In Game 1 of a key National Collegiate Hockey Conference series between No. 7-ranked Minnesota Duluth and the No. 11 University of Denver on Friday night, the Pioneers used explosive scoring to begin the first and second periods and held on for a 3-2 victory at Magness Arena.
“Great effort against a really good team,” DU coach Jim Montgomery said. “The exciting news is, there is a lot of room for improvement.”
DU improved to fifth in the Pairwise Rankings, just one spot outside a No. 1 NCAA Tournament regional seed. The Pioneers have 10 games remaining, including Saturday’s series finale against UMD.
With 8:02 remaining, Bulldogs captain Adam Krause was assessed a five-minute major for interference, the result of a midice collision with DU center Matt Tabrum. In the last minute of the penalty, the Pioneers appeared to convert on the power play, with Emig Romig scoring on a wrist shot through traffic. But referees overruled it after looking at the video replay, saying DU’s Quentin Shore was in the crease.
So it was a nail-biter the rest of the way, especially after UMD pulled its goalie with 1:30 to play.
Denver (15-8-1, 8-6 NCHC) took command by scoring at 2:22 and 4:40 of the second period. Shore backhanded a loose puck in front of the paint past goalie Kasimir Kaskisuo before defenseman Joey LaLeggia capped a 2-on-1 rush with winger Trevor Moore.
LaLeggia’s goal — a bar-down snapshot — was his ninth of the season, tied for second among the Pioneers.
UMD (14-10-1, 9-6-1) got back within one at 13:45 of the second period when Karson Kuhlman buried a rebound high over 5-foot-11 goalie Tanner Jaillet, who was making his sixth consecutive appearance (fifth start in that stretch). Kuhlman scored 16 seconds after LaLeggia was released from the penalty box for holding, with the Bulldogs maintaining possession in the offensive zone.
The call on LaLeggia was questionable, because his so-called holding appeared to be a clean check — using his body to rub out the puck carrier against the boards.
DU had an ideal start, scoring a power-play goal 29 seconds into the game. After the Bulldogs’ Dominic Toninato knocked Jaillet down on a fly-by in the game’s first shift, Daniel Doremus stuffed the puck by Kaskisuo from the side of the net.
“They’re relentless, very tenacious,” Montgomery said of the Bulldogs. “You have to be really good positionally. Hopefully we’ve matured as a group and we know how to approach the second game of a big series.”
Mike Chambers: mchambers@denverpost.com or
DENVER 3, MINNESOTA DULUTH 2
Minnesota Duluth 1 1 0 — 2
Denver 1 2 0 — 3
First period — 1, Denver, Doremus 7 (Moore, Zajac), 0:29 (pp). 2, Minnesota-Duluth, Crandall 7 (Osterberg, Decowski), 9:42. Penalties — Toninato, UMD (interference), :22; Heinen, DU (slashing), 15:23.
Second period — 3, Denver, Shore 7 (Marcinew, Plant), 2:22. 4, Denver, LaLeggia 9 (Moore, Doremus), 4:40. 5, Minnesota-Duluth, Kuhlman 6 (Corrin, Farley), 13:45. Penalty — LaLeggia, DU (holding), 11:29.
Third period — None. Penalty — Krause, UMD (5-major interference), 11:58.
Shots — UMD — 8-13-9 — 30. DU — 10-8-11 — 29.
Power plays — UMD 0 of 2. DU 1 of 2.
Goalies — UMD, Kaskisuo (12-8-1) 29 shots-26 saves. DU, Jaillet (8-3) 30-28. A — Not available.
