The No. 8 Denver Pioneers (20-10-1, 14-8-1 WCHA) recorded three special team goals in the second period en route to a 4-2 victory over the University of Alaska Anchorage (7-17-7, 3-17-5 WCHA) tonight in front of 6,033 fans at Magness Arena.
Rhett Rakhshani (Huntington Beach, Calif.) notched a power-play goal, while Chris Butler (St. Louis, Mo.) and Tyler Bozak (Regina, Saskatchewan) each added a short-handed tally in the second period to give DU a three-goal cushion. Senior netminder Peter Mannino (Farmington Hills, Mich.) stopped 24-of-26 shots to get the win.
The victory marked the seventh consecutive season DU has recorded at least 20 wins, while the Pioneers also improved to 13-3-1 at Magness Arena this year.
“I think everyone realized how big this game was for us,” Denver head coach George Gwozdecky said. “Our second period was huge, with the two short-handed goals and the power-play goal. We really needed that type of effort from our special teams.”
Each team scored on a point shot in the first period, with Kane Lafranchise striking for the Seawolves with a power-play goal at 10:15 and Patrick Mullen (Pittsburgh, Pa.) responding 48 seconds later with his fourth goal of the season. Mullen one-timed the rebound of a blocked Zach Blom (Englewood, Colo.) attempt and beat Seawolves netminder Jon Olthuis (30 saves) high to the glove side at 11:03.
Rakhshani gave DU a lead with his power-play goal from the left faceoff circle 1:04 into the second period before the Pioneers notched a pair of short-handed goals to take a 4-1 lead.
First, Butler deposited a feed from Kyle Ostrow (Calgary, Alberta) during a 2-on-1 break at 11:06, while Bozak then notched his fifth short-handed goal of the season off a feed from Jesse Martin (Edmonton, Alberta) on a nearly identical play at 18:40.
Luke Beaverson added a goal for UAA with 4:05 remaining to round out the scoring.
DU outshot UAA by a 34-26 margin and went 1-for-8 on the power play. The Seawolves finished 1-for-7 with the man-advantage.
Notes: DU ranks sixth in the latest PairWise Rankings...The Pioneers now rank first nationally with 10 short-handed goals...Bozak is tied for the national lead with five short-handed tallies...Stephen Cunningham (Boulder, Colo.) picked up his first collegiate point with an assist on Mullen’s first-period tally...DU has won all three match-ups against UAA this season...Mannino set a single-season career-high with his 19th victory of the year tonight...The netminder had 18 wins during his freshman campaign...DU has registered at least one power-play goal in 10 of its last 13 games...The Pioneers are 8-3 against unranked opponents this season.
