April 9, 2005
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COLUMBUS, Ohio -- It has been a stretch to compare last season's Denver team to this one because their travels have been so vastly different.
One team took the long way, going through a series of trials that would have made many groups crumble. The next took what appeared, in comparison, to be the easy route, with only a few bumps between start and finish.
Different means, same result.
Freshman Paul Stastny scored twice, giving the Pioneers the lead in the second period and then supplementing it in the third as they defeated North Dakota 4-1 Saturday at Value City Arena.
It was Denver's seventh national championship, tying the Sioux for the second-highest total, and the Pioneers became the seventh team to earn two straight titles with a solid 44-save performance in goal from freshman Peter Mannino, the Frozen Four Most Outstanding Player. The Pioneers finished the season on a nine-game winning streak.
A year ago, Denver was a team in peril at midseason before pulling everything together on a championship run down the stretch. This season, there were no collapses, no major issues for the NCAA champs, who became the first team in three seasons to win it all with 30 wins or more.
Their Frozen Four success came first at the expense of rival Colorado College in the semifinals, then against a North Dakota team that was looking to complete an up-and-down season that mirrored Denver's of a year ago.
Travis Zajac scored his third goal of the Frozen Four for the Sioux (25-15-5), who outshot the Pioneers 45-24 but couldn't claim their eighth national title.
Two days after going 6-of-12 on the power play, Denver was 2-of-6 with the man advantage
Denver (32-9-2) ran its winning streak over North Dakota to five games, including all four this season.
Pioneers coach George Gwozdecky won his 400th career game against North Dakota in the WCHA Final Five semifinals on March 18, but opted to put off any celebration, hoping he'd be able to fete victory No. 405 a few weeks later.
Saturday night, his hopes materialized, thanks in large part to a goaltender in whom he placed his faith at a critical time.
Mannino, making his first back-to-back starts of the season, stood tall all night, making the routine saves and a handful of challenging ones.
With the game tied at 1 in the first period, North Dakota's Erik Fabian thought he had a tiebreaking goal on a third chance from close range when he lifted a shot from near the goal line on the right side that Mannino gloved, apparently just before it crossed the goal line. The play was reviewed but referee Steve Piotrowski eventually signaled no goal.
Mannino then made another key save with just under four minutes left, getting his pads down just fast enough to stop a Colby Genoway redirection of a Rory McMahon centering pass.
In the second period, Mannino had stops on a Rastislav Spirko redirection attempt off a pass and stopped Chris Porter's shot on a partial breakaway. He got a glove on a Nick Fuher power-play slapshot from the top of the zone in the third, then denied Mike Prpich on a shorthanded breakaway.
All that made Stastny's 16th goal of the season, 10 minutes, 8 seconds into the second period, stand up. Denver's Kevin Ulanski fired a power-play shot from the right boards into traffic in front, where it hit Stastny, who was fighting for position with North Dakota defenseman Matt Smaby, and deflected into the net.
Stastny added a power-play goal in the third period, leaning into a shot from the right circle. Gabe Gauthier slid a puck into an empty net with 36.9 seconds remaining to seal the deal.
The game's first three goals, including Stastny's first of the night, came on deflections. Ulanski and Zajac scored less than four minutes apart in the first period.
Ulanski's 12th goal of the season put the Pioneers ahead 6:15 into the game. Gabe Gauthier rushed up the middle and left the puck for Ulanski, who was pushed out to the left by the Sioux defense. But Ulanski threaded a pass into the crease and it went off Smaby's skate and into the net.
North Dakota got even on its first power play, 57 seconds after a high sticking call to Denver defenseman Andrew Thomas, with Zajac redirecting a Nick Fuher shot from high in the zone through his legs and then those of Mannino.
The Sioux, who fell to 7-5 in national championship games, held an advantage in shots on goal most of the night, and UND goaltender Jordan Parise, who entered the game on a 12-game unbeaten streak, made 20 saves.
But Mannino was the show in goal Saturday, winning the battle of the young goaltenders. The 20-year-old had allowed only four goals in his last five games entering the championship, and showed poise under pressure.
He wasn't around last season when the Pioneers won their first national championship in 34 years. No worries: He helped bring all the memories back again for everyone else Saturday night.
By Todd D. Milewski/WCHA Correspondent
All-Tournament Team
Forward - Gabe Gauthier, Denver
Forward - TRAVIS ZAJAC, North Dakota
Forward - Paul Stastny, Denver
Defense - Matt Carle, Denver
Defense - Brett Skinner, Denver
Goaltender - Peter Mannino, Denver
Most Outstanding Player - Peter Mannino, Denver
