In a statement weekend, DU established themselves as the team to beat in the NCHC with a home sweep over St. Cloud State. Showing they can win in more than one way this weekend, DU pulled out an 8-5 come-from-behind thriller on Friday and a more mellow 2-0 victory on Saturday.
While the weekend was a fruitful one for DU, the first period of Friday’s matchup was not. While DU did not play badly, St. Cloud State came out of the gates with a vengeance. They were also the beneficiaries of some fortunate bounces, as was the case on the first goal of the game when junior forward Zach Okabe (Okotoks, Alberta) opened the scoring on a broken play.
The second goal, which came less than two minutes after the first, could not be attributed to luck. St. Cloud junior forward Jami Krannila (Nokia, Finland) danced his way past DU freshman defenseman Sean Behrens (Barrington, Ill) and proceeded to beat junior goaltender Magnus Chrona (Stockholm, Sweden) with the shot to make it a 2-0 game less than six minutes in.
Shortly after the second goal, DU would commit a penalty, which is especially dangerous against St. Cloud State, who has the nation’s best power play, converting at a 36.1 percent rate, placing them seven points higher than the next closest team. Despite this, DU would kill the penalty and get back to five-on-five hockey unscathed.
The game became chippy as the first period progressed, with multiple penalties on both sides resulting from various scraps. DU played well in this stretch but could not manage to find the back of the net.
With less than two minutes remaining in the period, St. Cloud State’s vaunted power play struck when forward Kevin Fitzgerald (Hinsdale, Ill) found a soft spot in the Denver defense and found the back of the net to make it a 3-0 first-period lead for the Huskies. At this point, things looked grim for DU, but with the nation’s best offense, the game was far from over.
Despite the rough first period, DU was undeterred. In the locker room after the period, Coach David Carle’s message was clear.
“Just believe. We got a real good hockey team, there are 40 minutes left, let’s just stick to the script,” he said.
Sophomore forward Carter Savoie (St. Albert, Alberta) said that the message in the locker room was “to keep pushing forward and keep playing our game and the hockey gods will answer us.”
The hockey gods must have been listening because 21 seconds into the second period, St. Cloud forward Nolan Walker (Anchorage, Alaska) committed a major penalty for boarding, giving DU a five-minute power play. DU made the most of this opportunity, scoring two goals, both by Savoie.
The first one was a beautiful one-time snipe set up by freshman forward Carter Mazur (Jackson, Mich.). On the second goal, Savoie took advantage of goaltender David Hrenak (Povazska Bystrica, Slovakia) losing his stick and beating him on a shot he probably would have stopped otherwise. The five-minute major and the two goals it resulted in “gave the bench energy and life,” said Coach Carle.
DU dominated the next 10 minutes of play but could not find the equalizer. St. Cloud State would strike back when Fitzgerald found a home for his shot in the back of the net to make it a 4-2 game.
Less than a minute later, DU would return the favor with a goal by senior forward Brett Stapley (Campbell River, B.C.). Mazur and Behrens both picked up assists, giving each three for the period.
DU was not done scoring in the second period. With less than a minute to go in the period, a mad scramble for the puck in front of the net resulted in a Savoie goal, giving him a hat trick for the period and tying the game.
The third period would be another goal-filled run for DU, adding another four points. A nice set of moves by freshman defenseman Shai Buium (San Diego, Calif.) set up a power-play goal by graduate senior forward Cameron Wright (Newmarket, Ontario). This would give Denver a lead they would not relinquish.
DU would add three goals and dominate the third period to give them a wild 8-5 victory. Seven players had multi-point games for Denver, including five with three or more. Junior forward Bobby Brink (Minnetonka, Minn.) led the way with five points. It was an explosive, highly impressive victory for Denver, but there was still another game they had to win for the sweep.
The second game had a completely different flow than the first. It was much more mellow with fewer frenzied moments, but at the end of the day, it yielded the same result as the first one: a Denver win. Coach Carle said “to win games in different styles is really encouraging for our team. It’s a huge moment, a really big weekend for our team.”
After a scoreless first period, DU got its first goal from an unexpected source: its fourth line. Freshman forward Carter King (Calgary, Alberta) scored his first career goal on a snipe set up by sophomore forwards Connor Caponi (Milwaukee, Wis.) and McKade Webster (St. Louis, Mo.).
King’s line is “finding an identity. They’re pressuring pucks well and they’re getting physical,” Coach Carle said. DU would largely control the game, playing defensively sound hockey and limiting St. Cloud State’s chances.
Magnus Chrona was rock solid, recording his fifth shutout of the season. After giving up three goals in the first period of the first game, Chrona was stellar the rest of the weekend.
While DU made a claim to be number one in the polls next week with these performances, Head Coach Carle is unconcerned about the rankings. “Polls don’t really matter to me. We care about building and continuing to grow,” he said after the game.
DU returns to action on Friday, Feb. 11 against Minnesota Duluth at 7 p.m. in Magness Arena.
