Denver Hockey hosted Omaha this weekend, tying the first game 3-3, but eventually losing in a shootout 4-3, then bouncing back in the second matchup to win 11-2.
Friday’s game was even until 9:52, when graduate student forward Connor Caponi was sent to the penalty box for two minutes for indirect contact to the head.
Omaha capitalized on this advantage in the 12th minute when Sam Strange received the puck on the right side of the goal and slotted it into the opposite corner of the net. Omaha held on to this lead for the rest of the period.
Denver found an equalizer at 0:40 in the second period when a long-range shot from sophomore defenseman Eric Pohlkamp narrowly missed the goal, rebounded off the back wall and was smashed in by sophomore forward Kieran Cebrian. Junior forward Rieger Lorenz got the secondary assist on the goal.
Omaha retook the lead in the ninth minute of the period. Jacob Slipec dispossessed the puck behind the goal and slipped it to Liam Watkins who snuck it past senior goaltender Matt Davis.
Omaha went on to extend their lead on a breakaway from Watkins, beating Davis in the top right corner. This put them up 3-1 at 14:32 into the second period.
At 19:35 time on the clock, Pohlkamp put Denver back within one goal when he received a pass from sophomore forward Sam Harris and drilled a shot off the post and in from just inside the offensive zone for his sixth goal of the season.
The Crimson and Gold carried their momentum to the start of the third period with another long-range goal, this time from sophomore defenseman Zeev Buium. Junior forward Jared Wright slid the puck along the left wall and Buium found the right corner of the net to tie the game at 1:12 into the third period.
The rest of the period went scoreless, despite 11 shots from Denver and 12 from Omaha. Davis made 11 of his 26 saves for the night in the third period.
With the score tied 3-3 at the end of regulation, the game went to overtime, which was scoreless.
The shootout lasted a dramatic 16 rounds, the longest in NCHC conference history, with Denver goals coming from junior forward Aidan Thompson, senior forward Jack Devine and sophomore defenseman Boston Buckburger.
Nolan Krenzen scored his penalty shot for Omaha in round 16 to put pressure on Denver in sudden death. Freshman forward Hagen Burrows could not equalize, and Omaha took the win.
Saturday’s game started with a two-minute interference penalty on Burrows in the second minute. Omaha capitalized on their advantage with a goal in the fourth minute, when the puck deflected to Brady Risk and he buried a slapshot.
Omaha was given another opportunity at 10:51 when Polhkamp was sent to the box for two minutes for interference. Once again, Omaha took advantage with a slapshot goal from Harrison Israels to give Omaha a 2-0 lead.
Denver got one back in the 15th minute of the period when junior forward Samu Salminen received the puck from junior defenseman Kent Anderson and buried a shot from the right side of the ice to make the score 2-1 at the end of the first period.
Head Coach David Carle saw the latter part of the first period as momentum building.
“They showed each other that there was nothing tactically that we needed to change… When we’re playing with the energy and emotion we had the last seven or eight minutes of the first period, we’re going to be just fine,” said Carle.
The Crimson and Gold came out blazing in the second period. At 0:25, Lorenz received the puck from senior forward Carter King in front of the goal and put it away to equalize the score at 2-2.
Just one minute later, Omaha’s Israels was given a two-minute penalty for hooking, which Denver turned into their first lead of the weekend. Freshman forward James Reeder got the puck in front of the net and slipped it in to put Denver up 3-2 at 2:55 into the period.
Immediately after Reeder’s goal, Buckburger got the puck and took a shot from range, threading it through two defenders and the goaltender to get the goal and the Crimson and Gold a 4-2 lead in the fourth minute of the period.
Denver continued their tear 8:22 into the second period with Devine getting the puck from Thompson in front of the goal and slotting it into the top right corner to put Denver up 5-2.
Devine’s goal was the 50th of his college career, adding to his list of achievements.
“It’s definitely special. I know there have been many great players to come before me and do that, and I was fortunate to join that list,” Devine said.
Denver started to run away with the game after a scramble in front of a goal that was finished by Caponi to make it 6-2 in the 18th minute of the period.
At 18:46, Lorenz scored his second goal of the game — Denver’s seventh — with Wright stealing the puck and feeding across the net for Lorenz to finish.
Denver kept their momentum to start the third period with a goal from Harris, receiving the puck in a good space and finishing it to make the score 8-2 in the third minute of the period.
Reeder scored Denver’s ninth of the night 7:14 into the period, putting away a loose puck in front of goal.
Less than a minute later, Denver hit double digits with Lorenz passing it across the ice to sophomore defenseman Cale Ashcroft, who shot it across goal for Wright to tap it in and make the score 10-2.
Ashcroft got in on the scoring frenzy with a slapshot from the right side of the ice 16:55 into the period.
Denver won the game 11-2. It was the first time they have scored 11 goals in a game since 1995.
Lorenz, who scored two goals and had two assists on the night, felt that the huge goal tally was getting them back on track.
“Our offensive game has been a bit lackluster these past few weekends, so it’s nice to get a boost of confidence there,” said Lorenz.
Carle feels confident about the upcoming challenges the team faces throughout the rest of conference play.
“We’re going to be battle-tested. We’re not done facing adversity and whether that’s in shifts, periods, games — whatever it is — we need to continue to believe and stick with each other,” said Carle.
Denver will travel to Arizona State next weekend, a rematch against the first team to beat them this year. They will then host another big series against North Dakota the following weekend.
