For the first time since 2002, Magness Arena hosted both the No. 1 and No. 2 collegiate hockey teams in the nation for a two-game series.
No. 2 Denver split the weekend series with No. 1 University of Minnesota-Duluth (MDU) on Dec. 9 and 10, winning the first game 4-3 and dropping the second 3-1.
In the weekend’s first game, DU fell down 1-0 in the first period after defenseman Blake Hillman (Elk River, Minnesota) egregiously turned the puck over in the neutral zone.
A monster second period powered the Pioneers, as they received three straight goals in the period’s first twelve minutes. It began at the 7:03 mark when freshman Tyson McLellan (San Jose, California) forced a turnover on the forecheck, leading to freshman Kevin Conley’s (Wasau, Wisconsin) first career goal.
Sophomores Logan O’Connor (Calgary, Alberta) and Troy Terry (Denver) added to DU’s lead, which mounted to 3-1. The goals came 22 seconds apart, turning the game’s momentum after superb play from UMD freshman goalie Hunter Miska.
Minnesota-Duluth found the scoresheet later in the period, beating junior goalie Tanner Jaillet (Red Deer, Alberta) blocker-side for the second time in the game. Jaillet made 32 saves in the win.
Entering the third period with a 3-2 lead, DU continued to effectively pressure the puck. The mayhem led to Terry sliding a pass to sophomore Jarid Lukosevicius (Squamish, British Columbia), who stood directly in front of the net. The shot was blocked, finding its way back to Terry, who fooled everyone in the building by passing up the shot and deftly slinging it again to Lukosevicius for Denver’s fourth goal on the night.
Despite surrendering a score later in the game, DU held on for the 4-3 victory, their 15th in a row. Terry notched three points (one goal, two assists) and sophomore Dylan Gambrell (Bonney Lake, Washington) recorded two assists.
In the second game of the weekend on Dec. 10, the Pioneers again surrendered the first goal. This time, however, the Bulldogs also scored the game’s second goal, giving them a 2-0 advantage midway through the second period. The goal came mere seconds after a DU powerplay where Lukosevicius missed an open net with a shot from the right circle.
Junior Evan Janssen (Green Bay, Wisconsin) helped Denver’s comeback attempt with a rebound tally just minutes later at the 13:11 mark of the second period off an O’Connor wraparound.
Despite outshooting UMD in each period (39-26 in total), the Pioneers were unable to solve Miska more than once in the contest. Minnesota-Duluth added an empty-net goal late in the third period en route to a 3-1 victory.
As time expired, Gambrell was assessed a five minute major and game misconduct for a spearing incident. He will miss Denver’s next game as a result.
Splitting the weekend series, both UMD and DU’s national rankings have remained unchanged, sitting at No. 1 and No. 2, respectively.
The Pioneers were without leading powerplay goal-scorer Henrik Borgstrom (Helsinki, Finland) for the weekend, going 0-7 on the man-advantage against Minnesota-Duluth.
Denver hockey now has some time off, as their next matchup will be on the road against Providence College on Dec. 30 and 31.
