By Jacob Messing

There was no early-season hangover for the Denver Pioneers after claiming the 2017 NCAA national title, but a shaky end to the regular season has put their hopes of a consecutive championship in jeopardy.

The Pioneers went 11-5-4 during the fall semester and, after starting off 2018 with a loss, they pulled together for an eight-game point streak. Then a 1-0 upset by Colorado College on February 2 saw the team get shut out for the first time this season, drop three spots in the pivotal PairWise Rankings, and end the season on a 1-2-2 note.

This weekend, the Pioneers face off against CC again in the NCHC Tournament. A loss wouldn’t be a dagger to national tournament hopes — the Pioneers didn’t claim the NCHC last season, either — but Denver sits tied for fifth in the current PairWise and a loss certainly wouldn’t raise their rank.

The Pioneers’ loss of 2017 Hobey Baker winner and top defenseman Will Butcher — who joined the NHL’s New Jersey Devils following his senior year — is showing as they make a run without their former “best player,” as labeled by coach Jim Montgomery.

“He pushed others to reach their potential, and he never wavered from doing what was best for the team, even though he was clearly a returning All-American,” Montgomery told Chris Ryan of NJ.com in August. “He never cared about the stats part for himself. He cared that his team was playing the right way and when you're best player does that, everybody else falls in line.”

Sliding into the playoffs like... #DU1NATION pic.twitter.com/l9YSmYmeVh

— Denver Hockey (@DU_Hockey) March 4, 2018

Butcher left his mark as team captain, which was handed off to Tariq Hammond, one of just two senior defensemen on the roster this season.

“We have a great group here and the culture our coaching staff has established breeds success,” Hammond told Mike Chambers of The Denver Post. “We’re all looking forward to making another run at a national title.”

Hammond is a shutdown defenseman who leads through bodily sacrifice and an attention to detail that rubs off on his team, but his lack of the scoring punch Butcher offered has hindered the team’s offense down the stretch.

The Pioneers averaged 3.55 goals per game through the first half of the season, which has dropped to an even 3 goals per game since the turn of the year. Denver has eclipsed three goals just six times in 14 games in 2018, as opposed to the 13 times they managed a minimum four goals through their first 20 games.

Junior Troy Terry scored 22 goals in 35 games on Denver’s way to the title last season, but has just 11 tallies through 32 games this year. Junior Jarid Lukosevicius, who scored a hat trick in the title game last season over Minnesota-Duluth, has scored a career-high 17 goals, eclipsing his 16 from last year in nine fewer games. But while he’s tallied in three straight, a whopping 15 of his 17 goals have come against his own conference this season. When the national tournament gets underway, he’ll be a key cog in the offense, but likely won’t face any divisional foes.

The dried-up offense has likely been frustrating for goaltender Tanner Jaillet, who FloHockey chose as a must-watch player ahead of the season. After three straight seasons of improved stats, Jaillet’s numbers have dipped this year but remained impressive with a 1.93 goals against average, .926 save percentage, and 17-7-7 record.

The reigning Mike Richter Award winner as the most outstanding goalie of the regular season, Jaillet has a chance to steal some victories for the Pioneers during the national championship. He’s done that at times this season, but when he seemingly plays at his best, he fails to get goal support.

Last week, Montgomery yanked Jaillet from the game following a collision.

“He wasn’t feeling 100 percent; he was a little bit dizzy,” Montgomery said after the game. “He wasn’t diagnosed with any serious ailment, but we weren’t taking a chance with him with knowing that the playoffs start next weekend.”

There are still questions to be answered ahead of the looming national tournament, but should Denver earn a spot — they should — the school will be aiming for its ninth championship and back-to-back titles for first time since 2004 and 2005.

Have a question or a comment for Jacob? You can find him on Twitter @JMessing23.