Denver (10-3-1, 3-1-0) came out from the jump with speed and possession against Yale, and the Pioneers passed the test with high honors Saturday night, 9-0. With defensemen Shai Buium and Garrett Brown out with injuries, DU relied on a solid forecheck and offensive zone efficiency to defeat the Bulldogs and sweep Yale in the two-game set.
Captain McCade Webster got Denver on the board eight minutes into the first period for a 1-0 Denver lead. With 3:44 remaining, DU went up a man on Yale but could not solve goaltender Nathan Reid until Tristan Broz took a pass at the side of the cage and scored a physics-defying bending shot* after time expired on the penalty, 2-0. Despite a large possession advantage, DU only had 5 shots-on-goal to a measly 4 for Yale during the first period.
*Newton’s law of motion…an object in motion remains in motion at a constant speed and in a straight line unless acted on by an unbalanced force.”
No biggie, it's just Tristan Broz finding space where there is none.#GoPios pic.twitter.com/9oB2k4G9Ek
— Denver Hockey (@DU_Hockey) November 26, 2023
Denver passed the second period with flying colors. After offsetting penalties and skating 4 on 4, Seev Buium made a slick shovel pass to Jack Devine who put DU up 3-0 five minutes into the period. A minute later, Carter King, following another Yale penalty, scored on a feed from Devine on the 4-3 man advantage to take a 4-0 lead – all four goals on only 8 shots to that point. Five minutes later, Zeev Buium earned his fourth assist of the game, skating from above the circle toward goal with a nifty pass to Massimo Rizzo who tucked the pass into the cage, 5-0. With four minutes left in the second period, Freshman Sam Harris scored on a backhand breakaway, 6-0. DU had the edge on shots during the period 16-14.
Denver opened the third period scoring at 6:40 when Aidan Thompson broke to the net with an assist by Miko Matikka and Tristan Broz. At 8:30, Webster scored again and DU had a snowman. Less than a minute later, Reider Lorenz added a carrot nose when he tossed a shot toward the Yale keeper, Nathan Reid, and it bounced into goal, 9-0.
The Bulldogs had their chance to score against Freddie Halyk but the freshman goaltender stood his ground against some excellent scoring opportunities. Surprisingly, Denver only outshot Yale 35-28 on the night – giving Halyk back-to-back shutouts heading into next weekend’s series against #1 North Dakota at Magness Arena.
Get your tickets now while DU students are out on break.
Strong forecheck by Massimo Rizzo leads to McKade Websters' 4th point of the series and 7th point (4g/3a) in the last 6 games. pic.twitter.com/QQRanUP4LR
— Denver Hockey (@DU_Hockey) November 26, 2023
No biggie, it's just Tristan Broz finding space where there is none.#GoPios pic.twitter.com/9oB2k4G9Ek
— Denver Hockey (@DU_Hockey) November 26, 2023
Massimo Rizzo picks up his 3rd point of the night off Zeev's 4th assist!
— Denver Hockey (@DU_Hockey) November 26, 2023
Riz now leads the NCAA in scoring with 24 points. pic.twitter.com/BmbA7YeNkr
Sam Harris – forehand, backhand, goal.#GoPios pic.twitter.com/vV43lymJEN
— Denver Hockey (@DU_Hockey) November 26, 2023
REPLAY: McKade Webster tallies his 2nd of the night for his first career multi-goal game! pic.twitter.com/kEIEEQXmFI
— Denver Hockey (@DU_Hockey) November 26, 2023
Good warmup for NoDak next weekend.
I saw what I thought was Shai getting injured Friday night. Hope he’s back for North Dakota.
Shai is expected back for the North Dakota series.
The ‘bending’ shot hit the Yale Goalie in the helmet and bounced into the net…
14 GFs, 0 GAs. That about sums it up. Pios were sharp all weekend in a clinical series sweep of a hard-working but overmatched Yale squad. Although he wasn’t overly tested, I was very happy to see Halyk earn a couple of shutouts. Hopefully that is a confidence booster for him moving forward.
Can next weekend’s series against UND be any bigger?! Can’t wait to see how it all plays out, but I’m super bummed to have to miss both games due to travel.
Hard to believe there are only 4 more games until the halfway point and the holiday break. Go DU!!!
The big takeaway for me this weekend was the six periods of shutout hockey from Halyk, especially Saturday’s performance when Yale had 28 SOG, and number of them from point blank range. More please!
Yale was dominated Saturday, but the shots on goal were quite even. Shouldn’t under-emphasize the comeback performance of Halyk, just because we scored a ton of goals. Good to see!