This was one that few people saw coming, save for those who inhabit Denver’s sterling new locker room.

The No. 6 Pioneers proved the crowd wrong this weekend, clinching the program’s 16th trip to the Frozen Four – and third in four seasons – with a 3-0 victory over upstart American International on Saturday night at Fargo, N.D.

Freshman Filip Larsson registered his second shutout in as many games, stopping 26 AIC shots one night after he stoned Ohio State 24 times, and was selected the West Regional’s MVP. David Carle became the first coach in the program’s 70-year history to reach the national semifinals in his first season as coach. Murray Armstrong did it in his second season in 1958, and Jim Montgomery did it in his third season in 2016.

For a team that was panned early in the season for its lack of experience, its seven upperclassmen were huge all weekend, and three of them found the back of the net Saturday. Senior captain Colin Staub scored for the second game in a row, junior Liam Finlay struck late in the third and senior assistant captain Jarid Lukosevicius provided the finish with an empty-net goal.

The victory earned the Pioneers (24-11-5) a date with UMass in one of the two semifinals on April 11. The resurgent Minutemen shut out Notre Dame, 4-0, earlier Saturday.

Two keys

The difference in Saturday’s win was the Pioneers used their speed to create chances closer to the net than they did Friday. Even when the game was scoreless, they controlled much of the play because of their hallmark speed, particularly from the defense, which often skated the puck out of harm’s way and into AIC territory.

“I thought we played with more pace and energy,” Carle said. “We executed with the puck better.”

The similarity, of course, was the controlled play of Larsson, who rarely gave up bad rebounds and nearly always seemed to be in perfect position. The combination of his play and the team’s defense meant more often than not the Yellowjackets were subject to one-and-done’s in the DU zone.

By the time Staub scored with 4:15 to play in the second period, Denver had established enough of a territorial advantage that AIC’s only hope was to capitalize on a turnover of a penalty.

The Pioneers complied with the latter, giving AIC three of its five power plays after Staub’s strike, which came after Ryan Barrow retrieved a loose puck in the right corner, skated toward Yellowjackets goalie Zackarias Skog (21 saves) and found a wide-open Staub on the lower right circle.

“I tried to find a quiet area, and (Barrow) was able to find me,” Staub said. “I tried to get it off as quickly as I could.”

Staub also is a key cog on DU’s penalty kill, and after allowing seven shots AIC’s first two man advantages, the PK allowed just two more shots on the next three.

Finishing move

A large part of the Pioneers’ success has been the team-wide buy-in to a defensive posture, and Finlay might be Exhibit A. A highly skilled wing, the junior has steadily added a defensive component to his game, and that was on display late in the third period.

After the Yellowjackets gained possession of the puck in their zone, Finlay circled back and forechecked. His poke check netted him the puck and very quickly a goal because he fired the bouncing biscuit from between the circles past a startled Skog with 3:30 left.

Despite the elapsed game time, the goal came just three shots after Staub’s which was more than a period earlier. Lukosevicius left little doubt about the outcome on the next DU shot. The senior collected the puck in the neutral zone, made a move to the right and fired into AIC’s empty net from the blue line with 1:23 to go.

With that, Denver moved another step closer to the program’s ninth national title.

“We beat a really good hockey team tonight,” Carle said.”I’m really proud of our players and how they’ve come together this year. The things we’ve been through from the start of the year, and everything that was said about us, to get to this point has been a lot of growth and has been them in the room believing in one another to push each other to get better every day and every week.

“I’m very proud of our group, and I’m excited for our program to be heading back to the Frozen Four again.”

Notes

Freshman wing Emilio Pettersen, the Pioneers’ second leading scorer (30 points) left the game late in the first period after getting a hand caught between an AIC player and the boards. He did not return to the game but was on the ice afterward for the handshake line. … In addition to Larsson, Staub, Finlay and senior defenseman Les Lancaster were named to the all-region team. … Denver’s penalty kill was a perfect 8 for 8 on the weekend, but the power play’s struggles continued as it went 0 for 6. … For the second night in a row the Pioneers struggled on the dot, winning just 25 of 56 faceoffs (44.6 percent). That was an upgrade from Friday’s startling 14 of 51 showing.

Denver’s three stars

1. Filip Larsson. Back-to-back shutouts in your first two NCAA games? Sure, no problem.
2. Colin Staub. Goals in back-to-back games in your fourth NCAA Tournament? Yeah, no problem.
3. I can’t decide. Michael Davies, Liam Finlay and Ryan Barrow all deserve stars for their play.

Up next

DU will play UMass, which defeated Notre Dame on Saturday, in one of the Frozen Four semifinals on Thursday, April 11.

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