It was expected to be a showcase for NCAA hockey … and it lived up to the billing.
On the opening night of a rare regular-season two-game matchup of the top two teams in the national rankings, the No. 2 Denver Pioneers got a goal and two assists from forward Troy Terry and knocked off No. 1 Minnesota Duluth 4-3 on Friday at Magness Arena.
“He was great tonight,” DU coach Jim Montomery said of Terry, the sophomore from Highlands Ranch. “If he can play better, I’m going to take it. But I’d like him to stay at that level.”
The Pioneers (12-2-3) extended their undefeated streak to 15 games and, with the three points for the regulation win, leapfrogged the Bulldogs to take over first place in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference by two points. DU is unbeaten since opening the season with home-ice losses to Ohio State (3-2) on Oct. 7 and to Boston College (3-1) on Oct. 8.
“We knew coming in how good of a team they were,” Terry said of the Bulldogs. “I think they showed it, and we showed how good of a team we can be. It was really an awesome game to be a part of. It was our biggest game yet and the speed of it showed how well both teams can skate and it was a very fast-paced game up and down.”
The Pioneers and the Bulldogs (10-3-2) meet again Saturday night and another DU win likely would mean the Pioneers take over the No. 1 spot in the next set of national rankings. As they have been for the past three games, the Pioneers again Saturday will be without standout freshman center Henrik Borgstrom, unavailable because of what DU says is an unspecified illness. Terry has moved from wing to center to fill the void.
UMD left wing Alex Iafallo staked the Bulldogs to a 1-0 lead with his 10th goal of the season at 13:04 of the first period, stripping DU defenseman Blake Hillman of the puck near the boards and breaking in alone, cutting in front of goalie Tanner Jaillet and beating him to the stick side.
The Pioneers got even on a nice goal from the fourth line, with Tyson McLellan deflecting a Bulldog pass before Colin Staub centered the puck for Kevin Conley, who knocked it past Bulldogs goalie Hunter Miska at 7:03 of the second period. It was the first collegiate goal for Conley, the freshman left wing from Wausau, Wis. — perhaps best known for its paper company and as the hometown of football star and actor Elroy “Crazylegs” Hirsch.
“He’s one of those freshman who haven’t been rewarded for all the chances they had,” said Montgomery. “It’s hard when you don’t score a goal to keep believing in the process, but he played relentless hockey tonight. He’s a horse. When he’s moving, he’s a big body and an element we haven’t had much here and hopefully he continues to grow.”
DU seemed to take control with a pair of goals in a span of 22 seconds, with Terry setting up the first and scoring the second. Logan O’Connor got his second goal of the season off a rebound of a Terry shot before Terry got his ninth of the year when he got to a carom off the end boards and beat Miska between his legs with a backhander. That put the Pioneers up 3-1 at 11:49 of the second, but the Bulldogs were back within one at 13:41 when Joey Hamilton’s shot from the top of the left circle got past a screened Jaillet.
DU had a two-goal lead again when Terry set up Jarid Lukosevicius for what turned out to be the game-winner at 3:24 of the third. Actually, Terry set him up twice, the first time before Miska made the initial save on Lukosevicius. But the puck rebounded right to Terry, who fed it again to Lukosevicius in the slot for another point-blank shot that got past Miska this time.
“He’s actually my roommate, … so if he didn’t score on the second one, I would have given him some crap,” Terry said, smiling. “He got in the right place and he’s done a really good job of being the shooter guy on the top line all year.”
UMD center Sammy Spurrell’s tip of a shot from the point got past Jaillet to make it 4-3 with 2:05 left in regulation, but the Pioneers held on. Under siege late, Jaillet had 32 saves while improving to 11-1-3 for the season. Miksa, a freshman from Stacy, Minn., finished with 27 saves for the Bulldogs.
In part because DU doesn’t resume classes until after the New Year and many — or even most — students aren’t around, Magness wasn’t a full house for the first night of the weekend showdown between Nos. 1 and 2. Official attendance was 5,870, short of a sellout. Those who did make it saw a highly entertaining game involving two teams playing energetic pressure games.
“If you look at the success we’ve had here, it’s always because of our relentless pursuit of pucks and getting above it and getting on the right side and continuing to go at people,” Montgomery said. “Forcing people to make tough decisions with pressure on top of them. That’s the way (UMD) scored and it’s the way we scored. That’s what happens when you have two elite NCAA teams play each other. . . I didn’t think the first period had much intensity to it, but the second and third, I mean it was physical and both teams made high-end plays.”
Saturday night’s rematch will be the Pioneers’ final NCHC game for over a month — or until a Jan. 13-14 series at Western Michigan. DU will be seeking to prolong the unbeaten streak that already is the fourth-longest single-season streak in program history, and the three longer all were in the 1960s — 19 in 1959-60, 22 in 1966-67 and 26 in 1960-61.
