Box Score BURLINGTON, Vt. - No. 9/11 Denver rallied from a two-goal deficit to post a 5-3 win at Vermont in season-opening NCAA college hockey action tonight in front of a sellout crowd at Gutterson Fieldhouse.
Sophomores Matt Donovan (Edmond, Okla.) and Drew Shore (Denver) led Denver with two goals each and Adam Murray (Anchorage, Alaska) got the win with 27 saves. Senior Jesse Martin (Edmonton, Alberta) added a goal and an assist and senior Anthony Maiani (Shelby Township, Mich.) added two assists.
Wahsontiio Stacey led Vermont with two goals. Rob Madore took the loss with 15 saves.
"I thought we did a lot of things well tonight," DU head coach George Gwozdecky said. "Our penalty killers were very good, especially Adam Murray. We leaned on our seniors tonight and it's nice to start the season with a win."
Vermont jumped to a 2-0 lead on a pair of goals from Stacey. The senior buried a loose puck in the slot past Murray on the power play at 6:15 of the first and scored again at 6:08 of the second off a feed from Nick Bruneteau.
After a potential power-play goal by the Catamounts was waved off in the second period, DU regained some momentum when Shore scored on a quick wrist shot at 10:43 to cut the lead to 2-1.
Donovan tied the game at 2-2 when he scored shorthanded off a great play and pass from Maiani and Martin at 18:47 of the middle stanza.
Donovan gave DU its first lead when he beat Madore high to the stick side at 6:31 of the third and Martin scored after DU killed off a 5-on-3 Vermont advantage for 1:31 in the third.
Vermont pulled Madore late in the third for a 6-on-5 advantage and Chris McCarthy scored with 2:10 remaining to cut the DU lead to 4-3.
After a point-blank save from Murray, Shore iced the win with an unassisted empty-net goal at 19:32 for his first career two-goal game.
Vermont outshot DU, 30-20, and went 1-for-7 on the power play. DU was 1-for-1 with the man-advantage.
DU and Vermont play game two of the series tomorrow night at 5:05 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on FM 87.7 The TICKET. Fan can also follow the action on CoveritLive.com.
