DENVER – The No. 3 University of Denver hockey team nearly erased a three-goal deficit in the third period on Saturday night, but its rally fell short as the Pioneers lost 6-5 to the Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs at Magness Arena.
 
Denver (24-8-0, 15-5-0 NCHC) scored three times in the final frame, including twice in the first 1:43, but wasn't able to even the score. Ben Steeves' second goal of the game on the power play at 2:26 of the third ended up as the game-winner for Duluth (13-16-1, 8-12-0 NCHC) and came 43 seconds after DU's Massimo Rizzo tallied to cut the deficit to 5-4.
 
"I think the biggest lesson is just playing with that level of urgency from the first period on," said Richard and Kitzia Goodman hockey head coach David Carle. "We kind of struggled. Give them credit, they responded well. We maybe thought it was going to be a little bit easier than it was. Took us some time to adjust, but we did in the game. Unfortunately, we had the poor three minutes in the second there but responded in the third."
 
Sophomore Jack Devine had a career-high four points with one goal and three assists and linemates Rizzo (two goals) and Tristan Broz (two assists) also posted multi-point outings. Rizzo scored both of his markers in the third, with each cutting the deficit to one at the time.
 
Denver defenseman Mike Benning and forward Carter Mazur scored on the power play for the Pioneers, who went 2-for-5 with the man advantage. Minnesota Duluth finished 3-for-4 and tallied on each of its final three man-up chances.
 
Goaltender Magnus Chrona got the start for Denver and made 13-of-18 saves before Matt Davis played in the third period. Davis stopped five of the six shots he faced.
 
Minnesota Duluth netminder Matthew Thiessen finished with 29 saves in the victory.
 
The teams traded goals through the first 21-plus minutes of play before Luke Johnson scored his first collegiate marker at 2:30 of the first period to give UMD the 3-2 lead. Steeves tallied his first with 2:41 left in the middle stanza and Wyatt Kaiser scored on the power play 1:19 later, extending the Bulldogs' advantage to 5-2 heading into the second intermission.
 
Kaiser finished with a four-point game by adding three helpers with his tally, and teammate Isaac Howard contributed three assists as well on the night.
 
Saturday marked the final meeting of the teams' four-game season series, with Denver winning each of the previous three contests. The Pios had a four-game winning streak over UMD dating back to their victory in the NCAA West Regional Final in last March's national tournament.
 
UP NEXT: Denver heads out for its final road trip of the season next weekend as the team travels to Kalamazoo to play the Western Michigan Broncos on Friday and Saturday night. Friday's game will be nationally televised on CBS Sports Network.
 
POSTGAME NOTES

• The Pioneers had their season-long penalty kill streak end at 15 consecutive kills late in the first period.
• Carter Mazur scored his 20th goal of the season.
• Denver had a five-game overall winning streak and season-best seven game home winning streak come to an end.
• Jack Devine finished the weekend with seven points after having two goals and one assist on Friday.
• Aidan Thompson, who was celebrating his 21st birthday, had an assist to extend his career-long point streak to six games (3g/5a).
• Tristan Broz (1g/5a) and Massimo Rizzo (4g/4a) are both on five-game point streaks.
• Mike Benning scored his 28th career goal of the season and tied Will Butcher for 10th place in school history for goals by a defenseman.
• Senior Brett Edwards appeared in his 100th career game.
• Nike Meldrum worked his 500th career game as a Head Equipment Manager in college, all with Denver.

 
GOAL SUMMARY
1st Period
2:13 UMD (0-1) – Darian Gotz's outside shot made its way through traffic and into the back of the net.
14:45 DU (1-1) – PPG, Carter Mazur took a cross pass from Aidan Thompson and scored during a major power play.
19:46 UMD (1-2) – PPG, Quinn Olson knocked in a rebound before the end of the period.
 
2nd Period
1:14 DU (2-2) – Jack Devine knocked in the puck between the goalie's pads after a pass from Tristan Broz.
2:30 UMD (2-3) – Luke Johnson went top shelf with a shot from the slot on a pass by Isaac Howard.
17:19 UMD (2-4) – Ben Steeves tapped in a pass from Joey Pierce in the slot.
18:38 UMD (2-5) – PPG, Wyatt Kaiser scored from the left point on a low shot through traffic.
 
3rd Period
0:53 DU (3-5) – PPG, Mike Benning tallied on a wrap-around attempt.
1:43 DU (4-5) – Massimo Rizzo stickhandled toward the net and scored with a wrister.
2:26 UMD (4-6) – PPG, Ben Steeves buried a wrist shot from the right circle.
8:22 DU (5-6) – Justin Lee threw the puck on net and Massimo Rizzo was able to tally on the rebound.
 
QUOTABLES
Richard and Kitzia Goodman Head Coach David Carle
On avoiding the slow starts: "We weren't as connected. We weren't quite playing as fast. It's live and learn, we will learn from it. I don't think that's generally been us this year, so good lesson, and they adjusted well, and they made things harder on us. I thought the second we got going with our pace of things. Same goes for the third."
 
On Jack Devine's four-point performance: "Line was good. We couldn't get him on the ice enough there in the third. It was great to see he is making plays. He is coming off with it right now."
 
Senior Defenseman Kyle Mayhew
On moving forward from tonight: "I think there's something to learn. We have to give them credit, they pulled off some nice plays. We were really good last night. I don't think we adjusted too much from the night before."
 
On learning from the loss: "You can always learn lessons, it definitely is a refocus. You don't want to take anyone for granted, especially a team like that—super well-coached, always going to be in the mix."
 
Sophomore forward Massimo Rizzo
On team persistence during game: "That was a good sign for our team. I mean if we start like that in the first, it will be a different game, but resiliency like that is a good sign."
 
On Jack Devine: "He is a good player. He is smart, and he works hard. He is always in the right area, and he is always making good plays with the puck. It's nice to see him get rewarded."
 
 
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