No. 8 Denver got goals from six different players and never trailed in defeating Wisconsin, 6-3, in a non-conference game Friday night at Madison, Wis.

A total of 11 players registered points for the Pioneers (11-4-2), who broke the game open with a three-goal surge in a 2:41 span early in the third period and won their fourth consecutive game on the road and overall.

“It was a great response in the third period,” DU coach David Carle said. “I thought in the offensive zone we possessed pucks a lot better, we were cutting back, we were in on the forecheck, our sticks were on the ice, we were creating turnovers and ultimately we were capitalizing on some of the chances we weren’t able to bury in the second.”

Filip Larsson picked up the victory in relief of starting goaltender Devin Cooley, who left the game 8:24 into the second period after appearing to get stung up high by a Badgers shot. There was no further word on Cooley’s injury.

Larsson made 12 saves in relief for Denver, which outshot Wisconsin 33-28. The six goals matched DU’s season high, first reached in a 6-0 win against Alabama-Huntsville on Oct. 13.

Denver shows its mettle

The Pioneers were nothing if not resilient. After largely controlling play in the first period, when Slava Demin‘s goal on a counter attack with the man advantage gave them a 1-0 lead, they twice watched the Badgers rally.

Tyler Inamoto drew Wisconsin (8-8-3) even 3:50 into the second, but Ryan Barrow scored for the third game in a row re-establish DU’s lead with 4:29 left in the period. However, Seamus Malone‘s power-play goal, which Inamoto set up, tied it again with 41 seconds to go in the second, and got the Kohl Center crowd back into the game.

The threat of the game getting away from Denver was very real as Wisconsin had seven of its eight wins at home and was unbeaten in its past six games entering Friday.

Quick strikes end it

Liam Finlay and Tyler Ward had other ideas, however.

Finlay, who had set up Demin’s goal with a nice cross-crease pass on a power play, scored on a rebound of Ward’s shot 2:43 into the third to the left of Daniel Lebedeff (27 saves).

At 5:05, Ward buried a chance from the back door after a beautiful play by Ian Mitchell, who flew to Wisconsin from British Columbia where he had been playing for Canada in the World Junior Championships. Mitchell carried the puck from right to left around Lebedeff’s cage, drew multiple defenders toward him as he crossed back over the goal line into the left circle and hit Ward on the tape.

Then 19 seconds later Finlay found Kohen Olischefski in the left circle, and the sophomore buried his first goal of the season.

That burst effectively left little doubt about the outcome, though Wisconsin got one goal back by Will Johnson with 2:40 to go before Jake Durflinger finished the scoring with an empty netter with 39 seconds to play.

Silver linings

Cooley was sharpe when he needed to be, especially in the first period, when DU largely controlled the play. The Badgers did get some quality chances, including a short-handed breakaway that preceded Demin’s goal.

Larsson, who was scheduled to start Saturday, undoubtedly will now.

Denver also won on a night it got exactly one point from its top line – Emilio Pettersen‘s assist on Ward’s goal.

The encouraging part about the offensive eruption was Barrow extending his scoring streak to five games, Colin Staub hiking his to seven and Olischefski getting a goal and Tyson McLellan picking up an assist. Barrow, McLellan and Olischefski had contributed little to no offense before last weekend, and it appears all three are finding their touch at a time when teams likely will focus even more energy on stopping Pettersen and linemates Cole Guttman and Jarid Lukosevicius. That certainly seemed to be Wisconsin’s strategy Friday.

Welcome back

In addition to Mitchell, center Brett Stapley returned to the lineup after missing both games last weekend. Stapley was spotted with linemates Finlay and Ward from time to time and he played a fair amount on the top power play unit. The emerging play of McLellan and Olischefski in the middle will give the Pioneers a nice problem to have – too many centers.

Denver’s three stars

1. Liam Finlay. The junior had a three-point night and was flying all game.
2. Ian Mitchell. If the defenseman was fatigued from the WJC he didn’t show it. He was a force at both ends of the ice and had a hand in two goals.
3. Ryan Barrow. You could make a strong case the sophomore, who got the puck free to Durflinger for his goal in addition to scoring his third in three games, has been one of the best Pioneers since the break.

Up next

The teams play again Saturday at 6 p.m. 104.3 FM will have the broadcast.

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