An upper-body injury that likely will keep Colorado College captain Nick Dineen from a weekend series at Bemidji State won’t prompt Jaden and Rylan Schwartz to be separated, and William Rapuzzi is expected to remain on a second line that’s centered by Tim Hall.

The Schwartz brothers practiced Tuesday at World Arena on the first line, with Rylan at center, Jaden at left wing and Jeff Collett (No. 21 above) at right wing. And the second line looked like it did Saturday after Dineen was knocked out of a 2-2 tie against No. 14 Denver, with Hall at center, Rapuzzi at right wing and Alexander Krushelnyski at left wing. Scott Winkler previously occupied Rapuzzi’s spot, but Winkler has been battling an undisclosed injury. Dineen didn’t practice, and goaltender Josh Thorimbert (upper body) was still sidelined.

Collett is “doing a pretty good job” alongside Jaden and Rylan Schwartz, CC coach Scott Owens said, noting that he “has benefited in terms of getting confidence and getting more minutes. He’s the kind of guy that you watch on tape, and he ends up doing so many little things well. … So that’s as big of a reason to keep Rapuzzi with Krushelnyski.”

Rapuzzi also is “playing better right now,” said Owens, who will move Rapuzzi onto the top power-play unit in the spot that Dineen inhabited and put Collett where Rapuzzi was on the second unit. Owens decided against sliding center David Civitarese onto the power play because he likes Civitarese countering the opponent’s top line after CC is done with the man advantage. Plus, Civitarese has “been doing really well in his role,” Owens said.

Other candidates for center are Archie Skalbeck and Jordan DiGiando. Skalback is “not scoring a ton,” Owens said, “but he’s playing pretty well – drawing penalties and opening up the ice.” Owens said DiGiando “is in here to be a defensive center that wins faceoffs and can penalty kill. He just hasn’t gotten a chance to do it yet,” playing only four games.

Collett said Jaden and Rylan Schwartz “definitely create a lot of space for me. … They make passes that I’m not used to getting sometimes, which is nice.” He added, “Anyone can play anywhere. We have a lot of depth on our team, and guys can fill in anywhere.”

“Our strength has been our depth at forward,” Hall said. “Guys are always going to step up and make plays and contribute at the right time.” It also helps that the No. 10 Tigers have “an unselfish group of guys, and they’re a bunch of good players,” Hall said. “When we get together, we just make it work, and we just want to do what’s best for the team.”

Contact Brian Gomez: 719-636-0256 or brian.gomez@gazette.com. Facebook: Brian Gomez. Twitter: @gazettehockey. Google+: Brian Gomez. YouTube: Colorado College Hockey, Covered by The Gazette. For the CC homepage, visit www.gazette.com/sections/sports/cchockey. For the CC blog, visit http://cchockey.freedomblogging.com.

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