Jan. 26, 2002
Box Score
The No. 1-ranked University of Denver hockey team never got on track offensively and lost for just the third time this season, falling to No. 4-ranked Minnesota, 6-1, Saturday at Mariucci Arena. The Pioneers allowed three power play goals by the Gophers, after not allowing one to UM since the 1998-88 season, snapping a streak of 24-consecutive kills by Denver over Minnesota. It also marked the most goals allowed by Denver this season.
Just like last night, the Golden Gophers controlled the play through most of the opening period. Denver did not register a shot on goal until the 9:20 mark, while UM peppered sophomore Adam Berkhoel (Woodbury, Minn.) with seven shots. Minnesota notched the first goal of the game at the 17:58 mark. Skating on the power play, Denver's defense broke down, leaving three UM forwards all alone in front of Berkhoel. The Pioneer sophomore made three great saves, but was unable to make the fourth point-blank save as Johnny Pohl lifted the puck over the sprawled out Berkhoel. Prior to that power play marker, Denver had killed off 24 consecutive UM power plays, not allowing an extra-attack goal to Minnesota since the 1998-99 campaign. Minnesota closed the first period outshooting Denver 17-6. If not for the great play of Berkhoel, the Pioneers could have found themselves in much more trouble, but took just a 1-0 deficit into the locker room at the intermission.
Minnesota continued to control the tempo of the game, and took a 2-0 lead at 13:01as Erik Wendell put a puck on net that just trickled through Berkhoel and over the goal line. The Pioneers needed a 5-on-3 power play to notch their first goal as sophomore Connor James (Calgary, Alberta) found sophomore Lukas Dora (Lednice, Czech Republic) at the side of the UM net. Dora redirected the puck into the net to cut the Minnesota lead in half. Just two-minutes, 42-seconds later, the Gophers regained the two-goal advantage as Keith Ballard beat Berkhoel. Minnesota outshot Denver 15-9 in the middle stanza and held a 32-15 advantage in shots on goal through 40-minutes of play.
Minnesota opened the third period with 1:59 remaining on a power play opportunity and increased its lead to 4-1 as Ballard notched his second goal of the game, wristing a puck on net that found its way under Berkhoel. On its next power play opportunity, Minnesota again made good as Jeff Taffe beat Berkhoel, giving the Golden Gophers a commanding 5-1 lead. Just one minute, 56 seconds later, UM defenseman Jordan Leopold jumped up into the play and notched his 15th goal of the season, extending the Gopher lead to 6-1.
After seeing just a combined eight penalties between the two teams Friday, the Pioneers and Gophers were called for 29 minors tonight. Denver was 1-for-8 on the power play, while Minnesota capitalized three times on seven extra-attacker situations.
Denver (23-3-0, 16-2-0) will return to Colorado for a two-game series against in-state rival Colorado College. The Pioneers and Tigers will play a home-and-home series Friday (Feb. 1) and Saturday (Feb. 2). Friday's contest will be at Magness Arena, with the puck slated to drop at 7:35 p.m. Saturday, Denver will head south to Colorado Springs to close the season-series at World Arena. That game is scheduled to start at 7:05 p.m. Saturday. Once again, the Pioneers and Tigers will be playing for the "Gold Pan", an official mining tool. The Pioneers need a tie or a win to return the gold pan to Magness Arena.
