Box Score DENVER - No. 15 Denver returned from the holiday break with a solid 3-1 win over No. 10 Union before a sellout crowd of 6,053 Friday night at Magness Arena.
Denver (9-7-3) started fast with first-period goals from Drew Shore (Denver, Colo.), Joey LaLeggia (Burnaby, British Columbia) and Shawn Ostrow (Calgary, Alberta) and Juho Olkinuora (Helsinki, Finland) made a career-high 42 saves in the win.
Jeremy Welsh scored for Union (9-4-5) and Colin Stevens took the loss after yielding two power-play goals in the first eight minutes of the game.
David Makowski (Wildwood, Mo.) added two assists for the Pioneers, who improved to 3-2 in nonconference action this season.
"It's a whole different mindset when you get an early lead" DU head coach George Gwozdecky said. "We were able to get an early goal, clamp things down and we got some great goaltending tonight. That's the way we have to play to be successful."
Shore ripped a wrist shot from the left circle past Stevens at 5:33 of the first period. Makowski earned the single assist on the power-play goal.
LaLeggia one-timed a Nick Shore (Denver, Colo.) feed from the point past Stevens on the power play to make it 2-0 at 7:55 of the first. Makowski earned the other assist.
Troy Grosenick relieved Stevens, but Ostrow buried a loose puck in the low slot to give DU a commanding 3-0 at 11:47. Paul Phillips (Darien, Ill.) and Chris Knowlton (Colorado Springs, Colo.) were credited with the assists.
Welsh stopped the bleeding for Union moments later with a power-play goal at 14:45.
DU was outshot 43-28, but went 2-for-4 on power play. Union finished 1-for-3 with the man advantage.
The Pioneers play at Air Force tomorrow night. Puck drop at Cadet Ice Arena is set for 6:05 p.m.
Notes: Olinuora is 4-5-2 with a 2.29 goals against average and .922 save percentage. Olkinuora's previous career high was 38 saves against Princeton on Nov. 25. Beau Bennett (Gardena, Calif.), John Ryder (Colorado Springs), Adam Murray (Anchorage, Alaska) and Sam Brittain (Calgary, Alberta) missed the game with injuries. Jason Zucker (Las Vegas) missed the game as he is captaining Team USA at the IIHF World Junior Championship.
