With a league-record 18 all-academic Western Collegiate Hockey Association selections, nobody had to explain to the University of Denver that it was in trouble Friday night.
Down by two goals late in the second period of its postseason opener against Alaska-Anchorage, the Pioneers figured the best way to dig out of their hole was to stay out of the penalty box.
Easier said than done, of course, but the Pioneers did just that while rallying for a 3-2 victory at Magness Arena to begin a three-game WCHA first-round playoff series against the feisty Seawolves.
Lakewood native Tyler Ruegsegger spearheaded the comeback by scoring back-to-back goals within a 1:58 span late in the second period. The game-winner came from Jesse Martin with 6:57 to play in regulation, and goaltender Marc Cheverie was exceptional in a modest 19-save effort.
Notwithstanding what appeared to be a big, clean hit by defenseman John Ryder — who nevertheless was whistled for elbowing early in the third period — DU did not visit the penalty box during the time it was down 2-0 until the final buzzer.
“We kept our composure, and that’s one thing we talked about,” said Martin, who one-timed a behind-the-net feed from Brian Gifford to give DU its first lead. “We talked about staying disciplined and we didn’t give them much of a sniff after we got going. We played our game.”
Ninth-seeded Alaska-Anchorage (14-16-5), which won twice last weekend at Minnesota-Duluth for the program’s first road sweep since 2000, lost for the first time in five games.
A DU victory in tonight’s Game 2 will send the No. 2-seeded Pioneers (21-10-5) to next week’s WCHA Final Five in St. Paul, Minn. If necessary, Game 3 will be Sunday night.
“Everything you can do to accentuate the positive has to be done if you’re going to come back (from a 2-0 deficit),” DU coach George Gwozdecky said.
Alaska-Anchorage 0 2 0 — 2
Denver 0 2 1 — 3
First period — None. Penalties — Ruegsegger, DU (interference), 10:45; Grant, UAA (hooking), 14:44; Haddad, UAA (hooking), 19:12.
Second period — 1, Alaska-Anchorage, Moir 2 (unassisted), 3:52. 2, Alaska-Anchorage, Clark 12 (Crowder), 5:45. 3, Denver, Ruegsegger 14 (Colborne, Maiani), 15:35 (pp). 4, Denver, Ruegsegger 15 (Rakhshani, Wiercioch), 17:33. Penalties — Vidmar, UAA (hooking), 6:33; Robinson, UAA (hooking), 15:07.
Third period — 5, Denver, Martin 9 (Gifford), 13:03. Penalties — Robinson, UAA (tripping), 1:56; Ryder, DU (elbowing), 7:26; Crowder, UAA (boarding), 10:30. Clark, UAA (roughing), 20:00; Jackson, DU (roughing), 20:00
Shots — UAA 2-12-7 — 21. DU 6-13-12 — 31. Power plays — UAA 0 of 2. DU 1 of 6. Goalies — CC, Olthuis (6-9-1) 31 shots-28 saves. DU, Cheverie (21-10-5) 21-19. A — 4,218.
