The University of Denver began the league playoffs Friday night by scoring more goals than it produced in the previous four games. And finally, 13 games after Brock Trotter was suspended and bolted for an NHL contract, the Pioneers have another player atop the scoring column.
Freshman Tyler Bozak scored two goals in DU’s convincing 6-3 victory over Minnesota-Duluth in the teams’ Western Collegiate Hockey Association best-of-three series at Magness Arena. Bozak now leads the Pioneers (23-13-1) with 32 points, one more than Trotter amassed in 24 games.
DU freshman Dustin Jackson also had two goals, plus an assist, as the Pioneers ended a series-high three-game losing streak in a game they led 2-0 within the first five minutes and never trailed. The Pioneers, who are a win away from punching a ticket to next week’s WCHA Final Five in St. Paul, Minn., had scored just five goals in their final four regular-season games.
Sophomores Matt Glasser and Cody Brookwell also got in the scoring column. Brookwell, a big defenseman, scored the first goal of his career, and a beauty at that.
Fifty-five seconds after the Bulldogs got within 5-3 early in the third period, Brookwell came out of the penalty box and went in on a breakaway. He roofed a backhander that gave DU its third three-goal lead.
DU’s offensive outburst took place without junior defenseman/forward Patrick Mullen (suspended) and sophomore forward Brian Gifford (ankle injury, who both had played in each of the team’s first 36 games.
Mullen will return for Game 2, but the injury Gifford sustained Thursday in practice could keep him out of the lineup until the beginning of the March 27 NCAA Tournament.
Mike Chambers: 303-954-1357 or mchambers@denverpost.com
