No. 5 Denver provided some promising signs Friday night for an extended stay in the postseason, and that included vanquishing an early-season monster that temporarily reared its ugly head.

The Pioneers turned in a strong performance on special teams, survived a late scare and got multi-point games from several of their best players in a 6-3 victory over Miami. It was the first regulation victory for Denver (18-8-7, 12-6-5-4 NCHC) in four games.

Troy Terry had four assists, Dylan Gambrell and Henrik Borgström added a goal and assist each and seniors Rudy Junda and Adam Plant added crucial tallies to lift the Pioneers, who saw leads of 3-0 and 4-1 turn into 4-3 in a 1:38 stretch late in the third period.

“I think we really had it going, then we laid off the gas a little bit,” Terry said. “They made it 3-1 and that’s a lesson to be learned. I thought we were playing good, and then they got the two goals that might have been a little bit of puck luck. That’s how it goes, all of a sudden it’s a game.

“We didn’t let that bother us or get frustrated like we did early in the year. We’re only up by one goal now, so let’s go do it. It was a good attitude. That’s the way things are going to go in the tournament.”

Gambrell and Jarid Lukosevicius scored first-period power-play goals and Junda’s hard-work rebound goal as he was falling to the ice 1:51 into the second gave the Pioneers their first three-goal edge.

“Any time Rudy Junda scores it gives us a boost on the bench,” Terry said. “It was awesome to see that.”

Kiefer Sherwood found some open real estate right down Main Street and Phil Knies, who played some of his youth hockey in Colorado, found him after a Miami jail break into the DU zone less than two minutes after Junda’s goal.

Borgström restored the advantage to three with his team-high 19th goal midway through the second, a strike that was set up by Logan O’Connor‘s hard work down the right wing. His pass found Borgström open on the back door of RedHawk netminder Ryan Larkin (29 saves).

“We were good at screening. Hard offensively and it paid dividends,” DU coach Jim Montgomery said. “We scored more 5-on-5 goals than we have in a long time and that’s what you need to do when you get into playoff hockey.”

With DU locked into second place in the NCHC playoffs and Miami (11-18-4, 6-14-3-1 NCHC) ensconced in the eighth seed. The game had a bit of a feel of a dry run for the postseason, a point that was driven home in the final six minutes when Conor Lemirande and Casey Gilling scored in a 1:38 span.

Lemirande drove the right wing and threw the puck at Tanner Jaillet (20 saves), and it eluded the Pioneers goalie. Gilling scored from the outside of the left circle.

“I thought they were more physical (in the third),” Montgomery said. “I thought we were a little too casual in certain areas defensively that led to their goals.”

Unlike some games earlier this season when a foe’s rally meant disaster, the Pioneers didn’t buckle, building their lead back to two 1:34 later. Plant’s slap shot from the left point eluded a screened Larkin after the Terry-Gambrell-Colin Staub line controlled the puck for at least a minute deep in the RedHawks zone.

“We had the ability to turn it right back up,” Montgomery said. “That shift by Gambrell’s line that led to 28’s goal was sensational.”

Terry and Staub finished things in the final minute. A diving Terry head manned the puck to Staub, who attempted a cross-ice pass to Gambrell that bounced off a Miami defender.

“We probably dug ourselves a little bit of a hole there,” Plant said. “But anytime you can get a little insurance it’s nice.

“It was reminiscent of the beginning of the year when we’d have a three-goal lead and took our foot off the gas and making it tighter than it should be. It’s good for us right now because we can try and learn from it, and when it’s  tournament time we can try and correct that.

“We need to be able to win games like in the playoffs.”

Another development that wasn’t new was Borgstrom, Gambrell and Terry continuing to terrorize the RedHawks.

Borgstrom now has eight points in six games vs. Miami, while Terry and Gambrell each has 13 in 10.

Notable

O’Connor became the seventh Pioneer to play in his 100th career game this season, when he hit the milestone Friday night. He celebrated with a beautiful pass to Borgström on Larkin’s back door on DU’s fourth goal. The point gave O’Connor 17 on the season, one shy of his career high, which he set last season. The other Pioneers to crack the 100-game barrier this season include Gambrell, Jaillet, Lukosevicius, Staub Terry, Tariq Hammond and Blake Hillman. … The Pioneers got a bit of clarity on their NCHC quarterfinal opponent. With one regular-season game left, Western Michigan – which lost at Colorado College, 2-1, on Friday – sits in seventh place in the NCHC. However, CC, North Dakota and Omaha all are just three points ahead of the Broncos so stay tuned. … DU will honor its four seniors – Hammond, Jaillet, Junda, and Plant before Saturday night’s game.

Denver’s three stars

1. Troy Terry. The junior had four assists, including ones on the final two goals.
2. Adam Plant. The senior’s goal created some breathing room, and he and D partner Michael Davies were strong all game.
3. Dylan Gambrell. He finished a beautiful feed from Terry for a goal and his shot was tipped in to give DU a quick 2-0 lead. His five SOG were a team high.

Up next

The teams conclude their season series Saturday at 7:05 p.m. at Magness Arena. 104.3 FM has the broadcast and NCHC.tv (subscription) will carry the live stream.

©First Line Editorial 2017-18