered a goal and two assists in a 6-1 victory over Union in game one and was +2. He followed up with a two-assist effort and helped UMass' defense post a 5-0 shutout, only allowing the Dutchmen 15 shots on goal in the Saturday night matchup.
- In UMass' Hockey East era (1994-95 to present), there have been just 20 occasions where a Minuteman has recorded seven or more points through the first five games of a season. Among that group are four NHLers and four All-Americans. Jones became the first rookie defenseman in that span to reach seven points in five games or less.
- Jones is currently the top scoring defenseman for the Minutemen. Through 17 games thus far this season as he has registered 12 points on three goals and nine assists with a +10 rating. He ranks sixth in Hockey East in defenseman scoring and tied for sixth in freshman scoring.

Right Back Where We Started
- UMass ended the 2018-19 season ranked third nationally in scoring offense (3.68), tied for seventh in scoring defense (2.02), third in scoring margin (1.66), first in power play percentage (28.5%), fifth in penalty kill percentage (86.9%) and first in combined special teams (57.9%).
- Currently the Minutemen sit seventh in the nation in scoring offense (3.67), tied for fourth in scoring defense (1.78), fourth in scoring margin (1.89), 10th in penalty kill percentage (87.0%) and 16th in combined special teams (53.0%).

The Kids Are Alright
- Freshmen Zac Jones, Cal Kiefiuk and Reed Lebster all scored in UMass' season opening win over RPI, marking the first time in the Minutemen's Division I era that three rookies have scored their first collegiate goals in an opener.
- Two more freshmen found their way onto the scoresheet for the first time at Northeastern in the Minutemen's Hockey East opener with Matt Kessel scoring the squad's lone goal, set up by Jeremy Davidson's first collegiate assist. Over the two-game series against Union that followed, freshmen combined for 10 of the squad's 21 points, led by a five-point weekend for Jones.
- In total, freshmen have combined for 47 of UMass' 166 points over the squad's 18 games thus far, including 22 of 66 goals. Entering this weekend's series, UMass ranks ninth in the nation in freshmen scoring with 2.61 points per-game and second in goals per-game by freshmen, as well, at 1.22.

Senior Year Sutes Him
- With 10 assists through 17 games, including his second and third multi-point games of his career, senior Jack Suter has already set new career highs in helpers and points. His previous career best in points was 7 in 26 games as a sophomore. He is currently fifth on the team in points with 11 and is third in assists.

Home Is Where The Wins Are
- UMass is 30-4-1 in its last 35 games at the Mullins Center, 25-2-1 in its last 28 at home. This stretch included a 16-game unbeaten streak (15-0-1) began on Jan. 11, 2019 against Vermont and came to an end on Nov. 30, 2019 with a 2-1 loss to Quinnipiac.

We're Bringing Scoring Back (Yeah)
- Despite the loss of their top two point scorers from last season in Hobey Baker winner Cale Makar (49 points) and senior Jacob Pritchard (47 points), the Minutemen have no shortage of returning offense.
- UMass brings back its leading goal scorer in 2019 First Team All-American Mitchell Chaffee who led the Minutemen with 18 in 2018-19, two 40-point scorers in Chaffee (42) and junior John Leonard (40) and three more 20-point scorers: Marc Del Gaizo (29), Bobby Trivigno (28) and Jake Gaudet (22).
- In total the Minutemen return 105 goals, which alone would have put them 29th of 60 teams in 2018-19 overall. UMass finished third in the nation goals last season with 151, the highest total in the program's Hockey East era and its third-highest total all-time.

Year Three For 21
- Junior co-captain Mitchell Chaffee is coming off a breakout sophomore season in 2018-19 which saw him garner CCM/AHCA Hockey First-Team All-America honors and earn the title of Hockey East Scoring Champion, in addition to receiving the Herb Gallagher Award (New England's best forward) and earning New England All-Star and Hockey East First-Team All-Star recognition.
- In Hockey East action, Chaffee totaled 31 points over 23 league contests for an average of 1.35 points per-game. The Rockford, Michigan native also led Hockey East in assists in league play with 22, to go along with his nine goals. He became the second Hockey East Scoring Champion in program history.
- Overall Chaffee registered 42 points over 40 contests on a team-high 18 goals with 24 assists and a plus/minus rating of +21. He finished fourth overall in Hockey East in points, third in goals, tied for eighth in assists, tied for sixth in power-play points (14), tied for third in power-play goals (7) and tied for sixth in plus/minus. He amassed 12 multi-point games, as well.
- Thus far in a UMass uniform over two-plus seasons Chaffee has seen action in 97 games and has logged 43 goals and 47 assists for 90 points. His career points totals rank him 21st on UMass' all-time points list while he is tied for 12th in the program's record book for career goals, two goals shy of cracking the top-10.
- After notching his 39th and 40th career goals against Boston University, Chaffee matched Greg Mauldin (2001-04) for the quickest to 40 career goals in the program's Hockey East history as Mauldin scored his 40th in his 89th career game, as well.
- Chaffee is currently tied for eighth nationally in points per-game (1.33) and ranks tied for sixth in goals per-game (0.67).
- Chaffee is one of two First Team All-Americans from 2018-19 to return to college in 2019-20, the only other being goaltender Hunter Shepard of Minnesota Duluth.

