The Penrose Cup was in the house in St. Cloud, Minn., on Saturday night. And that’s exactly where it stayed.

Denver showed plenty of fight, but chasing the scoreboard ultimately cost the Pioneers a second consecutive NCHC championship. Instead, the host Huskies had an answer every time DU scored and took an NCHC-clinching 4-2 victory.

The win gave St. Cloud (21-6-5, 15-4-3-1 NCHC) 49 points in the conference, while Denver (17-8-7, 11-6-5-4 NCHC) has 42 and can lock up second place with one point vs. Miami next weekend.

“I thought we were a better hockey team tonight than last night and so was St. Cloud,” Denver coach Jim Montgomery said. “They deserved the Penrose Cup. They were the most consistent team in the league this season.”

After and eight-game unbeaten stretch, Denver has gone 0-2-1 in its past three and taken just two of nine possible NCHC points with one weekend left in the regular season.

“We can’t have bad results any more,” Montgomery added. “We’ve got to keep getting better. We’ve got to keep playing with more purpose and determination.

“We’ve got to start winning games so we can climb in the PairWise (rankings, which help determine the NCAA Tournament field). Enough of these ties and losses.”

The teams traded goals in the first period, with the Huskies striking first while the Pioneers were on the power play. Robby Jackson gained control of the puck and fed Ryan Poehling, who was steaming toward Tanner Jaillet. Jaillet made the initial save, but Jackson got to the rebound and tucked it in with 5:17 to play.

“It’s tough,” Montgomery said. “That’s a team that can make a lot of plays. (In spite of the shortie) I thought our play was the best it’s been in a while.”

Just after that power play ended, the Pioneers’ top unit scored a beautiful goal, capped by a tic-tac-toe sequence from Dylan Gambrell, stationed in the right circle, passing to Henrik Borgström in the left circle, passing to Jarid Lukosevicius in the slot. The junior wasted no tim beating David Hrenak (25 saves) with 3:47 to go in the first.

St. Cloud bounced back on top when Jacob Benson took a pass from Huskies captain Jimmy Schuldt and scored off a rush 2:34 into the second. Benson raced down the left wing and eluded Borgström en route to beating Jaillet (29 saves).

Blake Hillman, playing back in his home state, then took matters into his own hands early in the third, carrying the puck and scoring 5:30 in.

But the Huskies, who avenged two losses at Magness Arena in November with their four-point weekend at home, got the decisive goal from Poehling on a breakaway with 7:35 to go.

“Even their game-winning goal, we get a one-timer and they block it, get a breakaway and the kid makes a great play,” said Montgomery, who emptied DU’s net of Jaillet with about 3 minutes to go.

The Pioneers had a few chances 6 on 5 before Jon Lizotte found the empty net with 40 seconds left and the celebration was on in St. Cloud.

Notable

Denver held one of the nation’s top power plays off the scoresheet all weekend, killing off all seven St. Cloud man advantages. … St. Cloud again had a big face-off advantage, winning 32 of 54 draws Saturday. Montgomery said after the game he’s hopeful centers Tyson McLellan (shoulder) and Jaakko Heikkinen (undisclosed) will be able to return to the lineup soon. The former has missed the past 19 games, while the latter missed his first two games of the season this weekend.

Denver’s three stars

1. Blake Hillman. His goal brought Denver even a second time and he was one of two Pioneers blue liners in plus territory.
2. Jarid Lukosevicius. Not only did he score DU’s first goal, but the junior generated a team-high five shots on goal.
3. Dylan Gambrell. Drew a lot of tough defensive assignments and finished even, then added an assist and four shots on goal.

Up next

The Pioneers play host to suddenly surging Miami, which took five of six points from North Dakota this weekend, in the final regular-season series. Next Friday’s and Saturday’s games at Magness Arena start at 7:05 p.m.