DULUTH, Minn. – The No. 5 University of Denver hockey team scored three times in the first seven minutes on Saturday night and defeated the Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs 5-2 to sweep the weekend series at Amsoil Arena.
 
Freshman Sam Harris tallied twice and classmate Zeev Buium contributed a goal and an assist to help the Pioneers (20-8-2, 11-6-1 NCHC) pick up five of a possible six conference points on the trip to the shores of Lake Superior. DU won 5-4 in overtime on Friday night at UMD (10-15-4, 6-11-1 NCHC).
 
"I thought we lived on the inside a lot more throughout the weekend. We were rewarded with goals with it, so that was a great step in the right direction," said Richard and Kitzia Goodman Hockey Head Coach David Carle. "We've talked about showing growth throughout the year defensively, but we've had to show some growth offensively here through the bye week, and we obviously executed tonight.
 
The victory was Denver's 20th of the season, stretching its "Tenzer Streak" of earning 20 or more wins in 22 consecutive full seasons dating back to 2001-02.
 
Buium found the back of the net with his eighth marker of the season 31 seconds into the contest, and senior Connor Caponi and sophomore Jared Wright buried their own scores in a 1:14 span to give the Pios a 3-0 advantage on just five shots in the opening 6:39 of the game.
 
Harris' two goals marked his first career multi-goal contest and second multi-point outing of his rookie campaign; he had two assists in the season opener on Oct. 7 at Alaska Fairbanks.
 
The Bulldogs' Ben Steeves and Matthew Perkins both found the back of the DU cage early in the opening 8:18 of the middle frame to cut Denver's lead to 3-2, but Harris tallied from a tough angle with 5:54 remaining in the period to push the advantage back to two goals. The San Diego, California, native added his second marker of the evening by burying a backhander on a rush with junior Carter King at 8:15 of the third period.
 
Denver netminder Matt Davis finished with 32 saves, including stopping all 12 shots in the first period and all nine in the third. The junior also earned his first career point with a secondary assist on Harris' first tally.
 
Sean Behrens, Tristan Broz, Jack Devine, Rieger Lorenz and Miko Matikka recorded assists as well in the contest.
 
Wright's goal proved to be the game-winner early in the first frame, as he took the puck from Lorenz, pushed it up the ice and chased it down in the Duluth zone before scoring five-hole on Stejskal, resulting in the end of the keeper's night.
 
"It was a great rim by Rieger, and I kind of beat my guy to the wall," Wright said. "Then just tried to chip it behind the defender and I was lucky enough to get a breakaway and was fortunate enough it went in five-hole."
 
The Pioneers outshot the Bulldogs 35-24 in the contest. UMD goalie Matthew Thiessen finished the night in net and made 28 saves after relieving Stejskal (two saves).
 
UP NEXT: DU returns home to take on the Miami RedHawks at Magness Arena on Friday at 7 p.m. MT and next Saturday at 6 p.m. MT.
 
 
POSTGAME NOTES

• The "Tenzer" Streak is named after former DU Director of Hockey Operations David Tenzer, who spent 16 seasons with the program from 2001-02 (the start of the streak) until retiring in 2017. Denver has won at least 20 games dating back to 2001-02—The Pios only played 24 total contests in the COVID-shortened 2020-21 campaign.
• The Pioneers improved to 134-89-13 all-time against UMD and own a 50-44-8 mark in Duluth.
• Denver is now 7-3-0 in the last 10 games in the series and is 6-1-0 in the last seven contests. The Pios are 5-1-0 in the past six games at Amsoil Arena.
• Zeev Buium scored 31 seconds into the first period for the fastest goal to begin a game and period by a Pioneer this season, besting the previous fastest by his brother, Shai Buium, who tallied 37 seconds into the Feb. 3 contest against Western Michigan. Zeev Buium's goal was the fastest to start an outing since Cameron Wright notched a marker 30 seconds into the Dec. 31, 2021 game vs. Alaska Fairbanks.
• Zeev Buium had his ninth multi-point outing of the season.
• Connor Caponi scored his fourth goal of the season, matching a career high for the most in a single campaign.
• Sam Harris' two goals were a career high and marked his second multi-point campaign of the season.
• Matt Davis picked up his first career assist on Sam Harris' goal in the second period.
• Jack Devine is on a three-game assist/point streak (0g/4a) while Tristan Broz is also on a three-game point streak (1g/3a).
• Shai Buium had his six-game point streak (3g/5a), which tied a career long, come to an end.

 
GOAL SUMMARY
1st Period
0:31 DU (1-0) – Zeev Buium fired a wrist shot top shelf from high slot.
5:25 DU (2-0) – Connor Caponi went far-top corner on a backhand shot at the right circle.
6:39 DU (3-0) – Jared Wright chased the puck the length of the ice and tallied five-hole.
 
2nd Period
0:33 UMD (3-1) – PPG, Ben Steeves buried a wrister from the blue line.
8:18 UMD (3-2) – Matthew Perkins went far-side with a wrist shot at the left circle.
14:06 DU (4-2) – PPG, Sam Harris scored from a tough angle at the left circle
 
3rd Period
8:15 DU (5-2) – Sam Harris took a pass from Carter King on a 2-on-1 rush and flipped a backhand shot top shelf.
 

QUOTABLES
Richard and Kitzia Goodman Hockey Head Coach David Carle
On facing Minnesota Duluth: "They're a good hockey team. I know they're seventh in our league, but they are 24-25th in the Pairwise Rankings. They play very hard. They're well coached. They've been through a lot of adversity this year. A lot of respect for them and how they operate and how they do things. You knew at 3-0 they wouldn't go away, they didn't."
 
On the freshmen on the fourth line: "It was good to get (Kieran) Cebrian back in the lineup—he can win faceoffs for us. I think with Alex (Weiermair), you're seeing his confidence grow. He hasn't had a ton of opportunity in his freshman year for us, but he has been doing a nice job here lately. He is very much a student of the game, always watching video. It's nice to see those guys get rewarded with a little bit more playing time and opportunity."
 
Sophomore Forward Jared Wright
On the team finding success: "I think we were just moving our feet a lot. And we forced a lot of turnovers that created a lot of chances for our team. I think if we just continue to do that throughout the year, we'll find a lot of success."
 
On managing the game after leading 3-0 in the first period: "It was a great first period, and not. The start we wanted in the second period. I thought we managed the low there, and we kept going. Sam Harris had a big goal there and then kind of put it on cruise control. It was a real good effort by our group to finish it off."

 

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