On Feb. 27, at Magness Arena, No. 8 ranked Denver closed out the regular season in style, defeating the unranked Arizona State. Denver (20-11-3) skated with pace and purpose, while Arizona State (14-20-1) battled hard but couldn’t hold off the Crimson and Gold.
Both teams came out flying, launching an aggressive attack and quick puck movement through the neutral zone. Denver initiated an early scoring chance off a crease pass, at the beginning of the first period, but couldn’t bury it. The physicality ramped up with heavy board play, including big hits from both freshman forwards Clarke Caswell and Kyle Chyzowski.
Arizona State capitalized first, scoring on a defensive breakdown. Bennet Schimek slipped the puck through the five-hole of freshman goaltender Johnny Hicks to give the Sun Devils a 1-0 lead. Hicks quickly responded with key saves to keep the deficit manageable, standing tall during ASU’s charge.
A two minute minor for slashing to junior defenseman Boston Buckburger tested DU’s penalty kill, but the Crimcon and Gold held firm. Still, Arizona State outshot Denver 10-4 in the first period, taking the 1-0 lead into the first intermission.
Denver stormed out for the second period, hitting the ASU goaltender with shots from junior forward Sam Harris and senior forward Rieger Lorenz. The equalizer finally came when senior forward Samu Salminen buried a top shelf shot, assisted by Lorenz after a swift rush up the left wing.
Less than forty seconds later, Samuel Alfano scored for Arizona, briefly silencing the crowd and regaining the lead with his goal.
The tide shifted when one of ASU’s players took a slashing minor, giving Denver a power-play opportunity. Though junior defenseman Eric Pohlkamp narrowly missed a shot from the blue line, Denver kept pressing. With less than two minutes in the second period, Harris ripped a shot through the five hole off a feed from freshman forward Kristian Epperson. This ignited the home crowd and sent Denver into the second intermission ahead 3-2. The shot count climbed to 17 for DU and 19 for ASU.
With the lead, Denver tightened its defensive gaps and controlled the puck along the boards. Five minutes into the third period, sophomore forward James Reeder capitalized on a rebound, slipping the puck between the goalies pads after Salminen’s initial attempt that created chaos in the crease.
Penalties to junior defenseman Garret Brown, holding, and freshman forward Reid Varkonyi, tripping, put pressure on the penalty kill, but Hicks delivered impeccable saves, finishing the night with 23 total stops.
Arizona pulled their goalie with three minutes remaining to gain an extra attacker, but the gamble backfired. Salminen fired an empty net shot from the blue line, scoring his second goal of the night. His shot was assisted by Reeder, sealing the 5-2 victory.
Denver outshot Arizona 27-25 and skated off the ice to a roaring Magness Arena crowd, hoping to keep this momentum going into Saturday night’s game.
Saturday’s game delivered just as much excitement, as Denver closed out the weekend in strong fashion.
On Feb. 28 at Magness Arena, No. 8 Denver used a late surge to sweep Arizona state and finish the regular season strong.
The Crimson and Gold leaned on balanced scoring, as Chyzowski and Epperson each found the back of the net. Lorenz, Pohlkamp, Reeder, Caswell and Varkonyi added assists in the team effort.
Midway through the third period, Denver broke the game open with three goals in less than four minutes to take control. Salminen scored twice for the second straight night, with his second goal standing as the game-winner. He finished senior weekend with five points and extended his point streak to four games.
Johnny Hicks earned the win with 25 saves on 26 shots.
With the victory, Kent Anderson, Lorenz and Salminen closed their careers with 114 wins, the second-most by a graduating class in program history.
The Crimson and Gold will host the Miami RedHawks in a best of three quarterfinal series from Mar. 6-8, with a spot in the NCHC Semifinals on the line.
