DENVER – The Pioneers power play found its spark and went ablaze.
 
Denver's hockey team capped off its weekend series against Alaska Anchorage last Saturday by scoring four times with the man advantage in a 6-0 shutout of the Seawolves.
 
"A killer instinct in and around the net front," said DU Richard and Kitzia Goodman Hockey Head Coach David Carle following the win. "You know, last night (Friday) we had some looks, some chances to get sticks on things. Wasn't able to go in for us last night, and tonight I think bearing down on our chances. We had a lot of zone time both nights; we were able to execute and finish tonight."
 
The Pioneers' four goals were their most on the power play since they also tallied four times in last year's series at Alaska Anchorage, as DU went 4-for-9 in the season opener on Oct. 5, 2024. DU had seven opportunities in Saturday's outing versus UAA and tallied three times while a man-up in the second period.
 
James Reeder tallied on a 5-on-3 advantage at 3:43 of the middle frame to push the Pios lead to 3-0, but it was Kristian Epperson and Eric Pohlkamp's markers in a matter of 18 seconds of one another that solidified Denver's lead and really got the PP clicking.
 
Epperson was roughed by Anchorage's Ben Anderson after scoring on a redirection at 11:14, which setup back-to-back power-play chance for the Pios. It didn't take long for the red light to go off again, as Pohlkamp buried his outside shot at 11:32 that went in and out of the net so fast that few in the building knew he had scored. The play was reviewed, and the on-ice officials determined it was a good goal.
 
"I think we had a really good zone entry and [Brady] Milburn made a nice play across the ice to [James] Reeder, and then Fish (Jake Fisher) kind of came over and sucked that first guy in," the defenseman Pohlkamp recalled of his team-leading fifth goal of the season. "To be honest, I was just trying to get my shots on net, and lucky enough it went in for me."
 
It was the fastest two goals scored by DU since Reeder and Boston Buckberger tallied in a 16-second span on Feb. 1, 2025 versus. Omaha. The Pioneers last netted three power-play markers in a period on March 16, 2025 against Colorado College in Game 3 of the NCHC Quarterfinals (third).
 
Denver ranked third in the NCAA on the power play last season at 28.8 percent but had scored just two goals previously with the advantage entering Saturday's matchup and was running at a 9.5-percent success rate. The Pios are now up to a 21.4-percent frequency on the year.
 
RARE (PENALTY SHOT) GOAL
              
Senior forward Rieger Lorenz scored the first penalty shot goal by a Denver player in nearly 23 years on Friday against UAA, as Jon Foster was the last Pioneer to tally on such an opportunity on Nov. 30, 2002 versus Air Force.
 
Lorenz received the chance after having his stick slashed on a one-on-one chance and tallied on a backhand shot. Prior to the attempt, he went over to the bench to get one last scouting report on Seawolves goalie Tyler Krivtsov.
 
"Ryan Massa, our assistant goalie coach, gave me a rundown of what to expect on the goalie there," Lorenz said. "It obviously paid off."
 
Penalty shots have been rare in DU's recent history partly due to a rule where coaches used to be able to take a two-minute power play in lieu of the one-time, one-on-once chance. Carter Mazur had Denver's last penalty-shot attempt on Feb. 12, 2022 against Minnesota Duluth (no goal).
 
CARLE TAKES THIRD PLACE
 
Richard and Kitzia Goodman Hockey Head Coach David Carle continued to solidify his spot in the Pioneers record book, as he won his 183rd career game on Saturday versus UAA to surpass Ralph Backstrom (182) for sole possession of third place in program history.
 
Only the legendary Murray Armstrong (460) and George Gwozdecky (443) have more victories than Carle in school history, but Carle' .691 winning percentage is the highest among DU's nine all-time head coaches.
 
After the game, Carle was surprised in the locker room by former player and long-time administrator Ron Grahame with the game puck for the achievement.
 
In addition to now being 17 wins away from 200 career victories, Carle is also 22 games from 300 as a head coach. And dating back to his time as a student-assistant coach at DU from 2008-2012 and as an assistant coach from 2014-2018, the Anchorage, Alaska, native is 12 victories shy of 400 total in his Pioneer career (388-162-58).
 
MORE NOTABLES

• Denver fired 49 shots on goal in each game of last weekend's series against Alaska Anchorage and finished with a combined total of 98-37.  It was the most shots by DU in a two-game series since outshooting Arizona State 99-40 on Dec. 2-3, 2022.
• The Pioneers killed off 7-of-8 penalties last weekend against Alaska Anchorage, including going a season-best 5-for-6 on Friday.
• Boston Buckberger's three assists on Saturday tied career highs for assists (second time) and points (third time).  It was the first three-assist contest since Cale Ashcroft and Jack Devine both had a trio of helpers on March 16, 2025 vs. Colorado College in Game 3 of the NCHC Quarterfinals.
• James Reeder registered his second career two-goal game and matched his career high with three points. He last achieved both marks on Feb. 1, 2025 vs. Omaha (2g/1a).
• DU has now had four different players record three points in a game this season, including three defensemen (Boston Buckberger, Nov. 1 vs. UAA; Eric Jamieson & Eric Pohlkamp, Oct. 11 vs. Bentley).
• Freshman Kristian Epperson scored twice on Saturday for his first career multi-goal and multi-point game and also registered his first career game-winning tally.
• DU recorded its third team shutout of the season on Saturday and its second at home (Oct. 11 vs. Bentley), with freshman goalie Quentin Miller picking up his second career clean sheet (Oct. 18 at Lindenwood).
• Eric Pohlkamp fired eight shots on goal on Saturday, tied for the most by a DU player this season and the most in his career as a Pioneer.
• Jake Fisher played in his 50th career game on Saturday, the second member of Denver's sophomore class to reach the milestone.
• Reid Varkonyi registered his first career point with an assist on Friday
• The Pioneers scored their second pulled-goalie goal of the season on Friday with James Reeder's tally at 18:40 of the third period (Hagen Burrows, Oct. 17 at Lindenwood).
• Denver was hosting a home game on Halloween for the first time ever and was playing on the date for the first time since 2015 at Boston University. DU is now 4-8-2 all-time on Oct. 31.
• UAA scored the first power-play goal against DU this season on Friday coming on a five-minute major penalty. Denver had killed off each of its first 13 infractions in the first six games of the season.
• Alaska Anchorage was making its first visit to Magness Arena since March 8-10, 2013 when the Pioneers and Seawolves were each league members of the old WCHA.

 
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