Senior Evan Ritt scored his first career goal and added two assists as No. 1 Denver blew up No. 14 Western Michigan at Kalamazoo on Saturday. Photo courtesy of DU Athletics

So much for the idea that No. 1 Denver might not have enough offense without injured forward Troy Terry.

One night after being shut out for the first time this season, the Pioneers scored a season-high touchdown and extra point against No. 14 Western Michigan, while holding the Broncos to a safety in a 7-2 NCHC victory.

Seven different players scored – three on the power play, one shorthanded. But it was an even-strength goal by senior Evan Ritt – the first of his NCAA career – that drew the most attention in the Pioneers’ locker room.

“Evan Ritt got the hard hat tonight,” DU coach Jim Montgomery told Bill Rogan after the game. “He’s such a fantastic teammate, for him to get rewarded that way is special. He was probably our best player.”

Ritt, who had one career point coming into the game, had plenty of company in the good player category on this night. He was one of five Pioneers with multi-point games. Will Butcher, whose shot Ritt deflected in midway through the second period, had three assists, and Dylan Gambrell and Adam Plant had two apiece. Ritt also had two assists in addition to his goal, and Logan O’Connor had a short-handed goal and an assist.

“This was a statement game for us,” Montgomery said. “Everyone in our lineup contributed to this victory, and we played solid, Denver-style hockey for 60 minutes. Our puck support, our battle level and our intensity were the best they’ve been all season, and we showed what we’re capable of when we play our game at a high level.”

Special, very special

The Pioneers’ victory is all the more impressive when one considers the team it came against. This wasn’t Arizona State, it was an NCHC team ranked No. 14 that had played DU tough twice at Magness Arena back in late October and shut them out Friday.

The big boost came from special teams. DU went 3 for 8 on the power play and killed off all five of its penalties.

The power play launched the rout as Matt Marcinew and Jarid Lukosevicius scored with the extra man in the first period. Butcher and Gambrell assisted on both strikes.

Freshman Kevin Conley added another power-play goal five minutes into the third period to make 7-1.

In between, O’Connor scored his second shortie of the season with 37 seconds left to make it 5-1 and pretty much dash any idea of WMU coming back.

Other positives

One knock on the Pioneers this season (and I’ve made it) is that their scoring depth has to improve. That they can blow out a ranked NCHC foe on the road and not need goals (power-play ones at that) from guys named Gambrell, Terry or Henrik Borgstrom is an important development.

Another is the timing of goals they got. Philadelphia Flyers prospect Wade Allison scored just 1:14 into the second period to make it 2-1? No problem. Colin Staub answered back 2 minutes later off a pass from Ritt. Late-period power play could give WMU a bit of hope? O’Connor snuffs it out.

A 4-on-4 early in a chippy third? Emil Romig scores to make it 6-1 before Conley applied the finishing touch. In all, 11 of the 18 skaters registered at least a point.

Tanner Jaillet stopped 22 of 23 shots before giving way to Evan Cowley for the final 10 minutes.