Freshman goalie Johnny Hicks pitched a shutout and Rieger Lorenz scored the game’s only goal in three-on-three overtime off of a perfect pass from Eric Pohlkamp as the #11 Denver Pioneers (16-11-2, 12-6-0 NCHC) topped the #7 Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs (17-11-0, 8-10-0 NCHC) 1-0 in game two of the weekend series at Magness Arena. The Pioneers claimed five of the six possible points for NCHC standings purposes and remained at #11 in the NPI.
Just a night after exiting the game with an apparent leg injury with under 10 minutes left, Johnny Hicks returned to DU’s crease and played the game of his young career, stopping all 19 shots sent his way and, at times, singlehandedly keeping the game scoreless. The only problem? UMD netminder Adam Gajan, who will join Team Slovakia in Milan next weekend for the Winter Olympics, matched him save for save. And then some. The game opened as a defensive struggle, but midway through the second period, it turned into a good, old-fashioned goalie duel. Both goalies made a number of saves that will vie to be featured in the NCHC’s weekly Saves of the Week video.
Denver outshot Minnesota Duluth 31-19, including 4-1 in overtime, and, if you buy into crazy things like advanced stats, led the way with 2.6 xG, as measured by College Hockey News, compared to 2.1 for UMD. But in the end, all that matters is the pucks that actually find the back of the net, and neither team could make it happen over 60 minutes of hockey.
After an early push by UMD in three-on-three overtime, Denver took back possession and peppered Gajan with three quick shots on goal. But with under three minutes to go in the extra frame, junior defenseman and Hobey Baker Award hopeful Eric Pohlkamp regrouped with the puck behind Hicks’ net and fired a pass to Lorenz streaking up the left boards. As Lorenz entered the UMD zone, he found Kieran Cebrian (who was barely onside – it was neither called nor reviewed) at the right point. Cebrian cycled to the high slot and dropped a pass to a trailing Pohlkamp right before colliding with Zam Plante (UMD fans wanted interference called) right as Lorenz snuck to the far-side post behind Max Plante. As Pohlkamp closed in the right circle and drew Plante out of the slot to play the puck, Pohlkamp fed a perfect back-door pass to Lorenz, who only had to tap the puck home and send the Crimson & Gold faithful home with smiles on their faces.
It was a picture-perfect play for the Pioneers from start to finish, and while they may have gotten a bit lucky with two officials swallowing their whistles in crunch time -the offside was close enough that it probably wouldn’t have been overturned even if they had reviewed it and the interference…no referee was about to call that a penalty in that situation – the puck didn’t lie, and Denver exits their final weekend that offered a real chance to make some NPI noise with two victories and five more points in the NCHC standings.
Now, DU’s attention turns to archrival Colorado College with a home-and-home series looming. The Tigers split their home series with Arizona State with a 6-5 overtime loss last night and a 4-1 victory tonight. Because they only secured five of six points in the first Gold Pan series in November, Denver needs at least one point next weekend to retain the Gold Pan this season. More importantly, the Pioneers must hold serve the rest of the way with their remaining series against CC, at Omaha, and vs. Arizona State, all coming against teams below them in the NPI Rankings. In other words, they don’t have a chance to make significant headway in the rankings themselves, but they certainly can still tumble if they’re not careful.
And that’s why this weekend’s sweep over the Bulldogs was so important. Coming in, they were ranked #13 in the NPI and, without these victories over then-#6 UMD, the Pioneers were at real risk of falling out of the top 15, where an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament is out of the question. Now, with these two victories, the Pioneers are up to #11 in the NPI Rankings with six games remaining. They’re by no means in a safe position, but #11 is a hell of a lot better place to be with only a month left in the season than #13.
To borrow from Denver-area sports personality Marc Moser, the Pioneers showed a hell of a lot of guts this weekend…in fact, they had guts all over the place. From nearly blowing a 4-0 lead but finding a way to keep the puck out of their net with their third-string goalie on Friday to shutting out the team that boasts three of the nation’s top 10 point-producers and outdueling an Olympic goaltender on Saturday, this was a weekend to remember for the Pioneers. Combined with last weekend’s shutout of St. Cloud State, this may be the stretch that we look back on in a couple of months that proved Denver’s days wandering the winless wilderness were finally over, and the Pioneers had finally remembered how to win again.
Highlight
TONIGHTS @Safeway GOAL OF THE GAME! Lorenz in OT with the lone goal!#GoPios pic.twitter.com/oPK8hh3PVU
— Denver Hockey (@DU_Hockey) February 1, 2026
Top photo courtesy of DU Athletics
Like watching a pitcher’s duel in baseball. Two evenly-matched quality programs and goalies going head-to-head. Kudos to Hicks for pitching a shut-out in his first collegiate complete game start vs the #1 scorer, line and power play in the country!
Great weekend!
Glad MDU wasn’t able to challenge the winning OT goal as DU was clearly offsides.
Great game and a great win last night. I missed Friday’s game, but to get 2 wins and 5 of 6 points against a really good UMD team is obviously a great result.
Pios played very well defensively last night and really didn’t give UMD much time and space at all, especially late in the game. The Bulldogs only had 4 shots total in the 3rd period and OT. Both goaltenders played well, and it was awesome to see Hicks back in net and earn the shutout. He deserves a ton of credit.
CC on tap next weekend. Can’t wait. Keep the momentum going fellas!!