The then-No. 10/11 Denver men’s hockey team split its road weekend series against then-No. 2 Minnesota last weekend, edging the Gophers 2-0 Friday before dropping a 5-1 decision Saturday.
The weekend’s performance moves Denver to 17-11-5 overall and 12-9-5 in the conference loops, while Minnesota sits at 22-7-5 and 14-7-5 in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association. The Pioneers improved to No. 9 in the Pairwise Rankings, after coming in at No. 12 last week. The top 16 teams in the Pairwise Rankings receive automatic berths to the NCAA tournament. The weekend also dropped the Pioneers to No. 12/11, while Minnesota maintained their No. 2 spot in the polls.
Saturday’s loss also drops Denver to No. 7 in the WCHA with 29 points, and with one regular season series remaining, the Pioneers look to move into the top six in the conference, as only the top six teams host the first round of the WCHA playoffs.
Ranking above Denver in the WCHA are St. Cloud State at No. 1 with 35 points, Minnesota and North Dakota tied at No. 2 with 33 points each, Minnesota State and Wisconsin at No. 4 with 31 points each and Nebraska Omaha at No. 6 with 30 points. The Pioneers have hosted the first round of the WCHA playoffs every year since the 2003-2004 season. This year’s WCHA playoffs are set to occur March 15-17.
Weekend action
The Pioneers skated to a shutout Friday, pushing past Minnesota 2-0 after being led by senior forward Shawn Ostrow.
Sophomore goaltender Juho Olkinuora represented the Pioneers between the pipes, recording 33 saves for his third shutout of the season and fifth of his career. Minnesota’s freshman goaltender Adam Wilcox recorded 34 saves in the loss.
After two scoreless periods, Ostrow found the net just 18 seconds into the third period for his 11th goal of the season. Sophomore forward Ty Loney took a shot on net that was deflected by Wilcox, which ricocheted off Ostrow’s skate to become the eventual game winner. Sophomore forward Zac Larraza was also credited with an assist.
With 15 seconds remaining in regulation, Loney slipped in an empty net goal to account for the final 2-0 margin. Denver was able to shut down all five of Minnesota’s power-play opportunities, despite the Gophers boasting the nation’s top power-play unit.
“Whenever you play Minnesota, you know they’re going to get their chances,” said head coach George Gwozdecky. “They’re a big scoring team, they always are. Tonight, we gave them perimeter shots, but they didn’t have many chances at the doorstep, and when they did, Juho cleaned it up.”
The Pioneers returned to the ice Saturday night in an attempt for a sweep, but the Gophers stifled the attempt with a decisive 5-1 victory. Sophomore defenseman Scott Mayfield scored Denver’s lone goal in the loss, while junior goaltender Sam Brittain defended the Pioneer goal.
Brittain turned away 38 shots in the defeat while making his 10th start of the season and first since Jan. 19 at St. Cloud State. Minnesota’s Wilcox recorded 31 saves in the win.
Scoring for Minnesota were redshirt junior forward Zach Budish with two goals and junior forward Nick Bjugstad, junior defenseman Justin Holl and sophomore forward Sam Warning with one each.
Denver struck first when Mayfield found the net just 3:34 into the contest, capitalizing on a power-play opportunity with an assist from senior forward Chris Knowlton and senior defenseman and captain Paul Phillips, marking the only time the Pioneers would find the net for the evening.
Minnesota answered with a goal in the second period before sparking a three-goal flurry over less than a four-minute span in the final stanza of the contest. The Gophers made the score its final 5-1 margin with an empty-net goal in the final seconds of regulation.
The Gophers outshot the Pioneers 43-32 on Saturday despite winning 23-of-29 faceoffs and holding the Gophers to 1-for-4 on power-play opportunities.
Scouting Alaska Anchorage
Denver will conclude the regular season at home next weekend with a two-game series against Alaska Anchorage (4-21-7, 2-18-6 WCHA). Denver is 46-15-7 all-time against Alaska Anchorage and boasts a 14-2-2 record in the past 18 meetings.
Leading the Seawolves in goals is Scott Allen with 11 goals, followed by Jordan Kwas and Blake Tatchell with nine and eight goals, respectively. Chris Kamal will represent Alaska Anchorage in goal with a .890 save percentage, averaging 3.12 goals allowed.
The Pioneers will look to jump up to the top six in the WCHA after next weekend’s series in order to host the first round of the playoffs. The series is set to begin on Friday at 7:37 p.m. and will conclude on Sunday afternoon at 12:07 p.m. Friday’s game marks senior night and will be preceded by a ceremony to honor the 2013 senior class.
