KALAMAZOO, Mich. – It was a series that could pay dividends for the Denver Pioneers hockey team later on in the season.
 
No. 2 DU split its two-game set at Lawson Arena against No. 7 Western Michigan with a 3-2 loss on Friday and a 3-2 overtime victory on Saturday, and the matchup with the Broncos was everything that was expected by a tight-checking NCHC squad. Gaps and openings closed quickly, time and space was at a premium and active stick work by the opposition disrupted clean passes all weekend long.
 
"It's a tough place to play, and we knew that going in," said senior captain Carter King. "On those weekends, you come together as a team and it's got to be all four lines and all three D-pairings that come together and buy-in to play as a team. It's hard hockey, it's tough hockey, and it's good for us to go through."
 
WMU provided Denver two games that the team will have to be comfortable playing in later on in the season, especially in the NCAA Tournament.
 
"That is what it takes to win big games; we stuck with the process, so we're ready for these games later in the year when it will be like this every night," said junior forward Samu Salminen.
 
The Pios nearly erased a three-goal deficit on Friday, as they scored twice in the third period and Eric Pohlkamp had a point-blank chance with 13 seconds left that was stopped by sprawling goaltender Cameron Rowe.
 
Despite the defeat, the teams were fairly even in terms of scoring chances and final shots on Friday were 31-28 in favor of Denver. The Pioneers' three goals allowed came on a breakaway, a fortuitous bounce off a rebound to an open player near the crease and one that appeared to be offsides but was upheld after video review by the on-ice officials.
 
"We didn't get down on it," said DU Richard and Kitzia Goodman Hockey Head Coach David Carle after Friday's game. "We just kind of got back to work. Was it a perfect game? No, but certainly a step in the right direction from where we were two weeks ago at home against Arizona State. We'll continue to learn, teach and grow. It sucks to lose; I get it, nobody likes it in our room, I can tell you that. We're process orientated, and I thought we did a lot of good things tonight to build on and showed some growth."
 
DU trailed by scores of 1-0 and 2-1 in Saturday's game and became tenacious in the final two periods to get shots on net. While Western Michigan certainly had its fair share of scoring chances as well, the Pioneers outshot the Broncos 26-9 in the final two regulation periods and finished with a 63-32 advantage in total shot attempts in the game.
 
Salminen tallied the tying goal while goaltender Matt Davis was on the bench for the extra attacker with 1:06 remaining in the third period, and King buried his second career overtime marker on the only shot of the 3-on-3 extra frame.
 
"I think no matter what we're used to these situations. We've been in a few of them," King said. "We're not going to give up, we're not going to back down at all. We know we still have a chance no matter what. It's good to see when we're in those situations like tonight that we can get a successful result out of it."
 
The Broncos had yet to lose a game in NCHC play prior to Saturday, as they owned a 6-0-1 mark in conference contests and were 10-3-1 overall on the campaign coming into the series finale.
 
This weekend also marked the only time that DU and WMU will face off during the regular season, but it wouldn't be a surprise if the two squads face off again later on in postseason play when the stakes are at their highest.

PERFECT PENALTY KILL
 
The Pioneers entered the weekend near the top of the nation in both power play and penalty kill, and while they were held off the scoresheet by going 0-for-6 with the man advantage, they didn't allow a goal against while down a man on the ice.
 
DU went 1-for-1 on Friday and 2-for-2 on Saturday in man-disadvantage opportunities and now ranks third in the country with a 91.1-percent success rate on the penalty kill this year.
 
"For the penalty kill in particular, I think it's been our puck pressure, forechecking hard and making sure the other team really feels pressure," King noted of the special teams' success. "We're not making it easy for them getting up the ice and getting entries. We're making it hard, and I think that's been working for us."
 
The Pios have nullified 41-of-45 infractions this season and have been perfect on the penalty kil in 12 of the 16 games, including in eight of the last 10 outings.
 
ROOKIES DON'T BACK DOWN
 
The freshmen didn't shy away in what might have been the toughest series to date in their college careers.
 
Jake Fisher and James Reeder both scored in Friday's third period to cut DU's deficit to 3-2, and fellow forward Hagen Burrows was on the ice for Fisher's marker at 10:29 of the stanza.
 
Fisher added an assist on Saturday on Salminen's goal to send the contest to overtime, while defenseman Tory Pitner was strong on pucks and forced Western Michigan to take a penalty in Friday's third period to help the Pios build momentum.
 
"What we're proud of is the youth of the team and sticking to the script," Carle said. "Giving ourselves a chance in a tight-checking hockey game should give us a lot of belief.
 
Fisher and Reeder both have five goals this season, while Reeder is pacing the Denver freshmen with 10 points in 16 games.
 

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