DENVER – The No. 6 Denver Pioneers hockey team returned to action after a two-week pause with a 5-2 victory against the No. 15 Omaha Mavericks on Saturday night at Magness Arena.
 
DU's second line of senior Cameron Wright (two goals, one assist) and freshmen Carter Mazur (three assists) and Massimo Rizzo (one goal, two assists) each contributed three points, and junior Bobby Brink also had a multi-point effort with a goal and an assist.
 
Senior captain Cole Guttman sealed the game with an empty-net marker with 54 seconds remaining, and Colorado Avalanche prospect Sean Behrens and sophomore Carter Savoie each contributed a helper in the contest. Junior goaltender Magnus Chrona had another relatively quiet night, stopping 20-of-22 shots to pick up his 12th victory of the season.
 
The first period was fairly-tightly played, but it was the Pioneers (13-5-1, 6-3-0 NCHC) that found twine with Rizzo opening the scoring at 7:41. Mazur created the goal by gathering his own rebound near the goal crease and feeding a pass over to Rizzo, who easily knocked in the puck from the other side of the net.
 
Denver doubled its lead in the second frame with Brink cleaning up a rebound just 20 seconds after the intermission, and Wright gave DU a 3-1 advantage with 9:48 left in the stanza.
 
Wright tallied his second of the night at 11:43 of the third period, which was also his 12th goal of the season to tie Savoie for the team lead. The marker came at a crucial time for the Pios as the Mavs were starting to gain momentum with their play.
 
Omaha's only goals in the contest resulted from Denver penalties, as Kevin Conley scored on the power play with 6:06 remaining in the second period and Taylor Ward tallied five seconds after Savoie left the penalty box late in the third period. UNO (14-7-0, 4-5-0 NCHC) went 1-for-7 on the power play, while Denver was scoreless on all four of its chances.
 
DU outshot Omaha 34-22 in the contest and has now scored at least four goals in all 10 home games this year. The Pioneers have an 9-0-1 record on the year at Magness Arena, with their 10-game unbeaten streak tied for fourth-longest to begin a campaign in program history.
 
Denver was slated to play St. Cloud State this weekend while Omaha was set to face off against North Dakota, but COVID-19 issues with both the SCSU and UND programs forced those series to be postponed to a later date. The matchup between DU and UNO worked out ideally for both squads as the Pioneers were supposed to play in Omaha last weekend, but that series was postponed due to COVID protocols with the Mavericks.
 
The teams wrap up this series on Sunday at 6 p.m. MT at DU. The game will be streamed live on NCHC.tv and can be heard on ESPN Denver 1600 AM or at DenverPioneers.com.
 
 
POSTGAME NOTES

• Bobby Brink's goal at 0:20 of the second period was the fastest to begin a period by a Denver player this year (Previous: Cole Guttman, 0:24, 3rd period, vs. Air Force, Oct. 16, 2022).
• DU is now 34-11-5 all time and 20-3-2 at home against the Mavericks.
• The Pioneers have improved to 8-0-1 when leading after the first period.
• Denver has a 13-1-1 record when scoring four or more goals in a game this season.
• The Pioneers have now allowed 30 or fewer shots on goal in 16 games and have allowed 25 or less in 12 contests.
• Cameron Wright scored his first game-winning goal of the season.
• Bobby Brink is on a three-game point streak, also increasing career-high point total to 27 on the season. He now has seven points (2g/5a) on his streak and has contributed 19 points (5g/14a) in the last 11 contests dating back to Nov. 12 vs. Western Michigan.
• Cameron Wright, Carter Mazur and Massimo Rizzo each picked up points together, with Mazur and Rizzo picking up the primary and secondary assists, respectively, on each of Wright's two goals.

 
 
GOAL SUMMARY
1st Period
1:49 DU (1-0) – Carter Mazur gathered his own rebound from the left side before feeding the puck through the crease and onto the stick of Massimo Rizzo, who knocked in the game-opening tally.
 
2nd Period
0:20 DU (2-0) – Bobby Brink buried a loose puck in the blue paint following Sean Behrens' wraparound attempt.
6:06 UNO (2-1) – PPG, Kevin Conley scored from the right side.
10:13 DU (3-1) – Cameron Wright took quick, cross passes from Massimo Rizzo and Carter Mazur, kicked the puck onto his stick and scored into an open net from the left side of the crease.
 
3rd Period
11:43 DU (4-1) – Cameron Wright tallied his second of the game on a tap-in off a pass from Carter Mazur after Mike Benning forced an interception in the neutral zone.
16:44 UNO (4-2) – Taylor Ward scored seconds after a DU penalty expired.
19:06 DU (5-2) – ENG, Guttman skated the puck up the ice and backhanded a shot into the gaping net
 
 
TICKETS: Single-game tickets for the 2021-22 campaign can be purchased here.
 
CORONAVIRUS UPDATES: Masks are required at all indoor athletic events. For the latest University of Denver updates on the coronavirus, click here.

DONATE: Fans interested in making a donation to the Pioneers Athletic Fund can do so by clicking here. Your gift will transform the lives of our student-athletes by giving them the first-class resources needed to excel in the classroom and beyond. Thank you for Building Pioneers for Life!
 
Visit DenverPioneers.com for complete coverage of all 18 of DU's NCAA Division I sports
Like Denver Pioneers and Denver Hockey on Facebook
Follow @DU_Pioneers and @DU_Hockey on Twitter
Follow @DenverPioneers and @DU_Hockey on Instagram