After a shaky start to the season, No. 9 Denver Hockey seemed to have found its stride and it couldn’t have come at a better time. Facing No. 4 Western Michigan, the defending national champions and the team that ended their Frozen Four run last spring, the Crimson and Gold stormed into Kalamazoo and delivered a statement sweep.
The matchup featured the last two NCAA national champions, setting the stage for a weekend of redemption for Denver. The Crimson and Gold entered the series 4-3-1, still searching for consistency after an up-and-down first month of the season.
However, between the team finding something on the offensive and freshman goaltender Quentin Miller’s breakout performance, Denver made its biggest statement of the season with back-to-back wins, 3-1 on Friday and 6-3 on Saturday.
Friday’s opener started tight, with Western Michigan controlling play early and breaking through just over five minutes in on an odd bounce that slipped past Miller that kept the game at 1-0 for the majority of the game. But the freshman stayed composed, keeping Denver within striking distance as he turned away 20 shots in the final two periods.
The game flipped in the third. At 6:45, junior forward Kieran Cebrian forced a turnover at his own blue line, raced down the ice and scored on his own rebound to tie the game at one. Less than three minutes later, freshman defenseman Eric Jamieson crashed the crease and knocked in a loose puck for his first career game-winning goal. With the Broncos pressing late, junior defenseman Eric Pohlkamp launched an empty-net shot from his own zone with 37 seconds remaining to secure the 3-1 victory.
Miller finished with a career-high 35 saves, denying all five of Western’s power plays in what was easily his most composed performance of the season.
Saturday continued the domination and the Crimson and Gold wasted no time taking control of the rematch, scoring three times in the opening period on their way to the win. Freshman forward Kristian Epperson opened the scoring just under two minutes in, tapping in a feed from freshman forward Clarke Caswell. At 9:29, senior forward Rieger Lorenz added a short-handed goal on a breakaway, and junior forward Sam Harris made it 3-0 late in the period with a top-shelf shot from the left circle.
Pohlkamp continued his standout weekend by firing home his seventh goal of the season just over a minute into the second period — the fastest goal to start a period this season for Denver. Sophomore forward James Reeder extended the lead at 11:41 after a hard forecheck from senior forward Samu Salminen.
Western Michigan finally broke through on the power play late in the second and added another in the third, but Cebrian found the back of the net again at 4:03 of the final period to shut down any hopes of a comeback.
Miller was insane on defense once again, stopping 41 of 44 shots for his second straight career-high night. Over the weekend, Denver outscored Western 9-4 and killed off 13 of 14 penalties, adding to their dominant penalty kill this season. Pohlkamp’s offensive surge has him leading the team in goals, while Cebrian continued his hot streak with tallies in both games.
For a Denver team that opened the season inconsistently and struggled to finish close games, sweeping one of the nation’s best on the road marked a clear turning point. The Crimson and Gold looked like the championship-caliber squad fans expected coming into the season.
With the sweep, Denver improves to 6-3-1 overall and 2-0-0 in NCHC play, while Western Michigan drops to 5-5-0.
Denver returns home next weekend for the start of a home-and-away series against rival Colorado College. Denver hosts the Tigers at Magness Arena on Friday night before traveling to Colorado Springs on Saturday.
