St. Cloud, Minn. – Eight penalties proved insurmountable for the No. 5 Denver Pioneers (5-2-1, 2-2-0-0) as the No. 2 St. Cloud State Huskies (9-1-0, 4-0-0-0) defeated Denver, 4-3, to complete the weekend sweep in the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center on Saturday.
"There were moments they overwhelmed us and we got too emotional, myself included," Richard and Kitzia Goodman Head Coach
David Carle said. "We all need to look in the mirror how we can get better and stick together. It's moments of adversity where you get to grow"
The Huskies scored a pair of power-play goals in their fourth-straight victory, while the Pioneers' highlights came from
Cole Guttman's two-goal game and
Devin Cooley's 37-save performance. St. Cloud State outshot Denver, 41-18.
Guttman started the scoring for the second consecutive night, breaking the puck out of the defensive zone before finishing the play on a net-front feed from
Les Lancaster at 6:38 of the first period.
Jarid Lukosevicius had the secondary assist to extend his point streak to eight games. The Pioneers took a two-goal lead at 15:14 of the frame when
Brett Stapley received a pass from
Tyler Ward, carried the puck around the net and found
Liam Finlay skating alone into the slot. St. Cloud State's Nick Perbix responded to Denver's second goal with a wrist shot from the right circle only 37 seconds later to make it 2-1 at the first intermission.
Jared Resseguie's five-minute major for kneeing set up the Huskies for Blake Lizotte's game-tying goal at 3:30 of the second period. The Pioneers appeared to regain the lead skating four-on-four shortly after, but Lukosevicius' one-timer was negated by Guttman's interference penalty only seconds earlier. St. Cloud State responded with an opportunity of its own after its minor penalty expired and the Pioneers were forced to defend a 45-second five-on-three power play. The Huskies' scoring chance heightened as
Michael Davies and
Colin Staub broke their sticks, though Denver was able to survive the scramble and force a whistle. Easton Brodzinski would later convert for St. Cloud State on a separate power play at 14:21 of the second period. Denver tied the game with 2:22 left in the frame as Guttman took a pass from Resseguie and fired a snap shot past David Hrenak.
The 3-3 tie held through 9:07 of the third period before Jack Ahcan moved from behind the net and found Kevin Fitzgerald at the hash marks to give the Huskies a 4-3 advantage. The Pioneers attempt at late-game heroics appeared to be thwarted by a pair of penalties with 2:49 remaining in regulation, but the Huskies' left hope with penalties of their own to give Denver a brief, unsuccessful power play with the empty net before the final horn.
Denver finished 0/3 on the power play and 7/9 on the penalty kill.
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