Hockey historians will have a tough time finding a precedence – or even something remotely similar – to the bizarre game that unfolded at Magness Arena on Saturday night.
In the University of Denver’s 5-2 victory over St. Cloud State, the Pioneers snapped their four-game losing streak at home on the strength of two goals that were scored with just three attackers.
And both first-period goals came from by defensemen on breakaways, giving DU a 2-0 lead shortly after two Pioneers were ejected from the game for checking from behind.
During J.P. Testwuide’s five- minute major, Matt Carle scored the game’s first goal on a rare 3-on-3 sequence. And 1 minute, 13 seconds later and during Ryan Dingle’s major, T.J. Fast doubled the lead when the Pioneers were skating in a two-man disadvantage.
“It’s so rare, because all you’re concentrating on is keeping it out of your goal. You’re not thinking aggressively, you’re thinking defensively,” DU coach George Gwozdecky said of the wild first period in which his team officially committed 38 penalty minutes. “Not only did we need to get through the penalties, but we needed to take the lead. We got both done.”
The strangeness didn’t end there. Denver, tied for second in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association with Minnesota, went ahead 3-0 early in the second period on J.D. Corbin’s 4-on-5 short-handed goal, with Pioneers goalie Peter Mannino collecting his second assist of the night.
Mannino’s shutout was ruined by Justin Fletcher’s power-play goal 57 seconds into the third period. But Paul Stastny answered shortly thereafter during a DU power play, and Carle notched his second goal and third point of the night on an empty net in the final minute after the Huskies made it 4-2.
The game was about as perplexing as the midseason slide the Pioneers brought into it. DU had lost three consecutive games, each at the previously friendly confines of Magness Arena, and reached its boiling point after Friday’s 5-1 loss to St. Cloud that began the two-game WCHA series.
“You knew they would respond,” St. Cloud coach Bob Motzko said of the Pioneers (12-10-2, 9-5-2 WCHA), who play at WCHA-leading and No. 1 Wisconsin next weekend. “Their top guys, (Gabe) Gauthier and Carle, they’re such competitors. They just put the team on their back and we had no answer for that. The only reason we got close in the third was because they were tired. They had no bodies left. We can’t kid ourselves about that.”
Carle likened the game to DU’s 2004 national championship game against Maine. The Black Bears lost 1-0 after pulling their goalie and attacking the Pioneers with a 6-on-3 advantage in the final minute.
“The 6-on-3 against Maine would be the only other thing that comes to mind,” he said. “First time for me to play 3-on-3 in college hockey. So yeah, really weird game.”
Mike Chambers can be reached at 303-820-5453 or mchambers@denverpost.com.
