Box Score MANKATO, Minn. - Senior captain
Kyle Ostrow's (Calgary, Alberta) goal at 18:44 of the third period lifted the No. 6 Denver Pioneers to a 4-4 overtime tie tonight at Minnesota State.
The Pioneers move to 13-5-5 overall and 9-3-3 in the WCHA with its third draw in their last five games. Minnesota State goes to 10-8-5, 4-8-3.
"We didn't play our best game, but battled like crazy the whole night," Denver head coach George Gwozdecky said. "We'll take the point knowing we'll be better tomorrow night."
Anthony Maiani (Shelby Township, Mich.) and Jason Zucker (Las Vegas, Nev.) led DU with a goal and an assist each and Luke Salazar (Thornton, Colo.) also scored. Freshman Sam Brittain (Calgary, Alberta) stopped 26 shots in the tie as Denver remains unbeaten at 2-0-3 in its last five games.
Chase Grant, Eli Zuck, Channing Boe and Justin Jokinen scored for the Mavericks. Phil Cook made 24 saves for Minnesota State.
Jokinen's goal at 18:13 of the third period gave the Mavericks a 4-3 lead until Ostrow's heroics 21 seconds later. DU pulled Brittain at 18:32 and Ostrow hacked in his own rebound in the low slot 12 seconds later. Maiani earned the lone assist on the game-tying goal.
The Mavericks opened the scoring when Grant beat Brittain on the power play with an assist going to Kurt Davis and at 11:46 on the first period. The Mavericks outshot Denver, 9-5, and went 1-for-3 on the power play in the opening period.
Maiani tucked in a rebound off a shot from Matt Donovan (Edmond, Okla.) on the power play at 3:21 of the second and Zucker buried a Drew Shore (Denver) pass from behind the net to give DU its first lead at 17:48. Chris Nutini (Centennial, Colo.) earned the second assist on the goal.
The one-goal lead was short-lived as Zuck beat Brittain 24 seconds later to knot the score at 2-2 heading to the final stanza.
Salazar made it 3-3 when he converted a Zucker pass at 11:28 of the third period. John Lee (Moorhead, Minn.) started the play and earned the second assist.
MSU outshot DU, 30-28, and went 1-for-4 on the power play in the game. DU finished 1-for-3 with the man-advantage.
The series finale is set for Saturday night at 6:07 p.m. MT.
Notes: The game started at 6:45 p.m. MT due to a late arrival by the referees. DU is third in the WCHA with 21 points. The Pioneers are tied for fifth in the latest PairWise rankings. Senior Joey Brehm (Edina, Minn.) made his second career and second consecutive regular-season appearance for Denver. Beau Bennett (Gardena, Calif.) returned to the lineup after missing five games with a right knee injury.
