NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The No. 1 Denver Pioneers hockey team remained undefeated on the 2024-25 campaign on Saturday night with a 5-1 victory against the Yale Bulldogs at Ingalls Rink.
 
DU improved to 8-0-0 on the year, the team's best start since also winning each of its first eight contests to begin the 2019-20 season.
 
The Pioneers' offense on Saturday once again featured a balanced attack with four different players finding the back of the net and 12 recording at least a point in the outing. DU scored five unanswered goals after Yale got on the scoreboard first, including netting three during power plays.
 
Special teams was obviously a factor for us tonight. To go 3-for-7 on the power play, 3-for-3 on the kill, difference in the game to be able to win it," said Richard and Kitzia Goodman Hockey Head Coach David Carle. "Five-on-five, it was a much more even game than it was a night ago, which is good. They obviously showed a lot of desperation early. There were a lot of pucks, traffic, things coming to the net. Their puck pressure, they seemed to be on us a little bit more, forced us to move pucks quicker, which is good because I thought our guys adapted."
 
Junior forward Aidan Thompson registered two goals and an assist, and the Pioneers also received tallies from senior Carter King, junior Jared Wright and freshman James Reeder. Sophomore defenseman Zeev Buium recorded two helpers.
 
Denver switched up its goaltenders for the first time in the year 2024, as senior Matt Davis was given the night off after 33 straight starts and sophomore Freddie Halyk guarded the pipes for the first time since Dec. 8, 2023 at Western Michigan.
 
Halyk entered the evening with a two-game shutout streak of the Bulldogs after posting clean sheets in both outings with Yale a year ago, but his perfect stretch against the Ivy League squad ended at 130:50 on a goal by Will Richter midway through the opening period. The tally was initially not ruled a goal, but the Bulldogs challenged the play and the officials used video review to determine that the puck had crossed the goal line prior to a whistle during a scramble around the crease.
 
It was the first goal that Denver had given up over the weekend after Davis posted a 22-save shutout on Friday. The program had a 190:50 shutout streak of Yale across three-plus games dating back to last year's series at Magness Arena.
 
The Pioneers evened the score prior to the intermission with DU's first power-play marker of the night by King with 2:52 left in the opening period. Denver continued its five-goal run with Thompson, Wright and Reeder scoring in the second stanza to break the game open for the Pioneers.
 
Thompson added his second goal of the evening with 93 seconds left in regulation to cap the scoring and his second three-point contest of the season.
 
Denver finished 3-for-7 on the power play and has now scored while a man-up in five straight contests. Yale went scoreless on its three man advantages.
 
On the eve of the program's 75th Anniversary Weekend on Nov. 8-9, the Pioneers also reached a major milestone in the victory. The team won its 1,600 game to become the sixth program in college hockey history reach that threshold.
 
UP NEXT: Denver wraps up its home non-conference schedule next weekend as it hosts Lindenwood on Friday and Saturday at Magness Arena. The Pioneers will also be celebrating their 75th Anniversary reunion with a special on-ice recognition on Saturday. Friday's game begins at 7 p.m. MT and Saturday's start time is at 6 p.m. MT, with both being broadcast exclusively on NCHC.tv.
 
