Manufacturing goals has been tricky at times for Denver thus far this season, but the Pioneers received an unexpected treat Friday when sophomore Dylan Gambrell returned at least a week ahead of schedule – and scored – in a hard-fought 3-1 NCHC victory over Western Michigan.

Gambrell scored DU’s first goal, halfway through the second period, and he saw duty on the second line, the second power play and a penalty-killing unit.

“He was great tonight, first game back he got a goal,” DU captain Will Butcher said. “He was moving his feet like he was in end of season form from last year. He just adds so much to our team it’s not even funny.”

Said Gambrell, “I was trying to take the puck to the net, and eventually if you do that you’re going to get your opportunity. The puck kind of squirted out to me and I was able to put it home. It’s going to be big for my confidence.”

Butcher scored the clinching goal, after the top line of Henrik Borgstrom, Troy Terry and Jarid Lukosevicius created havoc deep in the WMU zone. Lukosevicius retrieved the puck below the goal line and found Butcher alone at the blue line.

“I didn’t think our top line was at their best tonight but we needed a big shift there, and I thought they were incredible there,” DU coach Jim Montgomery said. “Terry had the million and one moves going and didn’t score, but the work by Luko behind the net to get it back out to Butcher was phenomenal, and we had great traffic at the net front.”

Evan Janssen also had a goal, and Tanner Jaillet made 25 saves, including a couple of show stoppers when the Broncos (3-1-1, 0-1 NCHC) racheted up the pressure in the second and third periods.

WMU got on the board 1:31 into the third when Griffen Molino drilled a pass from Taylor Flemming past Jaillet from the right dot on a power play.

“They started to roll and their forwards starting getting confidence because we didn’t manage the puck well when we had it whether defensemen or forwards,” Montgomery said. “I really liked the way we started the game. I didn’t love the way we finished the game but we found a way to win. This is a real tough conference to win.

“That was the hardest game we’ve played this year.”

The victory ran the Pioneers’ win streak to five after starting with two losses, but the big story was Gambrell’s earlier than expected return.

“He’s an elite skater, and what makes him really good is he competes hard. He finished a lot of checks, he took hits to make plays,” Montgomery said.”I was glad that loose puck fell on his stick in front of the net because he put it home pretty well.”

Anatomy of a comeback

By my unofficial count, Gambrell played 28 shifts, including on power-play and penalty-kill units. He said that due to the nature of his injury being an upper body one, he was able to maintain his conditioning fairly well. The decision to return was two-fold, getting a green light from a doctor and his own comfort level.

“It was this week. I skated Monday, Tuesday, just trying to get a feel for the puck. Then Wednesday, Thursday I started to build my confidence a bit,” he said. “By Friday morning skate it was my decision.  … There is no chance I could injure it worse.”

Whatever reservations Montgomery had about one of his best players returning early were abated as the week wore on.

“He’s been practicing this week, and he’s been begging me to play,” the coach said. “I said, ‘You have to get cleared by a doctor.’ The doctor said if his injury is not hurting him then he’s fine because he’s protected already.

“Once I heard that I’m going to put one of our best players out there. He’s so fun to watch, his skating, his ability to break plays wide open. ”

Another net gain

Western Michigan had several prime scoring opportunities in the second period, and the puck either went wide of the net or Jaillet made a remarkable save, as he did with 8:10 to go when a pass from below the goal line found a Bronco all alone at the hash marks between the circles.

As the Broncos brought the heat, Jaillet rose to the occasion.

“I thought Tanner Jaillet was phenomenal,” Montgomery said.

Friday  marked the junior’s fourth game in a row allowing just one goal. In the process, he hiked his record to 5-1 and lowered his goals-against average to 1.68 and raised his save percentage to .933.

Unsung heroes

Senior forward Emil Romig and junior defenseman Tariq Hammond didn’t show up on the score sheet, but their contributions were eye catching to their coach.

“I thought Romig was our best player tonight,” Montgomery said. “He was a force at both ends of the ice. That hit at the beginning of the game, that was phenomenal. And he was jacked up.

“I thought he was great, I thought Hammond was great. Hammond had to go against (Wade) Allison and he won a lot of one-on-one battles that kept the puck out of the net.”

Allison is a 6-foot-2, 205-pound freshman who entered the game as one of WMU’s leading scorers with five points.

Notes

Gambrell, who had missed the past four games because of an upper-body injury, took the warm-up skate with his Pioneers teammates. It was estimated Gambrell, a second-round pick of the San Jose Sharks in June’s NHL Entry Draft, would miss four to six weeks. Gambrell was an extra skater on the initial line charts, and he replaced freshman Liam Finlay in the lineup and on the second line with Matt Marcinew and Colin Staub. … The Pioneers made a couple of other lineup changes from last Saturday’s victory at Michigan State, re-inserting sophomore Blake Hillman for freshman Erich Fear on defense and Lukosevicius for junior Rudy Junda at forward.