FAIRBANKS, Alaska – The No. 4 University of Denver hockey team began the 2023-24 season with a 7-3 victory against the Alaska Fairbanks Nanooks at Carlson Center on Saturday night.
 
Seven Pioneers recorded multiple points, including three registering three or more. Junior Jack Devine led Denver with two goals and two assists, and sophomore defenseman Kent Anderson picked up his first career multi-point contest with two tallies and one assist. Junior Massimo Rizzo contributed three helpers for his third career three-assist outing.
 
Anderson's markers were also his first career goal and was joined in that category by freshman Boston Buckberger, who scored and had an assist in his NCAA debut. Fellow rookie Sam Harris had two helpers for his first collegiate points.
 
Senior McKade Webster and sophomore Aidan Thompson also found the back of the net in the third period, and goaltender Matt Davis made 20 saves while making his first career opening night start in net.
 
Alaska led 1-0 just 4:47 into the game off a shot from Jonny Sorenson, but the lead was short-lived as Anderson buried his first of two markers 34 seconds later to even the score. Buckberger tallied his first of his career at 9:02 of the period to give Denver the lead and continue the Pioneers' four-goal run.
 
The Pios took a 4-2 advantage going into the third period and added three more tallies with Devine notching his second at 2:56, and Thompson (14:18) and Webster (15:47) earning goals in the final minutes. UAF's Harrison Israels picked up his second tally of the night with 1:46 remaining.
 
Denver outshot Alaska 31-23 in the outing. DU went 2-for-7 on the power play and killed off 3-of-4 man-down opportunities.
 
UP NEXT: Denver wraps up the season-opening series with Alaska Fairbanks on Sunday at 5 p.m. MT. The game will be streamed on FloHockey.
 
POSTGAME NOTES

• Denver's seven goals is its most in a season opener since winning 8-3 against Arizona State on Oct. 8, 2021.
• Seven freshmen made their NCAA debuts in forwards Kieran Cebrian, Sam Harris, Miko Matikka and defensemen Cale Ashcroft, Zeev Buium, Garrett Brown and Boston Buckberger.
• Sophomore Kent Anderson and freshman Boston Buckberger scored their first career goals. The last time that DU had two players scored their first career goals in the same game was last year when Aidan Thompson and Jared Wright did it on Nov. 11, 2022 at North Dakota. The last time a pair of Pioneers that tallied their first markers in the season opener was Massimo Rizzo and Carter Mazur on Oct. 8, 2021 vs. Arizona State.
• Anderson also added another goal and an assist for a three-point night and his first career multi-point outing.
• Senior forward Connor Caponi appeared in his 100th career game.
• Freshman Sam Harris had two assists for his first collegiate points and tied for a team high with a plus-3 rating.
• Jack Devine matched a personal best with four points, his third such four-point outing of his career and first since tallying four goals vs. Miami on March 10, 2023.
• Massimo Rizzo tied a career high with three assists. He last accomplished the feat in back-to-back games on Oct. 28-29, 2022 at Miami.
• DU was playing regular-season games on college hockey's opening weekend for the first time since last visiting Fairbanks to play the Nanooks on Oct. 5-6, 2019.
• The Pioneers are now 11-3-2 all-time against Alaska Fairbanks and are 6-2-0 as the road team.
• Denver is 43-25-7 all-time in season openers, 13-3-1 in the last 17 first outings and 5-1-1 in the past seven opening-night contests.
• The Pioneers used a 12-forward, seven-defensemen lineup, with four freshmen making their debut on the backend.
• Head Coach David Carle was not on the bench as he was back in Denver with his wife Mellissa awaiting the birth of their second child.

GOAL SUMMARY
1st Period
4:47 UAF (0-1) – PPG, Jonny Sorenson tallied on a wrist shot from the top of the right circle.
5:21 DU (1-1) – Kent Anderson tied the game on a wrister from the mid-slot after receiving a pass in the corner from Massimo Rizzo
9:02 DU (2-1) – Boston Buckberger scored on a one-timer from the blue line off a feed from Sam Harris six seconds after a Pioneer power play expired.
 
2nd Period
6:05 DU (3-1) – Kent Anderson fired a wrist shot from the top of the right circle and the puck got through traffic and hit twine.
7:47 DU (4-1) – Denver took advantage of a failed clearing attempt by Alaska and Massimo Rizzo passed the puck up front to Jack Devine, who deked his way past the goalie and snuck the puck inside the right post.
12:58 UAF (4-2) – Nanooks took advantage of a turnover by DU in its own zone as Harrison Israels found the back of the cage with his shot.
 
3rd Period
2:56 DU (5-2) – PPG, Jack Devine took passes from Massimo Rizzo and
14:18 DU (6-2) – Denver forced a turnover and Aidan Thompson scored on a backhand shot after Sam Harris' initial shot was stopped.
15:57 DU (7-2) – PPG, McKade Webster buried an outside shot.
18:14 UAF (7-3) – After a Denver power play expired, Harrison Israels scored on a breakaway.
 

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