DENVER – Senior Samu Salminen netted both the game-equalizing and winning goals on senior night to lead the No. 8 Denver Pioneers hockey team to a 4-1 win against the Arizona State Sun Devils on Saturday at Magness Arena.
 
"We stuck with it, and that's what you need," said DU Richard and Kitzia Goodman Hockey Head Coach David Carle. "You need to have maturity in your game, and I thought it was there all weekend long. Playing a really desperate team, we never really got phased or rattled on the bench. A good testing ground for what's to come with the best time of the year around the corner."
 
The Pioneers (21-11-3, 17-6-1 NCHC) earned their second straight weekend sweep and conclude the regular season on a season-best nine-game unbeaten streak (8-0-1). DU also finished its four-game yearly series against ASU (14-21-1, 7-15-1 NCHC) with a 3-1-0 mark, with its lone loss coming in overtime in Tempe.
 
Denver secured the No. 2 seed for the NCHC Frozen Faceoff Tournament and has guaranteed itself home-ice advantage for the first two rounds, if the squad advances. The Pioneers host the Miami RedHawks next weekend in the best-of-three quarterfinals from March 6-8 to see who reaches the NCHC Semifinals. Tickets for the quarterfinals are available now.
 
Salminen scored twice for the second straight game and finished senior weekend with five points on four tallies and an assist. He has registered nine points on four goals and five assists during a four-game point streak.
 
Freshman forwards Kyle Chyzowski and Kristian Epperson also tallied for Denver and six other players recorded a point on the night with senior Rieger Lorenz, juniors Eric Pohlkamp and Sam Harris, sophomore James Reeder and freshmen Clarke Caswell and Reid Varkonyi each picking up an assist.
 
Rookie goaltender Johnny Hicks earned the win by saving 25-of-26 shots that were sent his way. Junior Paxton Giesel entered the Pio net late in the third period and played the final 2:50. 
 
Arizona State struck first with a marker from Noah Powell on a backhanded shot during a breakaway just 4:06 into the game, but Salminen tied the contest less than a minute later off a pass from Lorenz, who earned his 50th career assist.
 
The Pioneers recorded three goals in less than four minutes midway through the third period to give them the lead and the weekend sweep. Salminen registered the game-winner and his second of the night at 10:55, marking his third multi-marker contest of the season. Chyzowski netted his ninth goal of the campaign at 12:17 before Epperson finalized the scoring at 14:19. 
 
ASU goalminder Connor Hasley saved 21 pucks placed on net as Arizona State took the edge over Denver with a 26-25 shots-on-goal advantage.
 
Neither team capitalized off the man advantage, as DU went 0-for-3 and ASU went scoreless on its lone power-play chance.
 
Denver recognized its senior class before the game in defenseman captain Kent Anderson and alternate captains Lorenz and Salminen. The seniors' 114 career wins in four years are the second-most by a graduating class in program history. 
 
UP NEXT: The Pioneers begin the NCHC Quarterfinals against Miami with Game 1 on Friday at 7 p.m. MT. Saturday's Game 2 is set for 6 p.m. MT and, if necessary, Game 3 will be Sunday at 6 p.m. MT. Every contest of the Frozen Faceoff Tournament will be broadcast on NCHC.tv.
 
 
POSTGAME NOTES

• The Pioneers are 5-2-0 in the last seven games against Arizona State to improve to 14-6-1 in the all-time series, which includes an 8-2-0 mark at home..
• Denver Richard and Kitzia Goodman Hockey Head Coach David Carle won both his 200th game overall in his college career and 100th in NCHC conference play. 
• Samu Salminen tied his career best with his fifth career two-goal game and third of the season. He recorded five goals and five assists in the four-game season series vs. ASU.
• Salminen's four-game point streak (4g/5a) ties a season long
• Sam Harris extended his assist/point streak to five games (3g/5a) and now owns 15 points (11g/4a) in 11 career games against Arizona State.
• Rieger Lorenz registered his 50th career assist to push his career-long point streak to seven contests (5g/5a).
• James Reeder is now on a six-game point streak (3g/5a), a season-long stretch.
• Junior defenseman Garrett Brown missed the final regular-season game due to an upper-body injury and sophomore defenseman Alec Whipple entered the lineup.

 
GOAL SUMMARY
1st Period
04:06 ASU (0-1) – ASU won a puck battle along the wall in the defensive zone that sprung Noah Powell for a breakaway and Powell tallied on a backhand shot
04:43 DU (1-1) – James Reeder won a battle with an ASU player before sliding the puck over to Rieger Lorenz, who then found Samu Salminen for a tap-in goal all alone on the other side of the crease.
 
2nd Period  
No Scoring 
 
3rd Period  
10:55 DU (2-1) – Samu Salminen collected the puck in the neutral zone and rushed into the offensive zone and sent a wrist shot into the back of the goal.  
12:17 DU (3-1) – Eric Pohlkamp attempted a shot on net before Reid Varkonyi collected the looks puck and  backhanded it across the crease to Kyle Chyzowski for the tap-in tally.
14:19 DU (4-1) – Clarke Caswell forced a turnover in the neutral zone and gained control before sliding it to Sam Harris, who put a shot on net caromed off in front and to Kristian Epperson for the goal.
 
 
QUOTABLES
Richard and Kitzia Goodman Hockey Head Coach David Carle
On the game: "We had a great third. You know, I thought we had some looks in the second as well. Both teams kind of traded chances in the second, and our ability to kind of put the game away in the third was excellent. We knew that they'd probably pull the goalie at 1-1; they needed to win in regulation. So to get it to 2-1, they're down two. Get it 3-1, they're down three. And then the 4-1 goal probably puts it away and then we don't even see them pull [the] goalie. So I loved the killer instinct that our players had in the third to be able to execute, get separation, and ultimately secure the victory, get the second overall seed, and did a lot of favors for ourselves in the NPI as well."
 
On the conference playoffs: "We're looking forward to the new format. If we can find our way through the quarterfinals, we will be hosting here for semifinals. So great for our fans to see playoff hockey at a really high level in our league play."
 
Senior Forward Samu Salminen
On his recent play: "I need to give the credit to the who team, we've improved. We had a little tough stretch there in January, but we grew up as a group and [as] individuals, got a little boost from there as well. As a line, we are just trying to find our chemistry and stuff. Now matters the most at this part of the year, and we're trying to keep it going, improve a little bit more now."
 
On playing the conference tournament at Magness Arena: "It's going to be unbelievable to play in front of this crowd. We are fortunate that we get at least three more games. So we're fortunate to do that."
 
Senior Defenseman Kent Anderson
On David Carle winning his 200th career game: "It's awesome to see this success he's had. Obviously, he's such a special coach for us for four years. He just cares so much about the program, just individual development and the team. To see him get a milestone like that is awesome."
 
On playing at Magness Arena for the playoffs: "It's huge. Our fans are unbelievable. Obviously, this is a special place for us. There's nothing like my home ice. I mean, meals, everything, and some advantage going into the playoffs, so it's awesome."
 

TICKETS: Tickets for DU hockey quarterfinal series against Miami on March 6-8 are available. Click here for more information.