OMAHA, Neb. – The No. 3 Denver Pioneers hockey scored five unanswered goals to erase a two-goal deficit and defeat the Omaha Mavericks 5-2 on Saturday night at Baxter Arena.
 
Denver (23-8-1, 16-6-0 NCHC) tallied three times on the power play in the third period to turn a 2-1 deficit into a 4-2 lead, as Carter Savoie, Mike Benning and Cameron Wright all found the back of the net while DU had the man advantage. Benning scored the go-ahead goal with 4:49 remaining and one second after a 5-on-3 expired, and Wright tallied with 1:04 left to push DU's lead to two.
 
Benning recorded his second goal and third point of the game into an empty net 15 seconds after Wright's marker to complete the five-goal run.
 
Brett Stapley began Denver's comeback by scoring at 17:10 of the second period, and Cole Guttman added two assists in the game. DU goaltender Matt Davis made 20 saves for his second career win and helped the Pios split the weekend after losing 5-1 on Friday night.
 
Omaha (20-14-0, 10-12-0 NCHC) tallied 2:55 into the game and then doubled its lead with a power-play marker from Taylor Ward with 5:07 left in the middle frame. However, Stapley cut the Pioneers' deficit in half 2:17 later with a wrist shot from the slot after receiving a pass from McKade Webster to start Denver's come-from-behind bid.
 
Savoie knotted the game at 2-2 at 9:02 of the third period on a one-timer from the right circle while UNO's Nolan Sullivan was off for holding, and the Pios then capitalized twice more during a too many men penalty at 13:10 and a major boarding call on Jimmy Glynn at 13:56.
 
Denver finished 3-for-6 on the power play, while Omaha went 1-for-4.
 
Davis was playing in his fifth game of the season and making his third career start. It was his first start since Oct. 23 at Boston College, as Magnus Chrona had started each of the previous 25 games for the Pioneers.
 
Denver has one week left in the regular season, as the team will face rival Colorado College in a home-and-home series next weekend. DU will wrap up its season-long five-game road swing on Friday at 7:30 p.m. MT at Ed Robson Arena before hosting the CC Tigers on Saturday at 7 p.m. MT at Magness Arena.


POSTGAME NOTES

• Bobby Brink recorded an assist to reach the 50-point threshold of the season. He is the first Pioneer to record 50 or more points in a season since Henrik Borgstrom in 2017-18 (52).
• Mike Benning recorded three points in a game for the second time this season (1g/2a, Nov. 20 vs. Miami) and had his third multi-goal game of the season.
• Matt Davis picked up his first win since posting a shutout in his first career start on Nov. 16 vs. Air Force.
• DU scored three power-play goals for the sixth time this season.
• The Pioneers are in second place in the NCHC standings with 47 points and trail first-place North Dakota by four points. Denver will need to win both of its games next weekend against Colorado College and need two losses by UND to win the Penrose Cup.

GOAL SUMMARY
1st Period
2:55 UNO (0-1) – Joey Abate shot from the blue line got through traffic and found the back of the net.
 
2nd Period
14:53 UNO (0-2) – PPG, Taylor Ward fired the loose puck into the net from the low slot.
17:10 DU (1-2) – Brett Stapley took a pass from McKade Webster and scored with a wrist shot from the mid-slot.
 
3rd Period
9:02 DU (2-2) – PPG, Carter Savoie scored on a one-timer from the right circle after taking a pass from Mike Benning.
15:11 DU (3-2) – PPG, Mike Benning and Bobby Brink traded passes before Benning tallied on a one-time shot from the left circle to give Denver the lead.
18:56 DU (4-2) – PPG, Cameron Wright took the puck after Nebraska goalie Austin Roden turned it over behind the net and scored with a backhand shot in front.
19:11 DU (5-2) – ENG, Mike Benning scored into an open net.
 
 
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