After traveling to Anchorage, Alaska, over the weekend, the No. 13 Denver hockey team swept the Seawolves, winning 4-2 Friday and 6-3 Saturday. Sophomore goalie Sam Brittain returned to the net Saturday, playing in his first game of the season following knee surgery in June.
The Pioneers, (15-8-3, 10-5-3 WCHA) move into 3rd place in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association standings. In the USCHO.com and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine NCAA Division I hockey polls, the team is ranked No. 13. DU is also currently in a tie for No. 14 in the PairWise rankings and needs to stay in the top 16 to qualify for the NCAA Tournament in March.
Denver has 10 regular season games remaining and needs to continue the trend they have been playing during their current five-game win streak in order to make the playoffs.
Junior goalie and Anchorage native, Adam Murray, helped DU win on Friday, stopping 30 shots before Brittain took the goal Saturday when he made 24 stops.
“We certainly didn’t make it easy for [Murray on Friday],” said head coach George Gwozdecky. “Anchorage really drove the net hard and I thought [Murray] was outstanding. Our top two lines created a lot of offense, and it was nice to see Nick Shore and Luke Salazar score goals.”
Despite the tough game for Murray, he was key to the win, according to Gwozdecky.
“I thought that Friday, Murray was outstanding in goal. He was the difference in the game,” said Gwozdecky.
After Murray’s standout game Friday, Brittain made his season debut in the net Saturday.
“Obviously [Brittain] has worked extremely hard to rehab from that surgery back in June, and it was great to have him back. But certainly he was rusty, and he would be the first to admit that,” said Gwozdecky. “In those first two periods, he wasn’t as sharp as he wants to be or should be, but in the third, he held them off, and I was really pleased with how he played.”
Drew Shore and Salazar racked up three points each on Friday with one goal and two assists, respectively.
Ty Loney and Nick Shore added goals for the Pioneers, and Joey LaLeggia helped out with two assists.
Loney opened the scoring, followed by Nick Shore on a power-play goal from Jason Zucker and Scott Mayfield. After a UAA goal, Drew Shore made it 3-1 off an assist from LaLeggia and Salazar. Salazar scored in the second period before UAA scored the final goal in the third period, leaving DU with a 4-2 advantage to end the game.
On Saturday, DU was off to a hot start, going up 4-0 in the first period before topping UAA 6-3.
“[Saturday] night, we had a great start. Our forwards completely overwhelmed them in the first period, going up 4-0,” said Gwozdecky.
Loney racked up two more goals on Saturday night, giving him 16 points in his 20 games this season.
“[Loney] continues to contribute to our success. His point streak and his goal-scoring streak is pretty impressive for any class, let alone a freshman,” said Gwozdecky. “He is scoring big goals for us, and he is continuing to get better, continuing to gain confidence, and I’m excited to see him continue for us.”
LaLeggia, Zucker, Nick Shore and Chris Knowlton each added a goal to the DU win.
LaLeggia opened the scoring off an assist from Drew Shore and Salazar, and Zucker followed up, scoring off Knowlton’s assist. Loney scored his first of the night less than a minute later from an assist from John Lee and LaLeggia. The final goal of the first period was knocked in by Nick Shore, assisted by Knowlton and Zucker.
In the second period, Loney scored his second goal, assisted again by Lee and LaLeggia. UAA scored all three of their goals in the second period, but DU bounced back in the third period when Knowlton scored a power-play goal off an assist from Salazar and Brittain protected the net.
After the sweep, the Pioneers will take on rival Colorado College on Friday in Magness Arena at 7:37 p.m. and Saturday in Colorado Springs Honnen Ice Arena at 7:07 p.m.
