The Pioneer faithful expected the Gold Pan rivalry to pull the #4 Pioneers out of their mid-season slump after DU lost three of their four previous games. Denver traveled to Colorado Springs Friday evening and built a comfortable lead over #10 CC in the first period, 2-0, following a pair of short-handed goals by Samu Salminen. The shorthanded goals were just the elixer that Denver needed, right?
Wrong.
Even when DU’s Carter King gave DU a 3-0 lead eight minutes into the second period, few could have predicted what would happen next. The ice started to tilt in the Tigers favor as Gavin Lindberg and Ryan Koering scored for CC, 3-2 by the close of the second period. The Pioneers struggled to control the offensive zone and were left chasing the newly energized Tigers.
Surely, the Pioneers would regain their footing in the final twenty minutes? Instead, the Tigers came out on the front foot and added three consecutive goals in the third period, a total of five goals in a row. The fans in Ed Robeson Arena cheered as a discombobulated DU side struggled to play connected hockey. Finally, Jack Devine scored for DU to stop the Hemorrhaging, 5-4, with four minutes remaining. Denver eventually pulled goal tender Matt Davis but to no avail, final score 5-4, CC.
Denver needs a serious confidence boost and a little help on the powerplay (0-4). That early-season swagger has melted away and the defending national champions need a jolt of confidence. A trip to Magness Arena tomorrow night may be just what the doctor ordered. If not, the Gold Pan may hang in the balance along with a season of even higher expectations.
Out coached and out played, this team doesn’t have enough talent, Wright, Lorenz are just not skilled enough Burrows and Pinter should be in USHL. If our top line doesn’t do anything. No secondary scoring is there to pick up the pieces. 3-0 lead then no strategy.
I am so sick of announcers (and LetsGoDU writers) crowing about DU’s NCAA scoring leaders, nation’s best power play, yadda yadda yadda. We played a steady string of tomato cans early in the season, beat them handily, and racked up some gaudy stats including an undefeated W-L record. Now that the real season has started we’re finding out the emperor has no clothes.
What has happened to Matt Davis?
Refs handed the game to cc horrible calls
Ugly performance. Outplayed for much of the game. DU looked disorganized and shell-shocked at times.
Looking forward to much better play tonight at home.
Yet another loss would create a lot of psychological negativity in the minds of the players going forward.
I don’t think the sky is falling. Let’s not forget that DU went up to Grand Forks just a few weeks ago and swept UND. No easy task. Since then, the Pios have lost their way a bit. I think the pieces are there for this team to be really good again, but the Pios are clearly skidding into the break, going 1-4 in their last 5. Again, every team is going to face some adversity at some point during the season. I’d much rather see these guys work through it now as opposed to in March.
I’ll be curious to see what kind of response they have tonight. If they don’t come out with their hair on fire and play hard for a full 60 minutes, it will be a huge disappointment. And it all starts with work ethic.
Pios fattened up on bottom-feeders, and now have lost their work ethic against good teams.
Complacency is the problem now…
I’ve been watching DU sports for nearly half a century, and with all those years of winning, losing, and emotional investment across several sports, you learn a few things…
1. Yesterday’s DU soccer/hockey day-of-crushing-losses was one of those ultra-painful, deep gut-punch kind of days that will stay with you for decades. It’s hard to remember a two-loss DU day that compares to it, so I won’t.
2. Being a serious college sports fan requires occasional devastation as part of the gig, and these soul-crushing losses do serve an important purpose in providing balance for the great moments that sports do ultimately provide.
3. Sports usually rewards the harder-working team. CC won last night because the Tigers worked harder than DU did. But sometimes, and as DU Men’s Soccer found out yesterday, the harder-working team does not always win. That’s sports. If you want guaranteed endings, become an opera fan…
4. On balance, being a Pio fan is a great gig – Our 35 NCAA titles across multiple sports is among the top 15 all sports, all-time, which is utterly amazing for a school our size and budget. I’ve had the good fortune to witness DU win six frozen fours live (5 in hockey (’04, ’05, ’17, ’22 and ’24) and 1 in men’s lacrosse (’15). Those were all glorious moments that fill your heart for a lifetime of joy…
I’ve also travelled to see DU lose in 3 hockey frozen fours (’86, ’16 and ’19), four lax final fours (’11, ’13, ’14, ’17) and a soccer final four ’16). Yes, coming close and losing hurt on all of those trips. But I still had a great time cheering on the Pios on all of them, and the losing really does adds so much more sweetness to those wins…