by Kevin Taylor, FOXSports.com

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After a 3 game stretch where North Dakota suffered the only blemishes on their record, a tie against Minnesota and a loss to Alaska Anchorage, the Fighting Sioux had reeled off three straight wins before losing on Sunday to St Cloud State at home. The defense will have to get on track as the team has allowed two or more goals in over half of their games this year. More importantly, the Fighting Sioux need to figure out their goaltending problem. After allowing 2 goals in 3 of his last four games, Brad Eidness was pulled in favor of Freshman Aaron Dell. However, Dell only stopped 4 of the 7 shots he faced on Sunday, allowing 3 goals in just over a period. On the offensive side, keep your eye on the combination of Ben Blood and David Toews. Blood assisted Toews on both of Toews' goals in their game on Saturday, and they seem to be developing quite a partnership.

On the other side of the ice, Denver is also coming into this big matchup after suffering a loss. The Pioneers were dominated by Alaska Anchorage last Saturday, losing badly 7-3. If the Pioneers want to win, they too will also have to figure out their goaltending. While Denver has 3 shutouts on the season, they have not been able to hold their opponents to under 2 goals in any other games. Marc Cheverie has been in net for all three of Denver's shutouts, but a leg injury has kept him out, and freshman Adam Murray has looked less then impressive coming in after him. Murray will have to step his game up with North Dakota coming in.

It looks like it will be a high scoring affair as both teams are struggling to stop the puck. You can catch all the action of this matchup between top 5 teams on Friday night at Fox College Sports Atlantic. The puck is set to drop at 9:30 ET.