Littleton – They have been waiting a while for this one at Regis.
Not only had the Raiders not played a hockey game since Dec. 19, coach Dan Woodley’s team had never figured out a way to beat Kent Denver, going 0-for-8 since the inception of the program in 2001.
Regis shook the monkey off its back Wednesday, spotting the Sun Devils an early first-period goal before shredding the Kent defense for four goals in a two-minute, 36-second span to close out the first and eventually post a 5-1 victory at The Edge Ice Arena.
“We wanted to get back at them – we’ve never beat them,” senior forward Corbin Fitzgibbons said.
The Raiders (5-2 overall, 1-0 Foothills Conference), who had Woodley call off practice last week because of “ineptitude,” found their mojo late in the first period.
Fitzgibbons was on the receiving end of a Tito Yslas pass and beat Kent goalie Tate Maris with a redirected wrist shot.
“We wanted to pepper him with a lot of shots, because he gives up tons of rebounds,” said Fitzgibbons, who bookended the Raiders’ scoring with a goal at the end of the second period.
The floodgates officially opened after Fitzgibbons’ first goal. Nick Carey scored a power-play goal 41 seconds later to give Regis a 2-1 lead.
Another 42 seconds ticked away before Ross Hardin wrapped around Maris’ cage and beat the senior five-hole.
“Our guys were raring to go to get a game in, and this is a huge rivalry for us,” Woodley said. “Four different guys and three different lines. That was critical for us, because we go four lines deep and it was nice to see them all contribute.”
Said Kent Denver coach David Labbett: “They played well, and we just fell asleep at the switch for a little bit.”
Gregg Davis concluded the Raiders’ first period onslaught just 63 seconds after Hardin’s goal.
Both goalies were stellar. Regis’ David Nowicki stopped 25-of-26 shots, while Maris turned away 33 shots.
Regis 4 1 0 – 5
Kent Denver 1 0 0 – 1
First period – KD: Key (Sayre), 12:34 pp; R: Fitzgibbons (Yslas), 5:00; Carey (Hayes, Davis), 4:19 pp; Hardin (Apke), 3:37; Davis (Carey), 2:34. Penalties – Yslas, R (slashing), 13:42; Kriedle, KD (tripping) 9:14; Morton, KD (hooking), 4:46.
Second period – R: Fitzgibbons (Booren), :11. Penalties – Boyd, R (hooking), 10:38; Poorman, R (roughing), 9:55; Morton, KD (tripping), 7:42; Hardin, R (tripping), 5:09; Pride, KD (hooking), 3:13.
Third period – None. Penalties – Donovan, R (holding), 14:35; Pride, KD (tripping), 9:28; Rawley, R (tripping), 6:24; Strode, R (hooking), 3:00; Odenheimer, R (cross-checking), :28; Berman, KD (slashing), :28; Hickey, KD (roughing), :12.
Shots on goal – Regis 20-12-6 – 38; Kent Denver 10-7-9 – 26. Saves – Regis (Nowicki) 9-7-9 – 25; Kent Denver (Maris) 16-11-6 – 33. Power-play opportunities – Regis 1-for-6; Kent Denver 1-for-7.
Staff writer Jon E. Yunt can be reached at 303-954-1354 or jyunt@denverpost.com.
