In a scintillating hockey game defined by the power play and penalty kill, the third-ranked University of Denver outlasted Western Michigan 4-2 on Saturday night to sweep the two-game National Collegiate Hockey Conference series, extend its winning streak to six games and likely climb to No. 1 or No. 2 when the national rankings are reconstructed Monday.
NHL prospects Will Butcher (Avalanche) and Henrik Borgstrom (Florida Panthers) had three-point games for DU and Dylan Gambrell (San Jose Sharks) scored and assisted on the Pioneers’ third-period goals at Magness Arena. Denver (6-2, 2-0), which is now idle until visiting current No. 1 North Dakota for a two-game series Nov. 11-12, scored three of the game’s four power-play goals and killed off six-of-seven disadvantages.
The teams combined for 17 minor penalties and 16 power plays. Denver was 3-of-9 with the advantage.
“I was telling our players in the second (period) that we don’t want a special-team game. (The Broncos) are really good on the power play,” DU coach Jim Montgomery said. “They had us on our heels again. But I thought 5-on-5 that we were really swarming them. We were in their end possessing pucks the best we have in a long time. And our power play really came alive. It was the best it looked all year.”
Denver defeated Western Michigan 3-1 on Friday when Gambrell returned from a four-game injury absence and scored its first goal. The Broncos entered the series unbeaten (3-0-1).
“Awesome sweep. I don’t know how many teams are going to sweep Western this year,” Montgomery said. “I was really worried about this game and the mental toughness and how hard we played was really impressive.”
Gambrell, who originally wasn’t supposed to return to the lineup until the North Dakota series, scored the game-winning goal 2:29 into the third period. On the power play, Gambrell’s wrister from the top of the right circle whizzed by sophomore goalie Trevor Gorsuch for DU’s second lead of the game. Matt Marcinew iced the game with 4:55 remaining, taking a Gambrell feed through traffic and beating Gorsuch from the doorstep.
Denver’s six-game winning streak began after losses to Ohio State and Boston College in the IceBreaker Tournament. But now, the Pioneers will undoubtedly climb to No. 1 or No. 2 in the rankings, given that defending NCHC champion North Dakota was swept by No. 2 Minnesota-Duluth, another NCHC power, over the weekend.
“Speaks volumes about the respect our conference has nationally, and how good we are nationally,” Montgomery said of the NCHC. “This year, I won’t be surprised if 4-6 teams makes it to the (NCAA) Tournament.”
Saturday’s game was tied 2-2 after two periods, with the Pioneers outshooting the visitors 23-13. Western Michigan briefly led 2-1 after capitalizing on the power play with DU’s Michael Davies and Marcinew in the box for slashing and holding, respectively. Winger Matheson Iacopelli did the damage with a brilliant one-time slap shot from the right circle.
But Denver got it even six minutes later. With Iacopelli in the sin bin for tripping, sophomore forward Jarid Lukosevicius got a stick on Will Butcher’s shot from the point and the deflected skipped past goalie Trevor Gorsuch.
DU opened the scoring with a 5-on-3 power-play goal in the last minute of the first period. Seconds after Luckosevicius clanged a shot off the right post, the freshman Borgstrom opened up from the right circle and Butcher’s diagonal pass was perfect — as was Borgstrom’s giant one-time blast. The Broncos, however, came out strong in the second period and tied it at 2:50 with Sheldon Dries’ extra-effort rebound goal while falling to the ice.