DULUTH, Minn. No. 6/8 Denver tallied four power-play goals, including the game-winner from Rhett Rakhshani (Huntington Beach, Calif.) at 6:19 of the final stanza, in a 4-3 win at No. 17 Minnesota Duluth tonight.

 

Tyler Ruegsegger (Lakewood, Colo.) had two power-play goals and Patrick Wiercioch (Maple Grove, British Columbia) added one as Denver (17-8-3, 13-6-2) remained first in the WCHA with 28 points. Marc Cheverie (Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia) sparkled in net with 36 saves. Duluth falls to 14-9-6, 8-8-5 as its home unbeaten streak ends at nine games.

 

DU finished 4-for-7 with the man-advantage after recording a dismal 2-for-19 effort last weekend against Alaska Anchorage.

 

“Our power-play was really effective and Cheverie was our rock in net tonight” DU head coach George Gwozdecky said. “We knew our power play needed to improve and we had a smarter all-around effort to earn this important road win.”

 

Rakhshani backhanded his own rebound past Alex Stalock (20 saves) for the game-winning score after UMD forged a 3-3 tie at 2:10 of the third period on a goal by Cody Danberg.

 

DU’s Ruegsegger and UMD’s Mike Connolly each lit the lamp twice in an entertaining first period. Connolly scored on the power play at 7:15 before Ruegsegger scored on a one-timer on a 5x3 advantage at 8:31. Ruegsegger struck again at 9:52 before Connolly converted a costly DU turnover at 10:38.

 

DU carried a 3-2 lead into the final period on a wrist shot by Wiercioch from the high slot just 15 seconds into the second period. Rakhshani and Ruegsegger led DU with three-point efforts, while Wiercioch and Joe Colborne (Calgary, Alberta) added two points each.

 

UMD outshot DU, 39-24, but went 1-for-8 on the power play. The teams will play game two of the series tomorrow night at 6:07 p.m.

 

Notes: DU is eighth in the latest PairWise Rankings. The Pioneers lead second place Wisconsin by two points. Rakhshani has 7-714 in 11 career games against the Bulldogs. Wiercioch is third in the nation in rookie scoring and fourth in defenseman scoring. Jesse Martin returned to the DU lineup after missing two games with a lower body injury. DU leads the season series against Duluth, 3-0.