Denver (18-6-0, 7-5-0) needed a win to avert a road sweep at Minnesota Duluth. The Pioneers built an early lead, 2-0, and held on in the final period with the help of goaltender Matt Davis for the win.
Denver came out strong in the first period, outshooting the Bulldogs 20-6. However, the Pioneers missed several golden opportunities to take an early lead. Just like the previous night, the Pioneers struggled early to solve goaltender Klayton Knapp – until the final minute of the period. DU’s charging Samu Salminen found a rebound and stuffed the puck past Knapp, 1-0.
The second period started well for Denver when captain Carter King took the puck on the break and slipped the puck past Knapp. Four minutes later, Aiden Thompson scored a nifty snipe but Zeev Buium was called for interference and the goal was called off. The call seemed to inspire the Bulldogs and they started to skate downhill against DU. With five minutes remaining in the period, Owen Gallatin beat Davis to halve the Pioneer lead, 2-1.
During final period, Minnesota Duluth tried to find the equalizer but DU held them at bay. For the period, the Pioneers had the edge in shots and Davis stoned all Bulldogs’ 11 shots-on-goal for the road win, 2-1.
Davis continues to provide stability for DU, especially when his teammates are struggling to light the lamp. While DU was far from perfect on the night, they earned a valuable road split. DU has some important series coming up and they need to improve their offensive production to build some confidence and momentum heading into the NCHC tournament and, hopefully, the NCAA Tournament.
Next weekend is a home tilt against a rapidly improving Omaha hockey team at Magness Arena.
Even with this win, at times DU looked ragged.
Blind passes, errant dumps, slow recoveries, missed checks, awkward line changes, dumb penalties, weak fore-checks, poor decision making, etc., etc.
Omaha is coming into town with a long win streak. DU has to be better if they want to win both…and they desperately need to.
Definitely a sigh of relief of sorts to see this result. UMD is having a down year thus far, but that’s a proud program, and those guys battled. We saw two 1-goal games over the weekend. Really glad DU earned a split.
Pios need to come out hard next weekend. UNO might be sitting at 35 in the PWR, but they have won 6 in row, all in the NCHC, and are 12-4 in their last 16. Won’t be an easy series.