Producing their first power-play goal of the season took longer than expected, but it certainly was timely.
University of Denver co-captain Drew Shore scored the deciding goal on a 5-on-4 attack Friday night in the Pioneers’ 4-2 victory over Minnesota State in their home-opener at Magness Arena.
Shore’s goal 6:18 into the third period was DU’s first man-advantage goal in 11 chances this fall, after the Pioneers went a combined 0-for-10 in a season-opening weekend split at Boston College (4-2 win) and Boston University (4-3 loss).
One of the primary strengths for the third-ranked Pioneers (2-1, 1-0 Western Collegiate Hockey Association) is a potentially potent power play, particularly when it is stacked with Shore and David Makowski on the points and Nick Shore, Beau Bennett and Jason Zucker down low.
“We battled and our power play finally got a goal, and a big goal it was for us, and a good start to the WCHA season,” DU coach George Gwozdecky said. “But (the Mavericks) battled us and gave us a heck of a test right down to the wire.”
Nick Shore, Drew’s younger brother, added an empty-net goal with 48 seconds remaining on an unselfish play by Bennett, who turned down a good look at the net and passed to his linemate at the Mavericks’ blue line.
Bennett, a 2010 first-round draft pick of the Pittsburgh Penguins, had a game-high 10 shots, including eight in the third period. Zucker, a prized prospect of the Minnesota Wild, had six shots and joined Bennett with two assists.
DU (38 shots) rallied with two Luke Salazar goals in the second period to take a 2-1 lead into the third. Salazar struck at 9:54 and 19:11, with the help of Zucker and Paul Phillips.
On a 2-on-2 attack, a shot by Zucker was blocked by a defenseman but the puck went straight to Salazar, who slammed it in from the side of the crease.
His second goal was prettier. Phillips, a junior defenseman, took the puck off the wall at Minnesota State’s blue line and sent a diagonal pass to the net-crashing Salazar, who tapped it in inside the far post.
