#6 Denver (15-5-2, 6-3-1, 17 pts) returned to Magness Arena on a frigid Saturday night to face the first-place and #14 St. Cloud State Huskies (11-6-3, 7-1-2, 24 pts) after Friday night’s 5-1 throttling. Instead of a repeat performance, the two teams skated to a 4-4 tie through overtime before the Huskies claimed the extra conference point in the shootout.
In the first period, DU picked up from Friday night’s second-period dominance but could not find paydirt early thanks in large part to Huskies freshman goaltender Isak Posch. Finally, Jack Devine finall scored for Denver at 12:40 with an assist from Shai Buium. DU was coasting, outshooting the Huskies by a wide margin, when the visitors struck at the end of the period when Josh Luedtke hammered home a goal, 1-1. Disaster struck when Zach Okabe, scored with 4 seconds left in the period to give the Huskies a lead 2-1. For the period, Denver won the faceoff battle 13-5 and outshot SCSU 15-10 but DU continued their propensity to allow late goals in periods. Both teams were scoreless on their powerplay opportunities.
Denver dominated early in the second period when SCSU was called for hooking. Miko Matikka buried a shot on the powerplay at 6:19 to even up the score 2-2. Less than two minutes later, Ethan AuCoin scored for the Huskies to regain the lead. DU goalie Matt Davis gave up a relatively soft goal, his first, when Verner Miettinen scored, 4-2. A contact to the head on the Huskies put Denver on the 5-minute advantage. Aidan Thompson halved the Husky lead, 4-3 at 17:38. A minute and a half later, Carter King found the Husky goal to even the score, 4-4. All this, despite DU holding a 29-16 shots-on-goal advantage through the first two periods.
Both teams came out conservatively in the third period, not wanting to surrender the tie breaker. St. Cloud dominated the final period but Davis stood tall in the crease, especially during a late 5-on-3 for the Huskies, to keep the game tied at 4 through 60 minutes.
Denver dominated the overtime chances but, like it was for much of the game, they could not solve Posch. Davis had to make a few saves of his own but, by and large, Denver flipped the script from the third period. They just could not take advantage of multiple Husky miscommunications and mistakes. In the shootout, Tristan Broz scored first for Denver but Davis could not make a save on either of the first two SCSU chances while Posch stoned Jack Devine and Massimo Rizzo in the Pioneers’ second and third chances.
Denver claimed four of the six NCHC points on the weekend which qualifies as a good weekend but they were one or two bounces away from a great weekend. Every point from here on out is at a premium in what is looking like a wide-open race for the Penrose Cup. The Pioneers embark on a crucial four-game road trip that will take them to Omaha next weekend before a chance at revenge in Grand Forks against 2nd-place North Dakota in two weeks.
Ran out of gas in the 3rd period. Davis was better on Friday night. Guess it will take at least 4-5 goals each night to win this season. That may be a tall order against the better teams now and in the playoffs.
After Friday night’s decisive victory, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t leave last night’s game feeling a bit dissatisfied and empty. Pios had a great opportunity to get a big series sweep against an NCHC opponent (something they haven’t done since sweeping CC in early November), but there just wasn’t enough consistency last night in terms of effort and execution. Unlike Friday night, DU started well last night, got the early lead, played well for most of the 1st period, but after some poor play in the final minutes of the period, DU goes in down 2-1. That was definitely disappointing. The 2nd period was back and forth, and I thought DU had a golden opportunity to seize the momentum in the 3rd after scoring two to tie things up in the 2nd, but it never happened. Pios only managed 3 shots in that 3rd. SCSU clearly played with more urgency and certainly was in a position to win it in regulation.
Overall, I thought Matt Davis had a solid weekend, although he wasn’t as sharp last night as he was on Friday. He did play very well in the 3rd period last night, making 18 saves. I really hope he can take command of the goaltending role, now that he’s healthy, and assert himself as the clear #1. DU really needs an elevated performance from whoever is in net.
One of the big bright spots this weekend was the special teams. That was great to see. And let’s not forget SCSU is a good team. They are well-coached, they have a veteran squad, and they have enough playmakers and offensive talent to be dangerous. They aren’t sitting in 1st place in the NCHC by accident.
Pios now go on the road for two tough series, first against Omaha and then against UND. Tough sledding. Since the series in AZ against ASU on November 10-11, DU has only had one other road trip (to Kalamazoo) in the past two months.