Saturday night Denver hockey (9-2-1, 4-0-0) faced Lindenwood and a chance for a home sweep. Denver’s depth was on full display as the short-handed Pioneers were missing Johnny Hicks, Brendan McMorrow and James Reeder, all three out of the Denver lineup with injuries. DU freshmen stepped up and buried six of Denver’s seven goals to trigger the 7-1 sweep.
Early in the first period, Denver got possession in the Lindenwood defensive zone. Ryan Lin saved a Lions exit pass at the blue line and fed Jack Pridham for the short-range goal, 1-0 (17:59). Lindenwood countered with a bank-shot goal to Andrew Earl who redirected the puck through goaltender Tyler Krivtsov’s five-hole to knot the game, 1-1. Less than a minute later, Denver sophomore Brady Milburn responded to retake the lead, 2-1 (10:48) on a lead-pass from Reid Varkonyi. The score remained unchanged until the break. Denver outshot the lions 13-9 in the first 20 minutes and stifled a Lions power play.
Early in the second period, DU’s Mikey Berchild beat Liam Beerman from close range two minutes into the frame, 3-1 (2:02) Pioneers. Both teams generated offense as the game got more physical but DU goaltender Krivtsov kept Lindenwood off the scoreboard. A three man DU break was finished by Max Heise who took a drop pass and hammered the puck past Beerman, 4-1. A power play top-shelf laser from Daxon Rudolph found net, 5-1(13:02) DU. DU was on the penalty kill when a fight broke out in front of the Denver crease. Three additional Pioneers were sent to the box for roughing along with three Lions. Both teams went scoreless and the period played to a 5-1 end.
Lindenwood opened the third period with a new goaltender, Klayton Knapp. He held Denver scoreless in the period until Blake Fiddler found twine, 6-1 (14:59). Ryan Miller capped the scoring for Denver on a feed from Kristian Epperson, 7-1 (19:24) to end the scoring in the final minute.
Denver’s depth was on full display. Denver outshot the Lions 37-27 on the night and each line performed at a high level. Denver’s youth and depth, along with continued ice time, should continue to pay dividends as the Pioneers enter conference play next weekend against St. Thomas.