BOSTON—Denver Hockey knocked off one of the most highly touted college hockey teams of all time when sophomore forward Carter Savoie (St. Albert, Alberta) put the puck past Michigan goaltender Erik Portillo in overtime. It was a game with a lot of shifts in momentum, but DU got the last word in an overtime slugfest to advance to Saturday’s national championship.
DU got out to a quick start, controlling the action for most of the first period. The Crimson and Gold held the high-powered Wolverine offense shotless for the first 16 minutes of the game. They bore the fruits of their high-quality play 11 minutes into the first period when senior forward Brett Stapley (Campbell River, B.C.) scored after a rebound off of a shot from junior defenseman Justin Lee (Waskada, Manitoba). An excellent play on the boards by freshman forward Jack Devine (Glencoe, Ill.) set up the scoring chance. After the goal, Michigan stepped up their game, but they were unable to find the equalizer before intermission.
In the second period, the Wolverines came out determined to strike back, and by the time Jimmy Lambert scored the equalizer, a Michigan goal felt inevitable. After that goal, DU needed to turn the tide, given how Michigan is prone to scoring in bunches, which they did, holding the Wolverines scoreless the rest of the period.
The first powerplay of the game wasn’t until late in the second period, when a Michigan penalty put DU on the man advantage. However, Michigan did a good job killing off the penalty, and the game entered its third stanza tied at one.
Michigan started the third period like they started the second, with sustained pressure in Denver’s defensive zone. The difference was that DU fought their way through the Wolverine rally without allowing a goal.
In fact, it was DU who struck first in the third period when graduate senior Cameron Wright (Newmarket, Ontario) deflected a shot from sophomore defenseman Mike Benning (St. Albert, Alberta) into the back of the net to make the game 2-1. The line of Wright, freshman forward Massimo Rizzo (Burnaby, B.C.) and fellow freshman forward Carter Mazur (Jackson, Mich.) was excellent all night long. Head Coach David Carle said that the Rizzo line “generated a lot of different looks tonight. It might have been our most consistent line in the offensive zone.” He added, “I love that line, they obviously got rewarded with a big goal and I thought they could have even had one or two more.”
Despite the goal from the highly effective Rizzo line, Michigan responded to the DU goal quickly, scoring less than four minutes after Denver. A shot off the stick of Denver’s sophomore defenseman Antti Tuomisto (Pori, Finland) was blocked, which created a 2- on- 1 opportunity for Michigan. which Thomas Bordeleau cashed in the advantage to make it 2-2. The game would remain tied for the rest of the third period, sending it into a sudden-death overtime.
In that overtime, junior goaltender Magnus Chrona (Stockholm, Sweden) made multiple clutch saves, particularly when he denied Luke Hughes on a 2- on- 1 for Michigan 13 minutes and 43 seconds into overtime. When asked about the save, Chrona said, “from the pre-scout, all the 2two -on- 1sones we saw it was going to be a pass, and I saw it coming kind of early, and luckily, I was able to make the save and give us a chance.”
Carter Savoie made that chance count 15 minutes into overtime when he slammed home a beautiful pass from junior forward and Hobey Baker finalist Bobby Brink (Minnetonka, Minn.) following a Michigan turnover to win the game. It was absolute pandemonium as the Denver players left the bench to celebrate with Savoie.
Savoie said this goal “jumped to the top of the list” of his favorite goals he had ever scored. Brink’s connection with Savoie was slightly surprising since they did not start the game on the same line, but they did end it together. Brink and Savoie have had great chemistry all season and have teamed up on countless goals. Savoie said that he and Brink are “really comfortable together.” They “know how each of [them] plays and have had some great games together, and [their] chemistry continues to grow.”
After this massive victory, DU will look to win its first national championship since 2017 when they face off with Minnesota State, who took down Minnesota 5-1 following the DU game, on Saturday at 6 p.m. MST.
