DENVER - No. 11 Denver rallied from a three-goal, first-period deficit to tie No. 19 Nebraska Omaha 3-3 Saturday night at Magness Arena. Shawn Ostrow (Calgary, Alberta), Jason Zucker (Las Vegas, Nev.) and Beau Bennett (Gardena, Calif.) lit the lamp for the Pioneers, who take three points from the Mavericks and improve to 5-3-3 overall, 4-2-3 WCHA.

Freshman Juho Olkinuora (Helsinki, Finland) recorded 22 saves in the game after replacing junior Adam Murray (Anchorage, Alaska) near the end of the first period. Murray made nine saves prior to leaving the ice with a lower-body injury.  

Jayson Megna, Josh Archibald and Michael Young all scored for the Mavericks and Dayn Belfour had 26 saves. With the tie, the Mavericks are 6-6-2, 5-3-2 WCHA.

“The first 20 minutes were far from acceptable,” DU head coach George Gwozdecky said. “But the silver lining is that we fought back, made it a heck of a game and had some chances to win, and that’s a good thing.”

Nebraska Omaha capitalized early on a John Lee (Moorhead, Minn.) turnover in the Denver zone as Jayson Megna scored unassisted at 2:01 of the opening frame. Archibald made it 2-0 at 5:25 on a feed from Megna and Johnnie Searfoss.

Murray left the game with 1:17 remaining in the first period after taking the brunt of a collision. Less than a minute later, Young greeted Olkinuora with a shot from center ice that gave Nebraska Omaha a commanding 3-0 lead.

Ostrow put the Pioneers on the board at 1:38 of the second, skating around the Nebraska Omaha net and pulling Belfour out of position. Dustin Jackson (Omaha, Neb.) and Chris Knowlton (Colorado Springs) recorded assists on Ostrow’s goal.

Zucker brought Denver within one at 13:13 of the middle frame as he broke into the Mavericks’ zone and beat Belfour stick-side. Drew Shore (Denver, Colo.) picked up an assist on the goal.

Bennett knotted the game at 3-3 with a power-play goal at 5:34 of the final period, firing a shot from the left circle past Belfour. Zucker and David Makowski (Wildwood, Mo.) tallied assists on the goal. 

UNO outshot Denver, 34-29, and went 1-for-3 on the power play. Denver went 1-for-4 with the man-advantage.

The Pioneers return to action in the Denver Cup Classic next weekend, hosting Princeton on Friday, Nov. 25 and Miami on Saturday, Nov. 26.

Notes: Beau Bennett has two goals and seven assists during his five-game point streak. Jackson, Ostrow, Drew Shore, and Zucker are all on three-game point streaks. Murray and John Ryder (Colorado Springs, Colo.) left the game with lower-body injuries and did not return.