If you’re Denver, this is how you’d draw up your season opener.

The No. 10 Pioneers fashioned a fast start, sustained pressure throughout much of the game and got key saves from a goaltender making his first NCAA start. That led to David Carle picking up a 4-1 victory over host Air Force on Friday night in his NCAA coaching debut.

“We were on our toes, we were aggressive from the get-go, that’s what we wanted,” Carle said. “Especially in this environment against that team. We know they’re hard to play against. I’m really happy with our start.”

There was plenty to like about this one for DU fans, including sophomore Devin Cooley‘s 22-save effort in net.

Top line causes havoc

The top line continued its strong play from DU’s exhibition a week ago, combining for six points, headed by a goal and two assists from freshman Emilio Pettersen. Senior Jarid Lukosevicius had two assists and the trio’s freshman center, Cole Guttman, joined Pettersen in posting his first college goal.

“They’re smart hockey players and they’re fast,” Carle said. “They want the puck on their stick, and they’ve bought in 100 percent into how we want to play, how we want to pressure pucks. If they’re pressuring pucks with their sticks on the ice, they’re going to get the puck back and they’re going to make plays.”

Lukosevicius reiterated that it’s not only the newcomers’ speed but their know-how that’s helped the group click so well so early.

“They’re easy to read off of,” the assistant captain said. “They support pucks and know where to be when they don’t have the puck. They cause a lot of turnovers on the forecheck.”

Starting fast

Denver wasted no time taking control on Friday because it’s speed and creativity – from all four lines – created all sorts of chances. Had Air Force goalie Billy Christopoulos (22 saves) not been sharp, the spread could have been wider than the 2-0 margin the Pioneers built just 8:38 in.

“We have a lot of young guys in there so everyone was pretty amped up to get our season going,” said sophomore defenseman Ian Mitchell, who gave the Pioneers the 2-0 margin. “We played with high pace in that first period and didn’t worry about little things so I think that’s why we had so much success.”

It was the fourth line that got things started on its very first shift. Jaakko Heikkinen found Jake Durflinger on Christopoulos’ backdoor with a nice pass from the lower left circle 2:25 in.

Mitchell made it 2-0 only 21 seconds into a 5-on-3 power player with a laser from the high slot. Guttman won a draw to Pettersen, who turned on the left dot and found the defenseman all alone just above the circles to make it 2-0.

“We were able to draw penalties when we were skating,” Carle said. “When we put pucks in space we were first on them. I think that’s Denver hockey.”

Weathering a storm

The glad tidings of the first period slowly slipped away in the second, however. The Falcons got more aggressive and sustained pressure better. Cooley made good initial saves but had to deal with more traffic in the process.

“I thought he was calm, made some big saves for us,” Carle said. “I thought his stick was very good in and around his crease. Air Force is a team that brings a lot of traffic. I thought he battled and competed through that and stayed big and strong in his crease.”

Still, it was 3-0 with 6:53 to go in the middle frame after Pettersen struck again, forcing a turnover and finishing the job with a nifty forehand-backhand move that he deposited around Christopoulos’ glove side.

Air Force got back into it temporarily with a power-play goal with 2:56 left in the period. Co-captain Evan Giesler finished a net-front pass from Evan Feno.

Mitchell said the Pioneers can learn from that period.

“We forgot what we did to make ourselves successful and we ended up on our heels a lot,” he said.” We had a lack of communication in the defensive zone, which didn’t allow us to break pucks out as easily as we did in the first period.”

Guttman restored the three-goal lead 4:24 into the third and that was that.

“People who say Denver is supposed to be down are wrong,” Air Force coach Frank Serratore said. “They’re supposed to be young. They sure didn’t play like an inexperienced team. David’s done a good job to have them play as well as they are.”

Notes

A new NCAA rule allows teams to dress a 19th skater this season. For the Pioneers, freshman forward Jared Resseguie was an extra forward. Resseguie was one of five Colorado natives to dress for the matchup. Senior forward Colin Staub was the other Coloradan in DU’s lineup. … The Falcons opted to dress seven defensemen, including Colorado native Keegan Mantaro. Senior Evan Feno and sophomore goalie Zack LaRocque were the other Coloradans in AFA’s lineup.

Denver’s three stars

1. Emilio Pettersen. The freshman was electric in picking up his first three college points.
2. Devin Cooley. He stopped 22 of 23 shots and won his first NCAA game.
3. Jarid Lukosevicius. He had a hand in the winning and third goals.

Up next

The Pioneers open their home schedule on Saturday with a 7 p.m. game against Alabama-Huntsville. The Chargers fell to Colorado College, 1-0, on Friday.

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