March 18, 2005

Box Score

ST. PAUL, Minn. - Junior Gabe Gauthier (Buena Park, Calif.) scored both Pioneer goals, including the game-winning tally and sophomore Glenn Fisher (Edmonton, Alberta) won his most important game as a Pioneer in the team's 2-1 overtime win over 13th-ranked North Dakota in the semifinals of the Red Baron WCHA Final Five today before 13,132 fans at the Xcel Energy Center.

Gauthier scored the deciding goal just 42 seconds into overtime and Fisher turned in a sparkling performance in net with 29 saves as the second-ranked Denver Pioneers (27-9-2) advance to the championship game of the Final Five tomorrow night against Colorado College (29-7-3), while North Dakota (21-14-5) will play in the third-place game against Minnesota (26-13-1). The win was also Denver head coach George Gwozdecky's 400th career win in 19 years of collegiate coaching.

After the teams traded goals in the first period and played scoreless second and third periods, Gauthier lit the lamp with his third game-winning goal of the season and 10th of his three-year career. Adrian Veideman (Sicamous, B.C.) started the play by scooping up a loose puck in the neutral zone and taking it into the North Dakota zone. Veideman waited for Gauthier and sent the puck to the Pioneer's leading scorer at the right faceoff circle. Gauthier skated across the slot with the puck and beat North Dakota goaltender Philippe Lamoureux (30 saves) with high cheese to the glove side to end the game. The game-winning play was the second consecutive for the Gauthier and Veideman duo. Gauthier assisted on Veideman's game-winning score in Denver's 1-0 win over Michigan Tech on March 12.

"It seems Gabe saves some of his best play for the playoffs," Gwozdecky said of the junior who also scored the game-winning goal in the championship game in last year's Frozen Four. "Glenn was terrific in net, playing really well when his teammates weren't playing their best."

Gauthier gave Denver an early 1-0 lead when he scored the team's first power-play goal in five games. Gauthier slid in his 19th goal on a great feed from Paul Stastny (St. Louis, Mo.) at 4:29 of the first period. North Dakota's Nick Fuher answered with his sixth goal on the power play at 10:03. Fuher's equalizer beat Fisher high to the stick side. Denver outshot North Dakota, 13-10, in the opening stanza. Lamoureux kept it tied with a key stop on a Jeff Drummond (Leduc, Alberta) breakaway near the end of the period.

The teams played scoreless a second period, but North Dakota outplayed and outshot (12-8) the Pioneers. Fisher played a strong period with 12 saves. Lamoureux was equal to the task with eight stops of his own.

The intensity picked up for both teams in the third period, but neither team could muster a goal. Both teams had several good scoring chances, but Lamoureux and Fisher turned the game into a goaltender's showcase. Lamoureaux shined in the first part of the period with several big saves on shots from Luke Fulghum (Colorado Springs, Colo.), Brett Skinner (Brandon, Manitoba) and Gauthier, while Fisher thwarted shots by Travis Zajac and Andy Schneider from the low slot near the end of the stanza.

North Dakota was outshot by Denver, 32-30, and gave a gutsy effort in its third loss to the Pioneers this season. Both teams finished 1-for-5 on the power play and both teams committed six penalties for 12 minutes.

Denver won its fourth consecutive game and remained unbeaten (3-0-7) in its last 10 overtime games since a season-ending 3-2 overtime loss at North Dakota on March 16, 2003. Gauthier has scored seven points in his last four games, while Stastny has added six points in the same span.

The Pioneers will play second-seed Colorado College in the championship tilt (6:37 p.m. MT) tomorrow night. The game will be televised live by FSN-Rocky Mountain, North and Detroit and broadcast live locally in Denver on KKFN AM 950 "The Fan" and DenverPioneers.com.