Leno Leads The Way
- Junior John Leonard entered 2019-20 as UMass' active leader in career scoring with 68 career points on 29 goals and 39 assists.
- Last season he became the 20th player in program history to post a 40-point season and was named a Hockey East Second Team All-Star.
- The Amherst native ranked fourth on the team and fifth in Hockey East in scoring in 2018-19, tied for sixth in the league in goals (16), tied for eighth in assists (24), finished third in Hockey East with 18 power play points and tied for third in power-play goals (7).
- In Hockey East play last season, Leonard was third in Hockey East in points with 29 on 11 goals and 18 assists. He also tied for fifth in league action in assists, tied for third in goals and tied for third in power-play points (13).
- Leonard scored in each of UMass' three wins in the NCAA Tournament last season, finishing the tournament with four points (3g, 1a).

Name A More Iconic Duo
- The Minutemen have returned arguably the top goaltending tandem in the country as both sophomore Filip Lindberg and junior Matt Murray finished the 2018-19 season among the NCAA leaders, including both ranking in the top 15 nationally in goals-against average and winning percentage.
- Murray was the NCAA statistical champion for winning percentage with a record of 20-5-0, a mark that also surpassed a program record for wins previously held by former Minuteman and NHL veteran Jonathan Quick.
- Lindberg, who started all four of UMass' NCAA Tournament games in 2018-19, ended his freshman campaign second in the nation with a 1.60 goals-against average and a .934 save percentage. He is the top returning goaltender in the nation statistically in both categories for 2019-20. The Espoo, Finland native ranked fourth nationally in winning percentage (.733) with a record of 11-4-0 and tied for 10th nationally in shutouts with four.
- As a rookie, Lindberg set a new program single-season record for goals-against average and tied Murray's record for single-season shutouts. His save percentage was the highest by a UMass netminder since 1969-70, second all-time.
- Murray and Lindberg tied the program's shutout record (5) from 1913-14 and served as the backbone of a UMass defense that allowed the fewest goals in the team's Division I era (83).

Watch Out For Marc Del Gaizo
- While many know Marc Del Gaizo for scoring the overtime game winner that sent UMass into the 2019 National Championship game, that was merely the exclamation point on one of the best rookie seasons by a Minuteman defenseman in program history.
- Del Gaizo received Hockey East Third Team All-Star and Hockey East All-Rookie Team accolades and earned an All-CHN Rookie Team nod, as well.
- One of seven Minutemen to see action in all 41 games, Del Gaizo ranked 17th in the nation for points per-game by a freshman (0.71), and third in Hockey East with 29 points on 13 goals and 16 assists.
- The Basking Ridge, New Jersey native tied for third in the nation in plus minus at +31, tied for ninth in Hockey East in power-play points (14), power-play goals (6) and ranked fourth in defenseman scoring.
- Del Gaizo was the first rookie defenseman in Hockey East history to score 10 goals in league play, which tied for fifth overall on the Hockey East list for goals by a defenseman in a single season all-time.

Full Wagon
- In 2018-19, 87,776 fans came through the turnstiles at the Mullins Center for UMass hockey, the third-highest attendance total in program history. UMass ranked 12th in the nation and had the highest average attendance (4,876) last season of any team east of State College, Pennsylvania.
- The sellout against No. 8 Quinnipiac on Dec. 8, 2019 was the fourth sellout in program history at the Mullins Center and first since Feb. 5, 2010 against Boston College. The crowd of 8,412 set a new Mullins Center attendance record for hockey. Overall (including both away and neutral site games), it was the 19th largest crowd to ever witness a UMass hockey game.
- The 2018-19 campaign marked the first time the Minutemen had multiple home sellouts in the same season in program history.
- UMass packed the stands even on the road. There was a total of 10 sold out/capacity crowds in Hockey East arenas last season and the Minutemen played in eight of those games.
- Five of the top-20 largest crowds to ever witness a UMass hockey game occurred during the 2018-19 season: the National Championship game vs. Minnesota Duluth (13,624 – 6th), the National Semifinal vs. Denver (13,051 – 9th), the Hockey East Semifinal vs. Boston College (11,572 – 10th), and home matchups against Quinnipiac (8,412 – 19th) and Boston University (8,389 – t-20th).

