Dawson DiPietro broke the fourth tie of the game with his second goal of the contest with 57 seconds remaining to send Western Michigan past No. 1 Denver, 6-5, on Friday night at Kalamazoo, Mich.

DiPietro’s late goal came just 15 seconds after Colt Conrad had tied it for the final time with 1:12 to play.

As disturbing as that was, the fact Denver allowed 37 shots on goal and went 0-for-9 on the power play after coming in clicking 30 percent of the time wasn’t particularly encouraging either.

“What I really see is our youth. We made enough plays to win the game, but we weren’t good at our checking skills and protecting the net front,” DU coach Jim Montgomery said.

“I liked our effort, but I didn’t like our execution on special teams, and I didn’t like our execution defending the lead. It’s areas that we have to get better at and we’re a young team and we will get better.”

Henrik Borgstrom scored the first three goals for the Pioneers (4-1-2, 0-1 NCHC), and Troy Terry gave DU a 5-4 lead with 4:30 to go and added two assists.

The Pioneers chased Broncos starter Ben Blacker midway through the second period when Jaako Heikkinen made it 4-3 off assists from Rudy Junda and Michael Davies. Blacker had faced 19 shots at that point. Austin Cain replaced Blacker and saved 15 of the 16 shots on his net. The one exception was Terry’s breakaway goal, which Cain came out of the net and misplayed.

DU started freshman Dayton Rasmussen for the second time in the past four games, and this probably will be one he’d like to permanently drop in the circular file. Rasmussen made 31 saves but was under siege at times. His defense didn’t give him a lot of help on a couple of the goals, particularly the final two.

The teams traded goals midway through the first period, with DU striking first when Borgstrom went top shelf on Blacker after taking a pass from Terry 8:45 in.

Wade Allison got the equalizer for the Broncos just 2:17 later, also at even strength. After Ian Mitchell went off for interference, Borgstrom got his second of the game short-handed with 7:09 to go in the first period.

Western (4-3-1, 1-0 NCHC) tied it 4:06 into the second on Paul Stowkewych‘s tally. But Borgstrom untied it 1:43 later.DU appeared to be firmly in control after Heikkinen’s strike, but the goalie change gave the Broncos a boost. DiPietro got his first goal with 6 minutes to play in the second, and Hugh McGing again tied it 5 minutes into the third. 

Mr. Friday night

Terry appeared to wrestle Friday night scoring heroics away from Borgstrom last weekend, but the sophomore Fin took it right back this weekend. With his three tallies, Borgstrom now has six of his team-high eight goals on Fridays.

DU’s three stars

1. Henrik Borgstrom. He scored DU’s first three goals, including a shortie.
2. Troy Terry. He gave Denver the lead in the closing minutes and added two assists.
3. Rudy Junda. The senior recorded his first point as a Pioneer.

Notable

Junda’s assist on Heikkinen’s goal was his first career point at Denver. … The teams combined for 14 penalties.

Next up

The teams are back at it Saturday at 5:05 p.m. MT.