Shots-on-goal said it all. Maine 46 – Denver 20. #6 Denver was denied an attempted road sweep of the #7 Maine Black Bears Saturday night. Denver was on their back foot most of the game and Matt Davis did his best to keep the game close, stopping 45 of Maine’s shots.
Denver could never get a rhythm going in the first period, spending nearly half of it in the sin bin. Penalties kept goalie Matt Davis in the line of fire. The Pioneers spent time puck chasing but Davis stoned the home team with the help of seven blocked shots in the frame. In a rare scoring opportunity, Denver went on the powerplay with five minutes remaining in the period, Jack Devine found Sam Harris on the backdoor for a tap-in goal, 1-0. DU’s fourth penalty of the period, in the final two minutes, led to an eventual tieing goal, 1-1. If was a 22-5 shot-on-goal by advantage by Maine in the first twenty minutes.
Maine continued their domination in the second period but Davis continued his sterling play in-goal. Maine outshot Denver 17-6 during the period but the teams remained deadlocked at 1-1. Denver spent most of the period chasing the puck and defending their own end.
During the third period, the play was relatively even. At 4:51 into the period, while skating 4-on-4, the Black Bears went on the rush and David Breazeale beat Matt Davis, 2-1, for the eventual game-winning goal. Denver pulled Davis in the final minutes but Denver could never get off a game-tying shot.
When you get out shot 40 some to 20 you are dominanted no offense either. This team has too many overrated draft picks that are bums.
Yeah! Total bums! You tell them, man typing on the computer in his mom’s basement.
Yeah! Total bums! You tell them, man typing on the computer in his mom’s basement.
Didn’t see any of the game, but it certainly sounds as though Maine was the better team and deserved to win. The shot disparity speaks for itself–Pios were outshot 22-5 through the 1st, 39-11 through two, and 46-21 for the game. Ouch. That’s not at all what I expected. Overall, though, taking the long cross-country trip and earning a split against a very good Maine team is commendable. And Matt Davis seemed to be locked in all weekend.
After the 12-0 start, DU has gone 3-5 in their last 8. Pios need to regain the momentum and string some victories together. Next weekend is Miami at home, followed by a trip to Duluth, and then Omaha at home. All three of those teams are languishing with losing records and are way down in the PWR. On paper at least, those are very winnable series.