“This game doesn’t matter.” That’s probably what Alberta is saying about last Saturday’s exhibition match. It’s also probably what we’d be saying if we lost.

Thankfully though, the Denver Men’s Hockey team beat the Alberta Golden Bears 6-4 at home in the Magness Arena.

The Pioneers looked on point early in the game. At 7:14 of the first period, junior Michael Davies (Saint, Louis, Mo.) opened the night’s scoring by slotting it in the top corner past the turned head of Alberta goalie Zach Sawchenko. Then before the first period was out, senior Jarid Lukosevicious (Squamish, B.C.) passed up to freshman Emilio Petterson (Manlelrud, Norway), who lofted the puck over Sawchenko’s leg to bring the score to 2-0 at the end of the first.

Alberta wasn’t phased though, and managed a three-goal comeback during the second period starting at 7:17 with a goal from Steven Owre and followed by two power-play goals to give Alberta a 3-2 lead. With only a minute left in the second, though, freshman Cole Guttman (Los Angeles, Calif.) connected with Lukosevicious to tie the score 3 all for the third period.

Throughout the first two periods, sophomore Devin Cooley (Los Gatos, Calif.) racked up 24 saves, compared to Sawchenko’s 18. Freshman Michael Corson (Darien Ill.) would take the ice for the third period in which he would manage 12 saves with only one goal allowed.

Rattled but unphased, the Pios controlled the the rest of the game. At 4:04 of the third period, sophomore Ryan Barrow (Banff, Alberta) scored on a power play to pull ahead 4-3, and within 2 minutes Petterson scored an unassisted goal from a steal in Alberta territory, bring it to 5-3. Alberta would score one more time, but it would be quickly answered with a goal from sophomore Jaako Heikkinen (Helsinki, Finland), leaving the final score 6-4 Denver.

Denver will begin regular season play this Friday at Air Force at 7:05 p.m. MST.