After a 5-2 victory on Friday night, DU Hockey was looking for a sweep of Miami (OH) and did just that Saturday night with a dominant 5-1 victory to advance to the Frozen Faceoff. It was a physical game where Denver was in control from start to finish.
After an eventful first nine minutes where DU failed to convert on a 5 on 3 powerplay, they finally found the back of the net when sophomore defenseman Mike Benning (St. Albert, Alberta) sniped a shot past Redhawks goaltender Ludvig Persson (Hindas, Sweden).
Benning said he “honestly didn’t think it was a very good shot” after the game. Still, it was good enough to give DU the 1-0 lead.
It looked like DU had struck again a couple of minutes later when the puck ended up in the back of the net thanks to a nice play by freshman forward Carter Mazur (Jackson, Mich.). However, the officials determined there was no goal after a review. DU would press for the two-goal lead, but it would not come in the first period. Both teams headed to the first intermission with DU up 1-0.
The Crimson and Gold did not have to wait long to find the back of the net in the second stanza. Just over a minute into the period, Mazur found fellow freshman forward Massimo Rizzo (Burnaby, B.C.) who rifled it past Persson to make it a 2-0 game. Rizzo, who was benched for the second period of Friday’s game after committing three first-period penalties, bounced back in a big way in game two of the series.
Head Coach David Carle noted the work ethic of Rizzo and his linemates. “They have been talking a lot, watching a lot of videos together. They are a huge part of our team, and it was nice to see them score a goal like that in a big moment of the game,” he said.
After killing off a penalty, DU was quickly given a power play of their own, which turned into a 5-on-3 after Miami committed another penalty during the DU power play. Denver did not waste this opportunity as junior forward Bobby Brink (Minnetonka, Minn.) set up senior forward captain Cole Guttman (Los Angeles, Calif.), who finished off the beautiful passing sequence with a goal. Sophomore forward Carter Savoie (St. Albert, Alberta) also got an assist on the play.
Guttman, who was playing in his final game at Magness Arena, had a big night, finishing with two goals and two assists. When asked to reflect on his time at DU, Guttman said, “It is crazy how fast it goes by. My first game at Magness doesn’t feel like too long ago, but it is great to do it with a bunch of great guys.”
DU would face adversity late in the second period when senior defenseman Kyle Mayhew (Anaheim Hills, Calif.) committed a major penalty while DU was killing off a separate penalty. This put DU on a 5-on-3 penalty kill for a minute and 22 seconds. Junior goaltender Magnus Chrona (Stockholm, Sweden) was sublime during the kill, making multiple big-time saves.
Chrona said the key to these saves was “playing more tight to the net.” He continued, saying, “I felt like I had a lot more room to move on and challenge them when they had a clean shot. I felt very comfortable back there.”
Denver survived the 5-on-3 and Mayhew’s five-minute major without consequence, and from there they began to reassert themselves as the dominant team. The third period was a choppy start-and-stop affair with many reviews and penalties. Despite this, DU seemed unfazed. Miami ramped up the physical play, trying to provoke DU, but, for the most part, Denver did not take the bait.
The game was put out of reach 11 minutes into the third period when Carter Mazur scored a goal to make it 4-0. The teams went on to exchange goals, making the final score 5-1 with Denver on top.
With this win DU advances to the Frozen Faceoff where they will meet Minnesota-Duluth, who they have already met four times this season, splitting the season series. That game will be on Friday, March 18 in St. Paul, Minnesota. With a win, Denver would advance to the NCHC finals to meet the winner of North Dakota vs Western Michigan.
