#6 Denver’s (20-7-1, 9-6-1 NCHC) defense let them down this weekend. In more than 125 minutes of hockey at Mullett Arena in Tempe, the Pioneers surrendered 10 goals, blew two two-goal leads, and found a way to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory in their 6-5 game two overtime loss to #12 Arizona State (17-10-1, 12-6-0 NCHC). For the moment, Denver has fallen to #9 in the all-important Pairwise Rankings and to fifth place in the NCHC standings, one spot out of hosting the best-of-three NCHC Tournament Quarterfinals.

The story of not only game two but the weekend at large was the Pioneers’ struggles in the defensive zone. Whether it was their inability to keep track of Lukas Sillinger who had three goals in the series and two tonight or Matt Davis’ surprisingly poor rebound control, anything that could go wrong in their zone did. They failed to keep the Sun Devils out of the slot area in both games and the offense, even though they scored 10 goals of their own this weekend, could not outscore their defensive blunders. Hell, in game two alone, Denver was outshot 55-33.

Even still, you could easily argue that Denver should have won both games in regulation.

On Friday, they had a 4-3 lead in the final minute of the game (after blowing a 3-1 lead in the 2nd period, mind you) but after Rieger Lorenz couldn’t clear the puck during an extended ASU shift with the extra attacker, Zeev Buium got caught puck-watching in front of Davis and allowed Artem Shlaine to find Bennett Schimek back-door to score the tying goal with 48 seconds left.

Then, tonight, Kieran Cebrian scored with just 8 minutes left to make it 5-3, DU. With that much time left and the defensive talent that they boast, the Pioneers should have been able to coast to a victory and a five-point road weekend. Instead, Sillinger and Schimek scored just 1:16 apart…30 seconds after Cebrian’s goal.

Rather than coming home with a key NCHC road sweep, they’re returning to Denver with just three points and another 10 goals allowed.

Give ASU credit – they’re a talented team and their ascent to 2nd place in their first year in the NCHC is no accident. And whenever they play the Pioneers, their intensity ratchets up to a level that lately, Denver has been unable to match.

But if DU’s defense and goaltending played to their potential this weekend, we would be talking ad nauseam about Aidan Thompson’s clutch gene and Sam Harris’ Saturday night hat trick. Oh, right, nearly forgot to mention that Harris had a hat trick by the 11:34 mark of the second period tonight…and Denver still lost.

There are so many incredible things that the Pioneers can do on the ice. That’s undeniable. Watching Buium handle the puck through four defenders and generate a scoring chance and Harris work his magic with the puck low in the zone are sights to behold. But just like last year, the Pioneers are only going to get as far this season as their defense takes them. A year ago, it took them to the mountaintop.

So far this year, though, no two- or three-goal DU lead is ever truly safe until the final buzzer and when the games really start to matter next month, Denver’s penchant for blowing leads is a recipe for a quick regional exit.