Feb. 11, 2005

Box Score

DENVER - Sophomore goaltender Glenn Fisher (Edmonton, Alberta) stopped 23 shots and senior Luke Fulghum (Colorado Springs, Colo.) scored one goal and added one assist to lead the third-ranked Denver Pioneers to a 4-3 win over fourth-ranked Wisconsin in WCHA action before 6,068 fans tonight at Magness Arena. Brett Skinner (Brandon, Manitoba), Paul Stastny (St. Louis, Mo.) and Jon Foster (Suffern, N.Y.) added goals as Denver won its eighth consecutive game and improved to 21-6-1 overall and 16-4-1 in league play. The Badgers fall to 20-8-1, 15-6-0. Denver remained in second place in the WCHA with 33 points, one point behind league-leading Colorado College, a 4-3 loser in overtime against St. Cloud State tonight. The Pioneers killed all five Wisconsin power-play opportunities, including a 5-on-3 advantage in the first period.

"We played pretty well and we're happy with the win," head coach George Gwozdecky said. "We had situations where we weren't as disciplined, but our penalty killed made up for that."

Robbie Earl gave the Badgers an early 1-0 lead when he jammed in a Joe Pavelski shot just 1:38 into the contest. Denver quickly answered when Fulghum lit the lamp at the 5:54 mark. Fulghum received a great feed from Matt Carle (Anchorage, Alaska) and his shot from the right faceoff circle beat Bernd Bruckler to the stick side. Skinner's blast from the high slot gave Denver a 2-1 lead at 11:03. The Pioneers dug the puck out of the right corner and Kevin Ulanski (Madison, Wis.) sent the puck to Skinner, who ripped his third goal of the season. Denver held the 2-1 lead after killing a 5-on-3 power play, but Wisconsin's Adam Burish tied the game on a shorthanded, breakaway goal with eight seconds left in the period. Denver outshot Wisconsin, 12-10, in the wild first period.

Stastny's 12th goal of the season gave Denver a 3-2 at 8:09 of the second period. Stastny walked the puck in from the left goal line and placed a perfect shot over the right shoulder of Bruckler. Wisconsin answered at the 18:31 when Earl tallied his second goal of the night on a breakawy. Foster's wrist shot at 16:44 of the period was the game winner for the Pioneers. Wisconsin outshot Denver, 9-8, as the home team held a one-goal lead heading to the final stanza.

Denver held on for the win with a defensive-minded third period. Fisher improved to 10-4-1 with a strong game in net for Denver. He keyed the penalty kill unit and earned the game's No. 1 star.

The Pioneers and Badgers will battle in game two of the series tomorrow night at 7:07 p.m. MT.