Box Score

DENVER – No. 12/14 North Dakota started fast and held on for a 4-3 win over No. 9/10 Denver in front of a sellout crowd of 6,119 Friday night at Magness Arena.

The Fighting Sioux jumped out to a 4-0 lead on goals by Corban Knight, Danny Kristo (penalty shot), Carter Rowney (power-play goal) and Stephane Pattyn, and held off a late three-goal flurry from Denver. North Dakota dominated much of the game and Brad Eidsness made 32 saves as the Fighting Sioux improve to 18-11-3, 14-10-1 WCHA.

Drew Shore (Denver, Colo.), Joey LaLeggia (Burnaby, British Columbia) and Jason Zucker (Las Vegas, Nev.) added three consecutive goals for Denver in the final six minutes, as the Pioneers fall to 18-11-4, 13-8-4 WCHA. Denver netminder Sam Brittain (Calgary, Alberta) took the loss with 28 saves.

“It’s hard to say anything good about that game, you have to give full credit to North Dakota, they were better than us in every department tonight,” DU head coach George Gwozdecky said. “As lopsided as that game was after one period, Sam Brittain was the difference, he kept the game close and gave us a chance. I am extremely disappointed.”

A wide-open Knight put North Dakota up 1-0 at 7:07 of the opening stanza. DU failed to capitalize on a five-minute power play and was outshot 17-4 in the first period.

Kristo was dragged down on a breakaway by defenseman Paul Phillips (Darien, Ill.) and gave the Sioux a 2-0 lead on the ensuing penalty shot at 7:21 of the middle frame.

Rowney made it 3-0 with a power-play goal at 6:16 of the third period and Pattyn made it 4-0 two minutes later and Brittain was replaced in net by Adam Murray (Anchorage, Alaska).

Drew Shore made it 4-1 with a goal at 14:34 of the final frame. Luke Salazar (Thornton, Colo.) and Ty Loney (Valencia, Pa.) recorded the assists.

LaLeggia cut the UND lead to 4-2 with a goal at 19:13 and Zucker scored with 11 seconds left to make the final 4-3.

North Dakota outshot Denver 35-29 and went 1-for-5 on the power play. DU was 1-for-3 on the man advantage.  

The Pioneers close out the series against the Sioux during Senior Night tomorrow at Magness Arena. Puck drop is set for 7:07 p.m. MT.

Notes: DU is 14^th in the latest PairWise Rankings. The Pioneers remain third in the WCHA standings with 30 points.