DENVER, Colo. ? The No. 7-ranked Denver Pioneers parlayed a 42-shot effort into a 6-2 win over Alaska Anchorage in a Western Collegiate Hockey Association game at DU's Magness Arena Friday night. The Pioneers (16-7-3, 12-5-2 WCHA) were able to score four unanswered goals before junior Trevor Hunt put the Seawolves (8-11-4, 5-10-4 WCHA) on the board late in the second period.
The Pioneers added two more goals and the Seawolves received a goal from sophomore Sean Wiles in the third period. DU played without veteran head coach George Gwozdecky behind the bench. Gwozdecky was serving a one-game suspension after an incident in last week's game at North Dakota.
Denver struck first with one minute, 15 seconds left in the first period to give the Pioneers a 1-0 lead. UAA's sophomore Craig Parkinson was whistled for slashing at 17:47 of the period, sending the Seawolves on the penalty-kill. The Pioneer's leader in goals, freshman Luke Salazar, netted an easy power play goal at 18:45 off a rebound from Kyle Ostrow ?Salazar's 13th goal and third power play of the season.
The Pioneers carried the momentum into the second with an even strength goal at 1:19 of the period, just three seconds after junior Josh Lunden's penalty for boarding had expired. Sophomore Anthony Maiani extended the Pioneer lead by two goals with his ninth tally of the season and sophomore Dustin Jackson and freshman Patrick Wiercioch picked up the assists.
Approximately four minutes later, Ostrow recorded his second point of the evening, slipping the puck by UAA's goaltender Jon Olthuis for a 3-0 lead. The goal went unnoticed by the officials, until a penalty was called on Brian Gifford for tripping at 5:19. During the stop of play, the officials went to review the replay, eventually crediting the goal to Ostrow and the assist to Jackson. The Seawolves remained on the power play even though Gifford was tagged for the penalty after the goal.
Denver posted its third unanswered goal of the period and second power play tally with just over five minutes left in the second. Wiercioch picked up his ninth goal of the season after receiving the puck from Rhett Rakhshani and sending a one-timer from just inside the Seawolves zone pass Olthuis.
The Seawolves finally got on the board with a power play goal from Hunt, ending the shutout with 2:20 left in the second period. Hunt kept his composure in the middle of the Pioneer's zone, waiting for a shooting lane to open up before sending the puck by Denver's goalie, Marc Cheverie. Parkinson posted his third assist of the season, while senior Shane Lovdahl picked up his second assist of the season.
The third period started off with DU's fifth goal of the night by junior Brandon Vossberg, extending the Pioneer lead to four once again. Vossberg circled around the net and backhanded the puck into the net for his fourth goal of the year. Jackson grabbed his third assist of the game and Gifford posted his second assist of the game.
The Seawolves responded with their second and final goal at 8:48 of the third. Wiles netted his third goal of the season on a pass from Lovdahl. The two assists from Lovdahl marked his first points in a game since Oct. 24 against Minnesota Duluth.
Denver attacked once more with a goal by the sixth Pioneer of the evening. Freshman Joe Colborne contributed at 14:40 of the final period on a pass from Maiani and Patrick Mullen.
Despite defeating the Pioneers in face-offs (37-29), the Seawolves allowed a season-high 42 shots on net and only peppered Cheverie with 26 shots. Olthuis was credited with 36 saves for a 5-7-1 record and Cheverie tallied 24 saves and improved his record to 16-7-3.
The game was plagued with penalties for a combined 48 minutes. UAA was tagged for 13 and DU added 11, with both teams being penalized seven times during the second period. DU went 2-10 on the man advantage, while the Seawolves were 1-6, adding their first power play goal since Jan. 17 against Minnesota State.
The Pioneers remain in first place in the WCHA conference with 26 points, two ahead of Wisconsin. UAA continues to hold down ninth place in the standings with 14 points, seven ahead of last-place Michigan Tech.
The Seawolves will return to Magness Arena tomorrow night for the conference rematch against the Pioneers at 5:07 p.m. (AST).
