DENVER – Junior Jack Devine had two goals and goaltender Matt Davis stopped all 17 shots as the No. 3-ranked Denver Pioneers hockey team defeated the Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs 4-0 on Friday at Magness Arena in Game 1 of the NCHC Quarterfinals.
 
Denver (25-9-3, 15-7-2 NCHC), the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament, leads the best-of-three series 1-0 and goes for the sweep of No. 7-seed UMD (12-19-5, 8-14-2 NCHC) on Saturday at 6 p.m. MT. Tickets are available and the game will be broadcast on NCHC.tv.
 
"We know that they're going to give everything that they have, just like I thought that they did tonight in the first period," said DU Richard and Kitzia Goodman Hockey Head Coach David Carle. "I thought in the second period we were able to get them a little bit more on their heels. [UMD's] push in the first period was excellent and that's what we're going to see tomorrow, so we need to be ready to go. It's going to be a great hockey game tomorrow night. Hopefully everyone can continue to make their way to Magness Arena and come support us."
 
Davis wasn't especially busy in his 19th consecutive start—he only faced one shot in second period—but he stopped every puck that came his way, including 10 in the third period as Duluth tried to close the deficit with its goalie pulled for the extra attacker for much of the final five minutes.
 
It was Davis' second "clean sheet" and first official shutout of the season. The junior stopped all 24 shots on Feb. 23 in an 8-1 win versus Miami, as the only tally against came during a delayed penalty while he was on the bench for the extra attacker.
 
The Calgary, Alberta, native received goal support from Devine and seniors McKade Webster and Connor Caponi.  Devine recorded his ninth multi-goal outing of the season, with each of his markers coming on assists from junior Tristan Broz and freshman Sam Harris, who both finished the night with two helpers.
 
Sophomore Aidan Thompson also contributed a pair of assists, while defensemen Lucas Olvestad and Zeev Buium recorded an apple apiece on the scoresheet.
 
Webster earned the game-winning goal after he scored from the slot off a toe-drag during a rush with 7:02 left in the first period, and Devine tripled the Pioneers lead with each of his tallies coming in the middle frame. Devine buried the puck in a scramble around the crease at 13:58 and then went top-shelf with a wrister after beating a UMD defender with 22 seconds remaining before the intermission.
 
"It was a beautiful finish," Carle said of Devine's second tally. "It's nice to be able to score in a different way. The first one was very ugly but a part of what we wanted to do, so that was nice to see."
 
Caponi iced the game with an empty-goal in the final 17 seconds.
 
The Pioneers outshot the Bulldogs 24-17 in the contest. UMD goaltender Matthew Thiessen stopped 20-of-23 shots in the loss.
 
Both teams went 0-for-4 on the power play.
 
UP NEXT: Game 2 of the series is Saturday at 6 p.m. MT at Magness Arena. If necessary, a deciding-Game 3 is Sunday at 6 p.m. MT. All games will be broadcast on NCHC.tv.
 

POSTGAME NOTES

• Denver is now 25-9-1 all-time in the NCHC Tournament and is 18-2 in quarterfinal games. DU picked up its 10th consecutive win in the conference quarterfinals.
• The Pioneers and Bulldogs were playing their sixth game in the NCHC Playoffs, with DU improving to 4-2 all-time in those contests and 3-0 in quarterfinal matchups.
• DU is 6-0 all-time in NCHC Playoff series when taking a 1-0 lead in the quarterfinal round.
• The Pioneers allowed only one shot against in the second period, tied for the fewest in a game this season (Nov. 24 vs. Yale, 1st; Nov. 19 vs. Omaha, 3rd).
• Matt Davis stopped all 17 shots for his second "clean sheet" and first official shutout of the season. It is the third shutout of his career and first since Dec. 16, 2022 vs. Lindenwood.
• Jack Devine scored twice for his ninth multi-goal game and 18th multi-point outing of the season. He now has 27 goals on the season, third-most in the NCAA and the most by a Pioneer since Ryan Dingle also had 27 markers in 2005-06.
• Devine stretched his point streak to four games (5g/1a).
• Sam Harris matched a career best with two assists (Oct. 7, 2023 at Alaska Fairbanks) and recorded his fifth multi-point game of the season. He now has 11 points (8g/3a) in the past nine games.
• Tristan Broz recorded his third multi-point outing in the past four games and his fourth in the last six contests. He has 15 points (4g/11a) in his last 10 games.
• Connor Caponi now has five goals on the season, setting a new single-season high.
• McKade Webster scored his eighth game-winning goal of his career and fourth of the season, tying Jared Wright for the team lead.
• Denver scored its fifth empty-net goal of the season. 

GOAL SUMMARY
1st Period
12:58 DU (1-0) – McKade Webster ripped a wrist shot from the slot after a give-and-go with Lucas Olvestad during a rush up the ice.
 
2nd Period
13:56 DU (2-0) – Jack Devine whacked in the puck at the top of the crease during a scramble around the paint.
19:38 DU (3-0) – Jack Devine got behind a UMD defender and flicked a wrister over the shoulder glove-side.
 
3rd Period
19:43 DU (4-0) – ENG, Connor Caponi shot the puck into an open net from between the offensive circles.
 
 
QUOTABLES
Junior Forward Jack Devine
On the team's mindset entering the game: "It was a really good game for us. We were able to execute all four lines, all three D-pairs. It was really awesome to see that come to life there and getting the puck in."
 
On a strong defensive third period: "It was staying on our toes. We didn't sit back on our heels, kept pressing and kept playing our game. Even with the lead, we kept applying pressure and doing a good job of shutting them down."
 
On second goal: "It was a really nice cross-ice pass to me, and I was able to beat the D wide. The goalie ended up dropping, so I just shoved one over his left (shoulder)."
 
One getting ready for Game 2: "It's definitely going to be a big game, very competitive again. If we stick to our game, ride this confidence—we have a good team here. Just go out there and play like it."
 

TICKETS: Tickets are for the NCHC Quarterfinals are on sale now. Click here to purchase tickets.