On a night with no positive bounces and more passes a foot too far ahead or between a teammate’s skates, the University of Denver got what it deserved.
The Pioneers blew a two- goal lead and lost to Alaska-Anchorage 3-2 in overtime Saturday night, wasting two valuable points in the standings to cap the two-game Western Collegiate Hockey Association series at Magness Arena.
DU went 0-for-9 on the power play, allowed a short-handed goal to tie it and gave up a power-play tally.
The Seawolves’ Curtis Leinweber won it with 17.5 seconds remaining in OT when he corralled Craig Parkinson’s pass from the wing and deked goalie Marc Cheverie before depositing the puck in the net off the right goalpost.
Trailing 2-1 during a DU power play, Alaska-Anchorage forced OT on Mat Robinson’s cross-crease tap-in with 2:27 to go in regulation.
The Pioneers drew a penalty to get the advantage back with 38 seconds to play in regulation, but failed miserably to capitalize after the advantage rolled into OT.
“I almost started feeling like I should decline the power play,” DU coach George Gwozdecky said. “It was one of those games where you could see we really weren’t sharp offensively . . . but wanted to play that third period smart defensively, not give up a lot, until that dandy of a power play we had with (2:47) to go.
“At that point, you just play keepaway, don’t let the other team have possession of the puck and let the clock run down. Unfortunately, we made some critical errors.”
On the heels of DU’s 6-2 win Friday, the visitors played without their top two goal scorers, Tommy Grant and Josh Lunden, who were scratched by coach Dave Shyiak for subpar performances in the opener. Grant and Lunden had combined to produce 24 of the Seawolves’ 64 goals entering Saturday’s game, but Shyiak’s message-sending move paid off.
The Seawolves produced only 15 shots through regulation, but they made DU looked discombobulated in sudden death. The Pioneers were outshot 4-1 — not including Nick Haddad’s shot that clanged off Cheverie’s left goalpost.
“It’s uncharacteristic play by us,” said DU captain J.P. Testwuide, who gave the Pioneers a 2-0 lead 8:49 into the game. “In overtime it looked like we had never been in that position before.”
Said Gwozdecky: “That last two minutes of overtime was something to behold. I’m still shaking my head.”
Alaska-Anchorage 0 1 1 1 — 3
Denver 2 0 0 0 — 2
First period — 1, Denver, Gifford 2 (Jackson), 7:42. 2, Denver, Testwuide 3 (Nutini, Ostrow), 8:49. Penalties — Nutini, DU (hooking), 2:09; Selby, UAA (interference), 2:09; Hunt, UAA (tripping), 11:49; Jackson, DU (holding), 13:30; Clark, UAA (cross checking), 14:16; Wiercioch, DU (tripping), 18:44.
Second period — 3, Alaska-Anchorage, Hunt 4 (Robinson), 10:43 (pp). Penalties — UAA bench (too many men), 4:56; Gifford, DU (hooking), 8:53; Vidmar, UAA (high sticking), 11:12; Hunt, UAA (slashing), 13:20; Wiercioch, DU (holding), 13:36; Clark, UAA (5-major, boarding, game misconduct), 17:53; Ruegsegger, DU (interference), 18:19.
Third period — 4, Alaska-Anchorage, Robinson 2 (Crowder, Haddad), 17:33 (sh). Penalties — Testwuide, DU (hooking), 8:09; Crowder, UAA (hooking), 12:45; Bales, UAA (tripping), 17:13; Crowder, UAA (cross checking), 19:22.
Overtime — 5, Alaska-Anchorage, Leinweber 2 (Parkinson), 4:42. Penalties — None.
Shots — UAA 3-8-4-4 — 19. DU 14-7-10-1 — 32. Power plays — UAA 1 of 5. DU 0 of 9. Goalies — UAA, Christianson (4-4-2) 32 shots-30 saves. DU, Cheverie (16-8-3) 19-16. A — 5,424.
Mike Chambers: 303-954-1357 or mchambers@denverpost.com
DU Recap
Post’s three stars
1. Mat Robinson.
Had two points, including the game-tying goal.
2. Bryce Christianson.
Sophomore goalie kept the visitors alive.
3. Curtis Leinweber.
Scored the game-winner on a breakaway.
What you might have missed
DU lost defenseman Chris Nutini to a shoulder injury late in the second period.
Up next
Friday-Saturday series at Minnesota-Duluth
Mike Chambers, The Denver Post
