OMAHA — Hail to the youth.
Superstar freshmen Jason Zucker and classmate Sam Brittain teamed up to lead the University of Denver to one of its most important victories of the season Saturday night.
In a clutch, series-splitting 4-2 triumph over 12th-ranked Nebraska-Omaha, Zucker scored his 19th and 20th goals and Brittain settled down to stop every shot he faced in the second and third periods.
Brittain (27 saves) was shaky in the first period, allowing the Mavericks to briefly lead 2-1 and get the Qwest Center crowd of 11,504 involved. But sophomore Drew Shore scored a power-play goal late in the first and Zucker produced another highlight-reel tally early in the second for the game-winner.
“(Zucker) has been one of our premier players since Day 1, and at times he’s carried us — he and Drew Shore — as they did tonight,” DU coach George Gwozdecky said. “And I thought Sam Brittain was really strong in the latter two periods.”
Sophomore Chris Knowlton scored an insurance goal with 2:10 remaining and DU killed off a 6-on-4 disadvantage in the final 1:54.
The win gave No. 6 DU its all-important 20th win of the season and put the Pioneers back into position to win their second straight Western Collegiate Hockey Association regular-season championship.
With Friday’s 5-2 win, the Mavericks (20-12-2, 16-8-2 WCHA) leapfrogged DU for second place in the league. Now DU (20-9-5, 16-7-3) only trails North Dakota, which has a two-point lead heading into its game against Bemidji State today.
DU, which joins Michigan as the only team to reach 20 wins in each of the past 10 seasons, concludes the regular season this weekend with a two-game series against eighth-place St. Cloud State (14-15-5, 10-12-4).
“We knew that we had to win. It was a big game for us. We needed the two points and we weren’t going to let (Friday’s poor showing) stop us,” Zucker said.
Zucker, who has a WCHA-leading 20 goals and 36 points in 26 league games, scored on an odd-man rush 3:58 into the opening period to mark the first time DU scored first in its past nine games.
The Mavs tied it 54 seconds later on Mike Young’s soft shot through traffic that sneaked through Brittain’s legs, and they went ahead 2-1 with Brent Gwidt’s backhanded chip late in the period.
Shore’s blast from the point and Zucker’s backhand from below the right circle gave DU the lead for good.
“I didn’t think we had the energy we had (Friday) night,” Nebraska-Omaha coach Dean Blais said, “but Denver had a lot to do with it. They didn’t give us a lot of second opportunities in front of the net.”
Mike Chambers: 303-954-1357 or mchambers@denverpost.com
DU Recap
The Post’s three stars
1. Jason Zucker.
Freshman had two goals to extend his WCHA scoring lead to 36 points (20 goals).
2. Drew Shore.
Sophomore center got his team-high 21st goal and added an assist.
3. Anthony Maiani.
Senior center had two assists.
What you might have missed
Former DU captain Matt Laatsch, who was a junior and senior on the 2004 and 2005 NCAA championship teams, worked the game as a scout for the Anaheim Ducks.
Up next
Vs. St. Cloud State, Friday at Magness Arena, 7:30 p.m.
