MINNEAPOLIS Freshman Tyler Bozak (Regina, Saskatchewan) netted his first career hat trick, including two shorthanded goals, and Peter Mannino (Farmington Hills, Mich.) stopped 32 shots to lead No. 7 Denver to a 4-1 win and series sweep of No. 8 Minnesota this afternoon before 9,898 fans at Mariucci Arena.

 

Denver improves to 6-2-0 and 3-1-0 in the WCHA, while Minnesota falls to 4-4-0, 0-4-0. The sweep was Denver’s first at Minnesota since Dec. 10-11, 1994.

 

Blake Wheeler beat Mannino five-hole from the left slot to give Minnesota a 1-0 lead at 11:33 of the first period, but Bozak responded with a nifty one-on-one goal at 16:13. Rhett Rakhshani (Huntington Beach, Calif.) regained the lead for Denver with a power-play goal at 17:26.

 

After a scoreless second period, Bozak netted a shorthanded goal on a pretty breakaway at 6:25 of the final stanza. Minnesota pulled goaltender Alex Kangas to created a 6-on-4 advantage during a five-minute power play near the end of the game, but Bozak tallied his second shorthanded goal with an empty net at 18:07 to ice the win.

 

Brock Trotter (Brandon, Manitoba) added two assists for Denver, who went 1-for-4 on the power play. Minnesota outshot Denver, 33-23, but went 0-for-6 with the man advantage.

 

The Pioneers return to action against Minnesota State on Nov. 16-17.

 

Notes: Denver sophomores and freshmen have scored 24 of the team’s 25 goals this season. Mannino is tied for ninth on DU’s all-time wins list with 44.

 

Game #8

#7 Denver 4, #8 Minnesota 1

Sunday, November 4, 2007

Mariucci Arena (9,898)

 

Scoring        1-2-3--F

Denver         2-0-2--4

Minnesota     1-0-0--1

 

1st Period

1. MINN Blake Wheeler 4 (Evan Kaufmann 1, Tony Lucia 2) 11:33

2. DU Tyler Bozak 3 (Brock Trotter 5) 16:13

3. DU Rhett Rakhshani 2 (Trotter 6, Tyler Ruegsegger 4) PPG, 17:26

2nd Period

No Scoring

3rd Period

4. DU Bozak (Unassisted) SHG, 6:23

5. DU Bozak (Unassisted) SHG, ENG, 18:07

 

Shots on Goal: DU (10-10-3--23); MINN (13-8-12--33)

Saves: DU Peter Mannino (12-8-12--32) 59:57; MINN Alex Kangas (8-10-1--19) 59:15

Penalties: DU 11-33, MINN 8-16

Power Plays: DU 1-4, MINN 0-6

Referee: Jon Campion; Assistants: Brad Shepherd, Jeff Schultz.