MINNEAPOLIS—A two-goal night by Tyler Ruegsegger, and 36 saves by Peter Mannino, powered seventh-ranked Denver to a 5-1 win at Minnesota on Friday.
Ruegsegger scored a pair of second period power play goals as the Pioneers (5-2-0 overall, 2-1-0 WCHA) kept Minnesota winless in conference play.
But it was the efforts of Mannino that had players gushing later. Mannino had faced just 13 shots in his previous start, a 3-0 home loss to Minnesota Duluth, but turned aside 12 Minnesota shots in the opening period and another 14 in the second period Friday.
“In any game you just want to weather the storm,” said Mannino, who had never beaten Minnesota previously. “They come out hard, they shoot and they’re looking for timely goals to build up momentum right away.”
Offense continues to be a problem for the eighth-ranked Golden Gophers (4-3-0, 0-3-0), who have scored just three goals in their three WCHA games.
“Tonight is probably one of those nights where the score is very misleading,” said Pioneers coach George Gwozdecky. “The big difference in the game was Peter Mannino. He gave us a chance to take the lead and gave us a chance to build on the lead.”
Minnesota dominated the opening period but had nothing to show for the effort on the scoreboard. Denver’s Rhett Rakhshani got his first goal of the season late in the first, beating Minnesota goalie Jeff Frazee low. Rakhshani added two assists later.
“When they scored their first goal that seemed to energize them a little bit and we sagged a little bit off that,” Minnesota coach Don Lucia said. “We did a lot of good things getting 37 shots on goal, but it’s hard to win games scoring one goal.”
Brock Trotter and Tyler Bozak gave the Pioneers a 5-0 lead in the third.
Ryan Flynn ruined Mannino’s bid for a shutout, scoring Minnesota’s only goal in the late stages of the third.
Frazee finished with 23 saves for the Gophers.
