Sometimes the best defense on the penalty kill is offense.
 
The University of Denver hockey team did just that on Friday night in the series opener with the then-No. 10 Colorado College Tigers at Ed Robson Arena, as the Pioneers tallied two short-handed goals on back-to-back penalties late in the first period to open the game's scoring.
 
Junior Samu Salminen scored both markers and joined an elite list of Pioneers to do so. He became the sixth Denver player all-time to score two short-handed goals in a single game and just the fourth to do so in the same period.  Current teammate Carter King was the last Pioneer to score two shorties in a game, as he did so last season on Nov. 10, 2023 at Arizona State, while Salminen was the first Denver skater to tally each of his man-disadvantage markers in the same period in 17 years.
 
Then-future NHLer Tyler Bozak was the last Pioneer to accomplish the feat as he scored both of his short-handed goals in the third period on Nov. 4, 2007 at Minnesota. The other two players to score two shorties in a single stanza were Gabe Gauthier on Oct. 22, 2004 versus St. Cloud State and Bob Pazzelli on Oct. 29, 1977 at Michigan.
 
It was Salminen's second career short-handed goal as he also scored on Oct. 7, 2023 at Colgate while a member of the Connecticut Huskies before transferring to Denver in the offseason. It was the Pios first shorty of the season and first since Rieger Lorenz tallied on the man disadvantage on Jan. 12, 2024 vs. St. Cloud State.
 
The Helsinki, Finland, native's markers came in a matter of 2:36—the quickest two goals by the same player this season for Denver—as he went five-hole on an unassisted shot after forcing a turnover at 16:37 and then scored from behind the goal line on a shot that caromed off CC goalie Kaiden Mbereko and into the net at 19:13.
 
The last time DU had scored two short-handed markers in the same frame was on Feb. 22, 2008 when Chris Butler (11:06) and Bozak (18:40) each found the back of the net in the second period against Alaska Anchorage.
 
Salminen has been a key reason why the Pioneers' penalty kill has been among the nation's best this season. DU ranks tied for third in the NCAA with a 90.2-percent success rate, nullifying 46-of-51 opponent man advantages through the first half of the year and not allowing more than one power-play goal against in any game.
 
"Guys are really sacrificing their bodies, and that is a big thing," said defenseman Cale Ashcroft of the team's PK. "It really gets the energy up on the bench when guys are putting their body on the line. We've had a lot of big blocks."
 
Offensively, Salminen continues to assimilate himself in the Pioneers' lineup. Friday marked his first multi-goal game at DU and was the second-straight contest in which he scored after he netted the game-tying tally to force overtime—and an eventual Denver win—on Dec. 7 at Western Michigan.
 
Salminen's six goals on the season rank fourth on the team while he is one of nine players that have already reached double-digit points (12).
 
CALE IS CLUTCH
 
Sophomore defenseman Cale Ashcroft has come up with a couple big goals this season.
 
His first came by scoring the go-ahead tally to break a 2-2 stalemate in the third period on Oct. 25 against Wisconsin in what was his first career game-winner. He did it again on Saturday versus Colorado College by giving the Pioneers the lead at 5:28 of the third period in the 2-1 win .
 
"Great pass from Hagen [Burrows]. I just got the puck and I kind of wanted to shoot it—have a shoot-first mentality," said Ashcroft his second career game-winner. "I didn't really see much. The puck went off my stick and I heard the crowd erupt, so it was a great feeling."
 
After scoring once as a freshman in 2023-24, Ashcroft has now doubled his goal total from a year ago while playing in all 18 games as. His five points on the season are already more than what he had as a rookie (one goal, three assists).
 
"This year I have really put an emphasis on a shoot-first mentality," Ashcroft said. "When I get the puck, I look for my shot, but obviously if there is a better play to be made then I'm going to make it. In that situation (on Saturday), the shot was there and I felt it was best to take it."
 
PIONEERS AT THE WORLD JUNIORS
 
Denver hockey will once again be well-represented on the United States roster at the 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship as the Americans look to repeat for the first-time ever in the under-20 tournament that begins later this month.
 
Richard and Kitzia Goodman Hockey Head Coach David Carle returns in the same role after leading Team USA to its sixth gold medal a year ago in Sweden and is joined on staff by DU director of hockey operations Travis Culhane as the video coach and equipment manager Nick Meldrum. Also on Carle's staff are two former Pioneer assistant coaches in Steve Miller (Minnesota) and David Lassonde (USA Hockey), as well as two current NCAA head coaches in Brett Larson (St. Cloud State) and Garrett Raboin (Augustana).
 
Defenseman Zeev Buium is on the team's preliminary 28-man roster and is expected to play a larger role, especially on the power play, in this year's tournament. He still recorded five points (three goals, two assists) in seven games as an 18-year-old in 2024 and scored an insurance goal in the third period of the Gold Medal Game against Sweden.
 
The U.S. National Junior Team Training Camp began on Monday in Plymouth, Michigan, and the squad will head to Ontario, Canada, later this week for pre-tournament games on Dec. 21-23. The 2025 World Juniors run from Dec. 26-Jan. 5 in Ottawa, Ontario, with the Americans in Group A with host Canada, Finland, Germany and Latvia.
 
MORE NOTABLES

• Denver and Colorado College have now faced off in 343 all-time games, tying Michigan and Michigan State for the most-played rivalry in college hockey history.
• The Pioneers improved to 15-3-0 in the last 18 games against Colorado College and have won 11 straight games vs. the Tigers in Denver and 10 in a row at Magness Arena (Jan. 27, 2023 at Ball Arena).
• The Pioneers are now 3-1-0 in their 75th Anniversary sweaters this season.
• The series marked the second consecutive season that both Denver and CC were ranked in the top 10. Last season during their March matchup, they held the same ranking as they do presently.
• Aidan Thompson tied his career high by scoring his 11th goal of the season on Saturday, matching his total from last year.
• Jack Devine and Buium both had their assist streaks end on Saturday Buium had a season-long five-game streak (0g/7a) while Devine's eight-game run (1g/10a) tied a career long.
• Eric Pohlkamp appeared in his 50th career game on Saturday.
• Matt Davis made a season-high 34 saves on Friday, and his 15 stops in the second period also marked his most in a single frame this year. He recorded his first point of the season in the game as well with his fourth career assist.
• Davis has started a season-high 10 games in a row (6-4-0).
• Sam Harris' two blocked shots on Friday were a career high.
• Boston Buckberger tied a career high with four shots on goal (fifth time) and registered a new high with four penalty minutes on Friday.
• DU wrapped up a three-game road swing  on Dec. 13 (1-2-0) and is in a stretch where it is playing five-of-six contests away from home. The Dec. 14 outing marked Denver's only home regular-season game in a six-week period as the Pioneers are in a stretch of playing five-of-six contests on the road.
• Denver has played four straight one-goal games and picked up its first 2-1 win of the season on Saturday.

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