Denver overcame uneven play the past two weekends but was able to escape with two regulation victories and a shootout win in large part because of its superior talent.

That formula didn’t work Friday, when the No. 4 Pioneers lost to a Western Michigan team determined to use its significant size advantage to make them earn every inch of ice. As a result, the No. 14 Broncos took a 3-1 victory at Kalamazoo, Mich., that moved them past DU (14-5-3, 6-5-1-1 NCHC) into third place in the NCHC.

Filip Larsson made 22 saves and Liam Finlay scored his 11th goal of the season for Denver, while Ethen Frank scored twice for Western Michigan (14-8-1, 7-5-1-1), Hugh McGing tallied once and Trevor Gorsuch stopped 21 shots.

The loss ended Denver’s eight-game unbeaten streak.

Not so special

After a first period in which WMU controlled play for lengthy periods and outshot DU 12-3, the Pioneers’ special teams cratered in the second.

“They played with a lot more desperation than we did,” DU coach David Carle said. “They had us on our heels for 40 minutes tonight. We didn’t have the level of desperation that we needed and it took us two periods and being down two goals to get that, which is disappointing at this time of year.”

McGing put the Broncos on the board 1:51 into the second when he chipped the puck past a DU player at the right point just after a face-off in the WMU zone early in a Pioneers power play. McGing blew through the neutral zone and skated in on Larsson, beating the freshman glove side.

The Broncos continued to control play in the second and drew three consecutive penalties, cashing in on the second one when Frank snapped a shot over Larsson’s shoulder from the top of the right circle to make it 2-0 9:35 in.

Larsson kept the game close despite being under siege most of the first two periods. The freshman faced 22 shots, while his teammates generated just seven.

Late surge isn’t enough

Denver won tight games against Omaha and pulled even with Colorado College because of strong third periods, and they got back into Friday’s game with another solid effort. But Western Michigan doesn’t inhabit the league’s low-rent district.

Still, the Broncos didn’t help their cause with undisciplined play in the third, taking 17 minutes of penalties, including a five-minute major and a game misconduct by Mattias Samuelsson for contact to the head.

The Pioneers couldn’t cash in seven minutes of power-play time, but they did get a goal from Finlay off assists from Michael Davies and Cole Guttman 6:06 in to make it 2-1.

The power-play time helped DU generate 15 shots on goal – more than double its total for the first two periods – in the third, but Western Michigan iced the game when Frank scored in an empty-net goal with 1:07 to play.

Notes

Denver went 0 for 6 on the power play and 2 for 3 on the penalty kill. … WMU had a 26-22 face-off edge (54 percent).

Denver’s three stars

1. Filip Larsson. Things could have really gotten out of hand had the freshman not been on top of his game early.
2. Liam Finlay. The junior continues building on a career season, notching his 11th goal and 25 point.
3. Michael Davies. The junior set up the lone goal and was even.

Up next

The teams finish the series Saturday at 5:05 p.m. MST. 104.3 FM will carry the broadcast, while NCHC.tv (subscription) will have the webcast.

©First Line Editorial 2017-19