It was a spooky game at Magness Arena Friday night. The Pioneers outshot the Seawolves 48-20 but a harvest moon and missed scoring opportunities spelled doom in the 4-3 OT loss. The Pioneers rallied in the final few minutes of regulation to force OT. However, Alaska Anchorage rose from the dead and dispatched the Pioneers with a 3-on-3 goal to sink a fatal dagger into the Pioneers hearts.
Denver opened up Homecoming Weekend with a series against Alaska Anchorage at Magness Arena. In a day full of surprises (DU joined the West Coast Conference in nine other sports), the biggest surprise of the day may have been the home loss to Alaska Anchorage. It felt a bit like the loss to Northeastern on the road last weekend but this was an unexpected performance on Homecoming weekend.
After a fairly lackluster back-and-forth first period, DU’s Kieran Cebrian solved goaltender Tyler Krivtsov in traffic, 1-0 DU at 9:25. It was a major penalty on Denver’s Eric Pohlkamp five minutes later that might have cost DU the game. While the contact between Pohlkamp and a Seawolf along the boards did not look egregious, many in the building thought his expulsion was harsh. Four minutes later, the Seawolves took advantage and buried the puck on the shorty tip-in, 1-1.
The second period started 4-on-4 and, eventually, Denver was down by two players but survived with a solid penalty kill. At the 12:20 mark, Denver was interfered with on the breakaway and a penalty shot awarded to Rieger Lorenz. Lorenz deeked the Seawolves Krivtsov to the left and tucked the puck in the right corner of the cage, 2-1. Three minutes later, the Seawolves returned the favor with a soft bouncing goal through traffic and past DU goaltender Quentin Miller that otherwise played a strong game, 2-2.
The Seawolves growing confidence carried over to the third period. After seven minutes, Joey Potter scored for Alaska and put DU on their heels, 3-2. Denver had trouble getting clean looks against Krivtsov the rest of the period as he made save-after-save. DU pulled Miller for the man advantage down the stretch and James Reeder made the most of the advantage with a goal with 1:20 remaining, 3-3. The action carried over to overtime and three-on-three action to determine a winner. Alaska’s speed showed in the extra frame and Dimitry Kebreau finished off the Pioneers with a goal at 3:55 of the five-minute overtime.
Ultimately, it was the inability of Denver to execute on their scoring opportunities and 0-5 on the powerplay that cast a pall on the evening. The loss of perhaps their most dangerous player, junior Eric Pohlkamp, showed – especially on the powerplay. The Pioneers will have a chance to make amends tomorrow night when they try to avoid a ghoulish sweep at 6:00 pm MT.
What started off as a spectacular day with DU joining the WCC turned really sucky. I thought homecoming sweeps were fixed for the good guys.
Well, that’s some embarrassing shit getting beat by Alaska. Team showed such promise after the big win at BC, and has been awful since then. A lot of young players, but this proud program shouldn’t lose a game at home like that. Shame!!!
But…just learned about the WCC, that certainly puts a shine on the day despite the embarrassment on the ice.
The gang that couldn’t shoot straight!
So disappointing in many respects. Looking forward to improvement as the season progresses.
Easy to say we have a young team, and it’s true. Looked at the roster, and wondered where did all these new guys come from? Carle will get this team looking pretty good as we go. But if we end up on the bubble, some of these bad losses could come back to haunt us. Lindenwood, UAA, UNLV last year. Carle is the best big game coach in college, but sometimes not so great with the little games. Oh, and while we are developing, maybe a good idea for our best player Pohlkamp to not get booted out of games.