Hockey, Men's Sports

Pioneers Battle Back for OT Split at Western Michigan with Extra-Skater & OT Goals

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The #2 Denver Pioneers (13-3-0, 3-3-0 NCHC) may not have found their offensive footing but they found two important goals in game two in Kalamazoo when they needed them most. After skating to a 1-1 tie with the #7 Western Michigan Broncos (10-3-1, 6-1-1 NCHC) after two periods, the Pioneers found themselves down 2-1 in the waning minutes. With his own net empty, Samu Salminen fired a pass from Boston Buckberger past a stout Hampton Slukynsky to tie the game with just over a minute left. Captain Carter King won it nearly three minutes into three-on-three overtime with a beauty of a five-hole shot after turning on the jets on a breakaway.

WMU is an elite team with legitimate national title aspirations this season. For the first time in a few years, the Broncos seem to have all the pieces (i.e., a real goaltender) to make a run. And that’s why if Denver had not been swept at home by Arizona State two weeks ago, a split and coming home from the house of horrors known as Lawson Arena with two points would feel a whole hell of a lot better than it does. In a vacuum, this was a good early December weekend with an acceptable result.

No, Denver’s offense didn’t magically find its mojo this weekend and only scored five goals across more than 122 minutes of hockey. But maybe more importantly, the Pioneers found a way to get a result when they needed it most.

Throughout most of the game, the Pioneers struggled to get to WMU’s netfront and take away Slukysnky’s eyes. As a result, the vast majority of the Pioneers’ 31 shots came from the outside where the Broncos’ strong freshman netminder could see the puck the whole way. Whether that is a credit to Western’s defensive ability or Denver’s general lack of grit throughout the first two-and-a-half periods is up for debate. The bottom line is after 50 minutes of hockey, the Pioneers could muster just one goal – from Zeev Buium – while the Broncos had two, both of which were the products of defensive breakdowns in transition.

But this weekend, even in Friday night’s loss, when things looked bleak, the Pioneers met the moment. On Friday, the comeback effort from 3-0 fell just one goal short while tonight, the one goal they needed finally found the back of the net.

Now, with the split at Western in the rearview mirror, it’s officially Gold Pan Week. Denver plays a home-and-home with Colorado College next weekend. Friday in the Springs, Saturday in Denver. The Tigers, for their part, were swept this weekend at Providence, 4-3 & 5-1.

Highlights

 

One thought on “Pioneers Battle Back for OT Split at Western Michigan with Extra-Skater & OT Goals”

  1. This was a gut check game for the Pioneers. When WMU took a 2-1 lead with 10 minutes to go, the Pios were staring straight down the barrel of a fourth straight league loss.

    But the Pios stepped up with the game on the line, Carle pulled the goalie with three minutes to go (balls of steel) and the Pios tied it up with the extra attacker to win a point. Then “Kinger” took over in OT with a slick move to take the second point.

    If DU does anything great this year, they will look back at this game as the moment when their character was tested…

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