DENVER Kyle Ostrow (Calgary, Alberta) and Tyler Ruegsegger (Lakewood, Colo.) each recorded a goal and an assist to lead the No. 6/7 Denver Pioneers to a 5-1 victory over No. 17 University of Minnesota Duluth tonight before 6,048 fans at Magness Arena. Brock Trotter (Brandon, Manitoba), Anthony Maiani (Shelby Township, Mich.) and Brandon Vossberg (St. Paul, Minn.) also scored for the Pioneers, while senior goaltender Peter Mannino (Farmington Hills, Mich.) recorded 22 saves to earn the victory in net.
DU improves to 4-1-0 with the win, while UMD falls to 3-1-1.
“The score tonight was pretty misleading. It probably indicates that one team was more dominant than the other, which wasn’t true at all,” Denver head coach George Gwozdecky said. “We were very fortunate to get some outstanding goaltending from Peter Mannino.”
The Pioneers outshot the Bulldogs by a 9-4 margin during a scoreless first period.
Trotter opened the scoring after taking a cross-ice feed from Ostrow and burying a shot to UMD netminder Alex Stalock’s (25 saves) stick side at the 1:59 mark of the second period. UMD’s Jordan Fulton evened the game 42 seconds later.
Maiani then gave DU a 2-1 advantage at the 6:40 mark of the middle frame when he one-timed a Ruegsegger feed into the upper-right corner of the UMD goal. The Pioneers took a two-goal lead when an Ostrow shot was stopped by Stalock, but redirected off a UMD defender’s skate and trickled into the net at 11:39.
Vossberg and Ruegsegger added late third-period tallies at 17:58 and 18:47, respectively, to round out the scoring.
DU outshot UMD by a 30-23 margin. The Pioneers finished 1-for-6 on the power play, while the Bulldogs were held scoreless in five attempts.
The teams will meet again on Saturday at Magness Arena to finish off the weekend series. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:07 p.m. MT.
Notes: Tonight marked the 60th consecutive regular-season sellout at Magness Arena...The Pioneers have outscored their opponents 16-7 this season, while scoring the first goal in all five games...DU is 4-0 when holding opponents to one goal or less...The Pioneers held UMD without a power-play goal tonight, marking the first time since the season opener against Maine that DU has kept its opposition off the scoreboard with a man advantage.
