DULUTH, Minn. – Freshman Aidan Thompson scored in overtime on Saturday night to give the No. 1 Denver Pioneers hockey team a 4-3 win and second-straight comeback victory over the Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs at Amsoil Arena.
 
Denver (14-4-0, 8-2-0 NCHC), which erased a two-goal deficit in a 3-2 OT win on Friday, is on a season-long five-game winning streak and has won six consecutive road contests—all against NCHC opponents.

"Sometimes you don't get to pick how the game is going to unfold in front of you, and it was a choppy game throughout the night," said Richard and Kitzia Goodman hockey head coach David Carle. "It just felt like there were just a lot of whistles and breakages (in play), 72 faceoffs in a game—that's a lot. We found a way and Magnus (Chrona) was excellent. It's funny to think that it was the same shot total, but the workload was much different and more immense, heavier lift for him tonight. He made some remarkable saves to keep it 2-2, keep it 3-2."
 
Thompson's tally was his fourth of the campaign and his first career game-winning marker. The Fort Collins, Colorado, native stole the puck from behind UMD's Wyatt Kaiser and drove toward the net before releasing a wrist shot that went over goaltender's Matthew Thiessen's near shoulder at 3:01 of overtime.
 
Casey Dornbach, Carter Mazur and McKade Webster also scored for the Pioneers, and goaltender Magnus Chrona made 23 saves, including on a point-blank attempt in overtime by Minnesota Duluth (8-10-0, 4-6-0 NCHC).
 
The victory is Carle's 100th of his career, becoming the fifth head coach in program history to achieve the milestone. Carle accomplished the feat in only 160 games, the second-fastest among Pioneer coaches to reach the century mark behind only Murray Armstrong (143 games) and five games faster than predecessor Jim Montgomery (165 games).
 
Just like on Friday night, the Pioneers received a goal early in the third period from Mazur to tie the contest at 2-2, but UMD retook the lead on a tally from Luke Mylymok with 9:07 left in regulation.
 
The advantage didn't last for the Bulldogs, as Webster knocked in a loose puck near the crease 4:20 later to knot the outing once again and eventually force overtime.
 
Both teams tallied their only the power-play goals of the game in the opening stanza, as Dornbach scored at 8:03 before Dominic James buried a man-advantage marker for Minnesota Duluth with 6.6 seconds remaining in the frame.
 
Thiessen finished the contest in goal for Duluth and made four-of-seven saves after entering at 5:46 of the third period. Zach Stejskal started in net and made 21 saves on 23 shots before leaving the game.
 
Denver won its third overtime game of the season and improved to 3-1-0 in extra time contests in 2022-23.
 
UP NEXT: Denver now returns to Magness Arena to start a season-long six-game homestand. The team hosts the Lindenwood Lions next weekend in its final two contests before the holiday break.
 
 
POSTGAME NOTES

• Denver has won three straight games vs. Duluth and is now 131-88-13 all-time in the series and owns a 48-44-8 mark on the road against the Bulldogs.
• DU has now won eight of its last nine games (8-1-0).
• The Pioneers' six-game road winning streak is their longest since Jan. 21-March 2017.
• Denver picked up its first weekend sweep at Minnesota Duluth since Dec. 1-2, 2017.
• DU earned its sixth comeback win of the year.
• Massimo Rizzo had his career-long four-game goal streak come to an end, but he did record an assist to extend his point streak to five games (4g/1a).
• Defenseman Mike Benning extended his season-long, point streak to five games (3g/5a).
• Jack Devine (0g/3a) and Carter Mazur (2g/1a) are on three-game point streaks.
• Mazur tallied for the second-straight game and tied his career high with 14 goals on the season.
• David Carle picked up his 100th career win as the head coach of the Pioneers, becoming the fifth coach in program history to reach the century mark, joining Murray Armstrong, Ralph Backstrom, George Gwozdecky and Jim Montgomery. Carle reached the feat in 160 games, second-fastest among Pioneer coaches behind Armstrong (143 games) and five games faster than his predecessor Montgomery (165 games). In addition, his .666

 
GOAL SUMMARY
1st Period
8:03 DU (1-0) – PPG, Casey Dornbach received a pass from Tristan Broz and scored with a wrister from the mid-slot.
19:56 UMD (1-1) – PPG, Dominic James found the far-side, top corner with a wrist shot.
 
2nd Period
10:42 UMD (1-2) – Tanner Laderoute took a pass from Jesse Jacques and scored from the slot.
 
3rd Period
1:22 DU (2-2) – Mike Benning dropped the puck in the neutral zone for Carter Mazur, who took it the along the boards and scored from a tough-angle shot near the goal line.
10:33 UMD (2-3) – Luke Mylymok tallied with a back-hand shot near the crease.
15:13 DU (3-3) – McKade Webster knocked the puck into the cage after Carter King's shot caromed off the end wall and landed near the crease.
 
Overtime
3:01 DU (4-3) – Aidan Thompson stole the puck in the corner, drove to the net and tallied top shelf with a flip of the stick.
 
 
TICKETS: Single-game tickets and five-game packs are on sale now. Click here for more.
 
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