After making consecutive high-anxiety weekend trips to college hockey’s most intimidating venues the past two weekends, the second-ranked University of Denver managed to avoid an all-out letdown Friday night against an inferior nonleague opponent at Magness Arena.
The Pioneers (17-6-4) convincingly beat Mercyhurst (12-15-2) in every area but the scoreboard. Not much about DU’s 4-1 victory will likely be included in the highlight film, but the Pioneers — coming off an impressive 2-1-1 stretch at Wisconsin and at North Dakota — were just pleased to avoid what would have been a monumental upset.
“You’re always happy to win, no matter the situation, no matter who you’re playing,” DU coach George Gwozdecky said. “I thought we played a good first 30 minutes, (but) a combination of sloppy play on our part and Mercyhurst cranking it up . . . they had us scrambling.”
Junior forward Anthony Maiani, moved to center because of injuries to Jesse Martin and Brian Gifford, paced the Pioneers with a goal and two assists. Maiani is red-hot over his last five games, producing nine points (two goals).
He set up first-period goals by freshman Chris Knowlton and sophomore Luke Salazar before scoring his fifth goal of the season 8:59 into the second. Maiani, who led DU in scoring last season, is closing in on returning as a point-per-game player. He has 23 points in 25 games.
DU also received a good showing from backup goalie Adam Murray, a freshman whose previous appearance was Nov. 7 in a 7-3 loss at Alaska-Anchorage. Murray was terrific in the third period, when DU’s offense went into a slumber.
“I’m really glad to see Adam play that well,” Gwozdecky said.
After the Pioneers outshot the Lakers 35-17 after two periods, Murray nearly earned his first career shutout with a handful of top-notch saves. However, Grant Blakey’s tap-in goal ruined that with 4:51 to play.
First-line winger Joe Colborne scored 42 seconds later to re-establish DU’s three-goal lead.
Earlier, Knowlton scored his second career goal while experimenting on the No. 2 power-play unit. Salazar, who had 15 goals as a freshman, had his first tally of the season.
Mike Chambers: 303-954-1357 or mchambers@denverpost.com
