The story of this year’s DU hockey team has been a simple one.
They have the highest-scoring offense in the country, scoring 4.83 goals per game, but have consistently struggled to keep the puck out of their own net. They show signs of those defensive fragilities, especially in the overtime victory in game one of their recent weekend series against Minnesota Duluth, but Saturday night’s comfortable 5-2 victory looked like a step in the right direction.
The Crimson and Gold started strong in the first period of game one, asserting their dominance on a Minnesota Duluth team that has been ravaged by injuries. Sophomore forward Aidan Thompson opened the scoring for Denver, pouncing on a rebound and shooting it past the Duluth goaltender.
After killing a penalty that came almost immediately after the Thompson goal, Denver struck again. Senior forward McKade Webster came out of the penalty box with a vengeance, instantly springing to life and assisting junior forward Tristan Broz’s goal. Broz hammered the shot from a tight angle and beat the goaltender to make it 2-0.
Broz, who has normally played on the wing for Denver, was moved up the lineup to play as a first-line center, as junior forward Massimo Rizzo was out with an injury this weekend. Broz did well in Rizzo’s absence, scoring three points and excelling at the faceoff dot, especially on Friday night, where he won 11 of his 13 duels.
Denver had a massive opportunity to blow the game open early in the second period after Duluth defenseman Luke Bast committed both a major and minor penalty to put DU on a seven-minute power play. However, the Crimson and Gold would come up empty-handed on the long power play, which proved to be a big turning point in the game.
Duluth scored a goal less than a minute after the power play expired, leaving Denver rueing their missed opportunity. Denver would get yet another chance on the power play just minutes later, but yet again they were unable to find the back of the net on the man advantage.
After those missed opportunities, Duluth got a power play of their own, which they would convert to tie the game at two. However, Denver would regain the lead late in the period, thanks to an audacious assist by freshman forward Miko Matikka who made a great move and then put the puck right on the tape of junior forward Carter King who had an empty net to aim at.
Webster added an insurance goal halfway through the third period, which looked like it put the game away, but Denver’s defensive fragilities have led to the notion that no lead is safe for the Crimson and Gold this season.
With three minutes left and the score remaining 4-2, Duluth pulled their goaltender for an extra attacker in a last-ditch effort to tie the game. The gambit would work within seconds, with a shot from the point beating junior goaltender Matt Davis. Davis was very good on Saturday, but Friday was not the netminder’s best performance.
While the goal to make it 4-3 was a soft goal, Bulldog’s Luke Loheit’s laser of a shot gave Davis no chance and Duluth tied the game. Denver would make it to overtime and stopped the bleeding, but they lost the opportunity for a much-needed regulation win.
Denver got the overtime win thanks to a goal from Thompson, who has been outstanding after starting the season relatively slowly. However, the performance and late-game collapse likely left a sour taste in Coach David Carle’s mouth.
Saturday night’s performance, then, where the Crimson and Gold struck early and often, was the palate cleanser that Carle needed.
Denver opened the scoring 31 seconds into the contest when freshman defenseman Zeev Buium smoked the puck into the back of the net after being given far too much time and space. That shot would set the tone for the night, with DU jumping Duluth in the first half of the first period.
By the seven-minute mark, Denver had extended the lead to 3-0 thanks to goals from senior forward Connor Caponi and sophomore forward Jared Wright. This barrage forced Duluth into an early goaltending change, and the new goaltender did well to keep it 3-0 at the end of the period, as the Denver onslaught continued.
Denver faced a scare in the first half of the second second period, when Duluth scored two goals to make it a one-goal game. There was a sense of deja vu until freshman forward Sam Harris scored two massive goals, pulling DU ahead, 5-2.
After getting a lead, Denver put together a workmanlike performance in the third period to shut down the Duluth offense and suck the life out of the game. If Denver wants to win a national championship, they will have to have more performances like the one on Saturday. Denver has the firepower to outscore anyone, but holding leads and playing mature hockey in the third period is still something DU needs to improve.
DU will return home this weekend to take on Miami (OH) in a series where DU needs two regulation wins to solidify their spot in the all-important Pairwise rankings. The puck drops on Friday night for game one at 7 p.m. in Magness on Friday.
