After consecutive trips to Minnesota, DU decided a visit to Florida was in order.

The No. 7 Pioneers (25-9-6) punched their ticket to Tampa and the Frozen Four with a 6-3 victory over a relentless Ferris State team in the NCAA West Regional final on Sunday at St. Paul, Minn.

DU (18-2-4 since Jan. 1) finished the job with a three-goal outburst in a span of 2:05 late in the third period. Prior to that, the Pioneers’ grip on a game they had largely dominated seemed in question.

Freshman defenseman Blake Hillman gathered a loose puck between the circles and fired it past Bulldogs goalie Brandon Smith to provide the winning margin. From there the Pioneers had a senior moment. Actually two of them.

Just 25 seconds later senior blue liner Nolan Zajac struck, and 1:40 later senior center Quentin Shore applied the finishing move on a rebound of an Evan Janssen shot.

“Really proud of our group and the commitment they had to each other because this is the first time we’ve played an opposing team for the first time that posed significant problems because of the way that they play in the d-zone, the way they break out and what they do in the offensive zone,” DU coach Jim Montgomery said. “You can tell we are really dialed in because I thought we executed against all three of those things without being able to repetition it in practice and seeing it in video more than once.

“It’s a credit in the fact that we have two seniors up here (Shore and captain Grant Arnold) because they led us along with Nolan Zajac and Gabe Levin. They’ve just held this team together.”

Tanner Jaillet made 18 saves, several of the clutch variety, for DU, which was seeded second in the regional. Smith stopped 36 shots for fourth-seeded Ferris State, which was outshot 42-21.

“It’s an amazing feeling, especially as a senior,” Arnold said. “I think about the tough losses that our class has had. I think about the seniors from last year and all the alumni around the country. Denver is a family, and I think about our school and I think about everyone.”

The Pioneers are familiar with their Frozen Four opponent – they went 2-2-1 vs. No. 2 North Dakota this season. The teams will play at 5:30 MDT on Thursday, April 7. It is the Pioneers’ first trip to the Frozen Four since 2005, when they won the second of two consecutive national championships.

“North Dakota’s going to have to deal with a 100-degree weather change, we don’t have to,” Montgomery quipped.

Nine players had points for DU on Sunday, one night after 11 players etched their name on the scoresheet. The Pacific Rim Line of Danton Heinen, Dylan Gambrell and Trevor Moore accounted for seven points, with each getting a goal, and the line of Shore, Janssen and Troy Terry accounted for five points.

Hillman, a Minnesota native, had the first three-point game of his college career, joining Heinen and Gambrell as the Pioneers’ leading point producers. Hillman, who also scored in DU’s 7-2 victory over Boston University on Saturday, was selected the region’s most outstanding player.

Heinen had six points on the weekend, Shore, Terry and Gambrell had five apiece. Heinen extended his points streak to 18 games, during which time he’s amassed 34 points.

Until the Pioneers’ closing burst, the No. 18 Bulldogs had an answer for every DU goal.

The power play facilitated Ferris State tying it at 3. Corey Mackin contolled the puck behind the DU net before finding Kyle Schempp between the circles. Schempp’s shot appeared to glance off Jaillet’s right shoulder and into the net.

The PRL notched a hat trick when Moore took a nice stretch pass from Hillman that sprung him on a breakaway. Moore went high blocker on Smith to make it 3-2 just 2:49 into the second.

The teams were even at 2 after the first despite the Pioneers holding a 15-3 shot edge.

“Ferris is a tough team to play, they make it a frustrating game to play,” Arnold said. “They did a good job of that. It was frustrating after the first.

“At Denver and with Coach Montgomery we preach the process, and that’s what matters. It’s not about the scoreboard it’s about our process. If we execute on our process, we’re going to come out victorious, and that’s what happened tonight.”

Heinen got DU on the board 5:34 in after Gambrell took a pass from Hillman, cruised through the neutral zone and put a puck on Smith. The carom when right to Heinen on the left doorstep and he wasted no time burying it. It was DU’s third power-play goal of the weekend. (Shore’s would be the fourth).

Ferris State tied on Gerald Mayhew’s breakaway goal with 4:47 left. The Bulldogs caught the Pioneers on a faceoff play in the Ferris zone. Schempp won the draw, which Tony Dorantes collected and chipped off the boards to Mayhew in the neutral zone, defenseman Tariq Hammond fell at his line and the Bulldogs’ leading scorer streaked in along on Jaillet. It was just the second shot Jaillet had seen in 15 minutes.

Heinen won a faceoff to Smith’s right over to Gambrell, who rifled a shot past Smith with 1:20 to go.

But the Bulldogs responded on the power play exactly one minute later. Mackin fired a shot toward the net that bounced off Hammond’s skate past Jaillet.