Top Of The Charts
- UMass entered the 2019-20 season ranked No. 4 in the USCHO.com poll and No. 5 in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Men's College Hockey Poll, which was the first time the Minutemen have opened a season ranked in either poll.
- History was made on Dec. 3, 2018 as the Minutemen earned their first No. 1 national ranking in program history, sitting at the top of the USCHO.com poll with 26 first-place votes and 964 points. UMass was ranked for 20 straight weeks to end the 2018-19 season, and earned a No. 2 ranking in the final polls.
- UMass entered the national rankings on Oct. 22, 2018 coming in at No. 16 in the USCHO.com poll. The last time the Minutemen were ranked prior to October 2018 was in the USCHO.com poll released on Feb. 15, 2010.
- On November 5, 2018, UMass moved up to No. 9 in the USCHO.com Poll and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Men's College Hockey Poll in the No. 9 spot as well, the highest ranking for the Minutemen since November 30, 2009 (No. 9).
- UMass surpassed all previous highs in rankings on Nov. 12, 2018 when the squad was sitting at No. 4 in both polls.
- Previously the highest ranking in program history came in the USCHO.com poll on Dec. 31, 2007 at No. 5. The Minutemen spent six weeks in the top-10 during the 2007-08 season.
- After sitting in the No. 4 spot for two weeks, UMass improved upon its all-time highest ranking, moving up to No. 3 in both polls on Nov. 26, 2018.
- The Minutemen earned their first-ever top-10 ranking (No. 9) on Nov. 10, 2003 and ranked as high as No. 7 that season.
- UMass collected its first-ever national ranking on Jan. 6, 2003. (No. 15 USCHO.com poll/No. 14 USA Today/American Hockey Magazine Poll).
- On Jan. 14, 2019, UMass received its first No. 1 ranking in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll.

Get Out The Red Pen
- The Minutemen re-wrote the UMass record book in 2018-19 with the team breaking program records for wins overall (31), Hockey East wins (18), home wins (17), road wins (11) and tied the all-time mark for wins over ranked opponents (10).
- UMass posted the longest win streak in program history in 2018-19 (nine games), which is also the program's longest unbeaten streak.
- The Minutemen were the most improved team in the country for a second straight year, going from five wins in head coach Greg Carvel's first year to 17 wins in 2017-18 (+12) to 31 wins in 2018-19 (+14).
- UMass also set a new program record for power-play goals (43), penalty kill percentage (86.9%), games played (41) and goals-against average (1.98).

League Things And Other Tidbits
- Anthony and Marc Del Gazio's father Anthony played college hockey at Merrimack (1983-84). They are the fourth set of siblings to play for the Minutemen in the program's modern era (James Marcou 2007-10 and Michael Marcou 2008-12; Jeff Turner 1997-2001 and Tim Turner 1999-2003; Mike Warner 2000-04 and Tim Warner 2001-05).
- Bobby Trivigno is the second member of his family to play in Hockey East, following in the footsteps of his sister Dana who was a standout forward and former captain for Boston College, where she put up 138 points in 148 career games for the Eagles (2012-16).
- Filip Lindberg first started playing goal after receiving his first set of hand-me-down pads from former Merrimack goaltender and fellow Finland native Rasmus Tirronen, who played for the Warriors from 2011-15.
- Matthew Kessel is the third member of his family to play college hockey. His brother Will played at Western Michigan from 2011-15 and captained the Broncos in 2014-15, while his brother Peter plays at Holy Cross and is in his junior season with the Crusaders.

Scoreboard

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Players Mentioned

Mitchell Chaffee

Oliver Chau

Jeremy Davidson

Marc Del Gaizo

Jake Gaudet

Niko Hildenbrand

Zac Jones

Matthew Kessel

Cal Kiefiuk

Reed Lebster

John Leonard

Filip Lindberg

Cale Makar

Matt Murray

Jacob Pritchard

Peyton Reeves

Jack Suter

Bobby Trivigno

Scoreboard

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