Hockey, Men's Sports

Denver Stifles Yale in 5-0 Win

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With injured backup goalie Matt Davis out of the lineup and freshman goalie Freddie Halyk struggling the last several games, DU brought in a goaltender, Paxton Geisel, during the academic break for insurance. In the end, all DU (9-3-1, 3-1-0) had to do was keep leading the NCAA in scoring (5.25 gpg.) and hold Yale to a mere 13 shots-on-goal in a dominant 5-0 shutout win for Halyk and the Pioneers Friday night at home.

Both teams were sluggish in the first period with slow puck movement, turnovers, and lost scoring opportunities for DU. Finally, with three and a half minutes remaining in the period, Miko Matikka found the net with help from Aiden Thompson and Tristan Broz on an even-strenth goal, 1-0. Denver struggled on the powerplay as well, going 0-2 with the man advantage, but only allowed one shot-on-goal in the first 20 minutes.

The second period was better for Denver as they found their footing. At the nine-minute mark, Jack Devine finally scored for DU to double up the lead. Two and a half minutes later, Zeev Buium scored, assisted by Connor Caponi and Kieran Cebrian. That gave Denver a 3-0 lead but the Pioneer powerplay struggled once again and went six minutes during the period without a goal.

The game felt well in hand going into the final period. Seven and a half minutes into the final period, Jack Devine solved the powerplay drought with a goal on the only Yale penalty of the period, 4-0, Denver. McKade Webster finished off the scoring for DU at 12:39 for the final 5-0 score. The only drama remaining was the shutout for goalie Freddie Halyk. He steered away all 8 shots in the third period to secure the shutout win.

This game never felt in doubt, especially when Denver started to get up to speed in the second period. Denver played solid defense all night long and limited the number of opportunities for Yale to solve Halyk. Considering DU students are on break and with the team coming off exams and the Thanksgiving holiday, Denver hockey can be forgiven for a sluggish start. In the end, they delivered exactly what the doctor ordered.

Next up is a Yale rematch tomorrow night with a 6:00 pm MT start.

 

 

 

 

 

5 thoughts on “Denver Stifles Yale in 5-0 Win”

    1. They were adding Paxton Geisel next season anyway. They can’t afford not to add Geisel in the event Halyk struggles or gets injured and let a promising season slip away. Also, Davis’ injury may be more serious than originally thought so this is solid insurance.

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  2. DU clearly outskated Yale. Nice win!

    I still don’t like the new “third” uniforms. I will be buying any DU gear on Ebay vs. any with the new DU logo. Why change something that wasn’t broken?

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