 
POSTGAME NOTES

• The Pioneers joined Minnesota, Michigan, Boston College, Boston University and North Dakota as the only college hockey programs to win 1,600 games all-time.
• Denver improved to 10-1-0 all-time against Yale and has won each of its last four games in the series. DU is 3-0 in games in the city of New Haven and 2-0 at Ingalls rink.
• The Pioneers recorded multiple power-play goals for the third time this season and has scored with the man advantage in five straight games. It was the second time this year that DU tallied at least three power-play goals in a game (4, Oct. 5 at Alaska Anchorage).
• Denver had its shutout streak of Yale end at 190:50, and goaltender Freddie Halyk had his personal shutout streak of the Bulldogs end at 130:50. Both runs began on Nov. 25, 2023.
• Jack Devine (1g/15a), Carter King (7g/4a) and Aidan Thompson (6g/9a) extended their respective point streaks to eight games. It is the longest season-opening point streaks since Massimo Rizzo (5g/12a) also had points in each of the first eight contests last season (Oct. 7-Nov. 4, 2023).
• Eric Pohlkamp stretched his career-best point streak to seven games with an assist (4g/5a).
• James Reeder pushed his personal-high point streak to four games (1g/3a)
• King scored his team-leading seventh goal of the season.
• Zeev Buium played in his 50th career game and picked up his second multi-point game of the season. He is also on a four-game assist/point streak.
• Freshman defenseman Alec Whipple made his collegiate debut.
• Sam Harris missed his first game of the season (upper-body injury, day-to-day).
• Denver has now won 17 consecutive games dating back to March 9 against Colorado College.
• DU's eight-game season-opening win streak is its longest since beginning the 2019-20 campaign with victories in each of its first eight contests.
• Goaltender Matt Davis didn't play for the first time the year, ending a run of him guarding the net in 33 consecutive games. He went 27-4-2 with a 2.02 goals-against average, .927 save percentage and three shutouts during that stretch dating back to Jan. 5 at Niagara.

GOAL SUMMARY
1st Period
10:50 YU (0-1) – Will Richter was able to whack in the puck through Freddie Halyk's pads in a scramble around the net that was confirmed as goal after video review.
17:08 DU (1-1) – PPG, Carter King sent a one-time snapshot top shelf from the slot off passes from Aidan Thompson and Zeev Buium.
 
2nd Period
7:10 DU (2-1) – PPG, Aidan Thompson received a cross-pass from Jack Devine and fired a one-time snapshot near-side to put the Pioneers in front just 18 seconds into a man advantage.
11:10 DU (3-1) – Pressure by the Pioneers forced a failed clear out of the Yale zone, and Jared Wright scored five-hole on a shot from the bottom of the right circle.
15:54 DU (4-1) – PPG, James Reeder redirected Boston Buckberger's point shot into the net.
 
3rd Period
18:27 DU (5-1) – Aidan Thompson whipped the puck into the came from the right side off a pass by Cale Ashcroft.
 
 
QUOTABLES
Richard and Kitzia Goodman Hockey Head Coach David Carle
On captain Carter King: "His development has been really fun to watch. We talk a lot about him. On our championship team (in 2022), he was our fourth-line left win. He won a face-off competition one day and we were like, 'gosh, maybe this guy could play center,' and moved him to the middle and he really hasn't taken a step back from there. He just keeps getting better and better. I think the finishing ability that he's showing this year is the last progression of his game at this level. Really proud of the work that he's put in, it's nothing short of phenomenal. Really proud of him and for him to have seven goals in the first eight games is a great start. His leadership is obviously a big reason why we've started 8-0 on the year."
 
On the upcoming 75th Anniversary Celebration next weekend: "It will be great, unbelievable opportunity to honor our program. Tonight was actually our 1,600th program victory. Tons to be proud of. We'll wear the throwback jerseys—we're planning on wearing them both nights on Friday and Saturday. So Saturday night we'll have all of the alumni come out on the ice. We encourage everyone to stay in their seats for the first intermission; we'll keep the team on the bench to see that honoring. Really looking forward to celebrating what our great program is."
 
Sophomore Goaltender Freddie Halyk
On getting back into game action: "It took a little bit. The first few saves I just made sure that I was over-top on pucks, and just stuck to my fundamentals. As the game wore on I kind of got back into it."
 
On Yale's third-period push: "That is my favorite type. I like getting under siege (with shots). I find it easier than just a shot here and a shot there. I like when they are over top of me and shooting."
 
On the team not looking too far ahead on the schedule: "I think we've been good the entire year taking it weekend-by-weekend and focusing on who we are playing. Yale is a perfect example. I thought we stuck to our game and didn't cheat the game at all. I expect the same with Lindenwood."
 

TICKETS: Limited amount of tickets for Denver hockey's 75th anniversary in 2024-25 are available. Click here to purchase and for more information.