DENVER – The University of Denver hockey team picked up a 10-0 victory over the UNLV Rebels on Saturday at Magness Arena in an exhibition contest to start the 2022-23 campaign.
 
The defending national champion Pioneers began the night with three goals in the first period before doubling their lead in the second. Sophomore Carter King scored two goals in the first two frames before recording his hat-trick marker with 5:33 to play.
 
"It's just good to get live reps against guys not in our own jersey," said Richard and Kitzia Goodman Hockey Head Coach David Carle. "I thought [Carter] King's confidence just continues to grow within the program, and that is an exciting development… I thought at times we played really fast and direct, and we were able to make things happen and those will be some likes certainly from parts of the ice."
 
King also had a pair of assists for a five-point night while centering a line with newcomers Rieger Lorenz and Jared Wright.
 
"I think playing with two freshmen, a lot of it was just playing simple, for them to kind of get used to the pace and get used to everything," King said. "It's a couple guys that can skate really fast. I think the other team struggled with that, so we used that to our advantage today."
 
DU added four goals in the third frame to reach double-digits, with all four tallies coming on the power play. The Pios finished 5-for-9 with the man advantage.
 
Denver outshot Nevada Las Vegas 52-18, as goaltenders Magnus Chrona and Matt Davis shared the shutout. Chrona made the start and stopped all 12 shots he faced before giving way in the third period to Davis, who made six saves.
 
Sean Behrens, McKade Webster, Lorenz and Wright all had one goal and one assist in the contest, while Jack Devine (three assists), Shai Buium (two assists) and Mike Benning (two assists) registered multi-point nights as well. Carter Mazur, Brett Edwards and Tyler Haskins were also part of the group of eight Pioneers that tallied markers in the game.
 
POSTGAME NOTES

• Denver improved 42-25-7 all-time in exhibition games and is 36-7-5 in season-opening exhibitions.
• The Pioneers won their seventh-straight exhibition contest, which dates back to 2014.
• DU's 10-0 margin of victory was the program's largest in a pre-season contest since a 17-4 win vs. Denver Alumni on Oct. 6, 1984.
• The Pios were facing an ACHA opponent in an exhibition for the second-straight year after hosting now-D-I Lindenwood last year.
• Forward Jack Devine turned 19 years old on Saturday.

 
GOAL SUMMARY
1st Period
4:40 DU (1-0) – PPG, Carter King scored on a rebound in front after taking a pass from Jack Devine along the boards.
12:29 DU (2-0) – Sean Behrens scored on a slap shot from the left point after a cross feed from Lucas Olvestad.
18:06 DU (3-0) – PPG, Carter Mazur's shot from the right circle was tipped by a Rebels defender and the puck fluttered into the net.
 
2nd Period
4:21 DU (4-0) – Jared Wright took a pass from Carter King in the slot, skated past a UNLV defender and scored by depositing the puck between the legs of the goaltender.
12:03 DU (5-0) – McKade Webster and Jared Wright traded passes before Webster scored on a shot in the slot just as a UNLV power play expired.
12:41 DU (6-0) – Carter King grabbed a loose puck in the high slot, turned, shot and scored.
 
3rd Period
6:28 DU (7-0) – PPG, Rieger Lorenz scored after a bouncing puck found him open at the right circle.
13:44 DU (8-0) – PPG, Brett Edwards found twine with a wrister in the slot.
14:27 DU (9-0) – PPG, Carter King completed the hat trick with a redirection off a pass from Jack Devine.
15:37 DU (10-0) – PPG, Tyler Haskins tallied on a snap shot from the left circle.
 
QUOTABLES
Head Coach David Carle
On facing UNLV: "I think they're obviously a high-level program at that level (ACHA), and we played Lindenwood last year and it was a good experience. You know, there are some logistical challenges with the current rules where they're at, getting a Canadian school to come down for just one game when CC and Air Force play each other. So we kind of got put into a situation where we needed to find a game and to get Lindenwood last year and UNLV this year is a really positive thing. UNLV has a great program and we're thrilled to have them out."
 
Sophomore forward Carter King
On the win: "With the amount of new guys that we have, we have been doing a lot of system work in practices and being able to finally put that into a game against a different opponent I think is really important for us and will definitely help us next week."
 
Junior forward McKade Webster
On early-season preparation: "We face every opponent the same way. It doesn't matter who you are, we want to win at the end of the day."

UP NEXT: The Pioneers open the regular season by co-hosting the Ice Breaker Tournament versus Notre Dame and Maine on Oct. 7-8 at Magness Arena.
 
TICKETS: Single-game tickets, as well as five-game packs are on sale now. Full and half-season ticket packages are also available. Click here for more.

 
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