Denver hockey hit the road this past weekend to take on two tough opponents in No. 10 Providence College on Friday night and No.3 Boston College on Saturday night. Denver lost a tough battle Friday against Providence College, 4-3, but ended the weekend on a high note beating Boston College, 5-4.
The theme of the Friday night game against Providence was special teams as it was a very tightly called contest with 16 total penalties called in the game.
Denver walked into a difficult environment as the rink was packed for Providence’s first home game of the season and was no disappointment.
As the game got started, it began with fireworks as there was a net front scram within the first 30 seconds into the game that got the crowd going early. The first five minutes of the game had a late February atmosphere, very chippy and fast-paced.
Denver got on the board early with a power play goal at 13:41 in the first period. Junior defenseman Shai Buium potted his first of the season on a one-timer from a nice pass from his brother, freshman Defenseman Zeev Buium, and sophomore forward Aidan Thompson also picked up an assist.
Late in the first period, junior forward Jack Devine took a tripping penalty to put Providence on the powerplay for the second time. They were successful at cashing the power-play goal with 1:41 remaining in the first. With the late power-play goal, it got the building back into the game after being down 1-0 for the majority of the first period.
In the middle frame, at 10:17, Denver took the lead again making the score 2-1, with a rebound goal by Devine. Devine has started off the season hot, scoring five goals in three games. Devine’s fifth goal of the season came from a great deflection shot from junior forward Massimo Rizzo.
At the six minute mark of the middle period, Providence scored on a quick one-timer in front of the net that beat junior goaltender Matt Davis on the blocker side evening the game back at 2-2.
In the third and final period, it was all Providence from the very beginning but that was without its challenges.
At the 11:04 mark of the third period, Providence’s Riley Duran scored to give the Friars their first lead of the night on a shot that was able to get through the right arm of goaltender Davis.
The third period was an interesting period as there were multiple challenges for five-minute-major penalties, the first one being 25 seconds before Providence scored to give them a 3-2 lead. The challenge was for a kneeing penalty on the Friars, but the challenge was unsuccessful and the goal stood for Providence.
Denver would then take their fifth penalty of the game at 6:28 for roughing after the whistle in front of the DU net. The Friars would capitalize on the DU penalty with a power play goal at 5:08. The goal was a tough bounce off of the DU penalty killer and went through the five-hole of Davis.
The Crimson and Gold wouldn’t go down without a fight as they pulled Davis with 3:57 left in the game, and Rizzo scored his first of the season from a shot from the point that got through the bodies in front of the net to cut the deficit down to 4-3.
Denver would pull the goalie again with 2:21 remaining and give Providence everything they had but would end up unsuccessful and lose a hard-fought game.
Denver would move on to play Boston College on Saturday night and prove a point and beat BC, 5-4 in a thrill of a game full of talent, as two of the top three teams in college hockey faced off with 26 NHL picks between the two young, talented teams.
The arena was a blackout and the seats were filled as the two powerhouses got going in the non-conference matchup. The pace was high in the opening couple minutes of the game, and an early scrum at 16:01 got the BC crowd into the game early.
Boston College has what is known as the USA line with Will Smith, Gabe Perrault, and Ryan Leonard — all of whom were linemates at the coveted USA National Development Team and put up a combination of over 300 points during their two year tenure with the team.
The first period was full of chances from both sides and a bit of line batting with Boston College’s USA line matching with DU’s top line of Webster, Devine and Rizzo made for a great back-and-forth first period.
Boston College’s Will Smith, who was the 4th overall pick in this year’s draft by the San Jose Sharks, tucked the first goal of the game at 4:02. Smith shot through traffic on the right dot that forced the puck through the legs of Davis.
The Eagles started the period with a minute and a half remaining on the penalty from Thompson’s boarding penalty in the final thirty seconds of the first period. Davis stayed sharp with a series of important saves on the BC power play to keep the game within reach for the Crimson and Gold.
At 13:48, Rizzo took advantage of a loose puck from an awkward bounce and finished for his second goal of the season and his tenth point of the season.
Roughly five minutes later, Boston College answered back with a goal of their own, taking a 2-1 lead off of a cross-ice pass that Oskar Jedlvik shot at Davis’s glove side.
The third period didn’t disappoint as the Eagles went onto the penalty kill with a hooking call early in the frame at 18:04. While on the penalty kill, BC had a two-on-one odd-man rush that Davis made an exceptional right pad save to keep Denver in the game.
Three minutes later, senior forward Connor Caponi scored a goal after winning a fierce puck battle in front of the Eagles netminder to even the game back at 2-2.
At 10:25, Boston College was assessed a too-many-men penalty, putting Denver on the power play, and sophomore forward Tristan Broz delivered a rocket of a one-timer that beat the BC goaltender over the left shoulder for a top corner goal to give Denver the lead. A very well executed deception pass from Zeev Buium set up the one-timer.
DU would take an unfortunate penalty at the 7:21 mark of the period that set up another Boston College goal from Smith, his second tally of the evening. Smith’s goal was an unfortunate bounce off of the leg of a Denver defenseman that redirected over the shoulder of Davis.
A final period full of drama and energy made the building louder than ever, and made it a playoff-like atmosphere. As the clock winded down, the pressure and chances intensified, and at 3:53, a huge net front scramble broke out, and a BC defender took down Devine in chances to remove him from the crease but instead picked up a roughing penalty.
Just seconds later on the DU power play, a huge net battle ensued. Looking for the loose puck, a DU forward set up the defenseman for a wide-open net shot and the puck rang off the crossbar and stayed out of the net.
23 seconds later, the Crimson and Gold bared down and scored the go-ahead goal and senior forward Carter King would be the hero who finished away a rebound shot from Devine.
In the dying minutes of the game, Boston College pulled their goaltender in hopes of evening the game for the third time, but they were unable to do so, and the Crimson and Gold got the gutsy win on the road.
Denver hockey is back in action on Friday with their home opener against newly formed Division One program Augustana. They will also play Air Force at Magness Arena on Saturday night.
