Needing a spark in a game No. 5 Denver had dominated territorially, Ian Mitchell lit the match.

The Pioneers’ captain broke open the game midway through the third period with a 150-foot rush for a shorthanded goal in a 6-3 NCHC victory over St. Cloud State on Friday night.

It was the fourth special teams goal in the game’s first four special teams situations, one of five overall, and Mitchell’s came 7:16 into the third in a game that the Huskies were hanging around in enough to create some drama.

The Pioneers (14-4-3, 4-3-2-1 NCHC) held a wide margin in shots on goal (48-26) and total shots (80-41) that was indicative of their possession advantage. But the Huskies (6-9-4, 3-6-0 NCHC) hung around thanks to a couple of power plays in a second period in which they were outshot 21-9.

Hank Crone scored his second goal of the game on a 5-on-3 power play with 6:15 left and Brett Stapley added an empty-netter with 1:33 to play.

“It was one of Hank’s best games as a Pioneer, and the way he responded, we talked a lot about it this week,” DU coach David Carle said. “I’m really proud of his effort all night. I thought his line was really good all night, they earned their ice time. They generated momentum and energy.”

But the difference was Mitchell’s electrifying play with St. Cloud up a man and having scored on its first two power plays.

“It was like he was shot out of a cannon,” Carle said. “I think he picked up speed as he went. … It iced the game for us.”

The junior collected the puck just above the circle near the left wall and was off to the races, going around a backchecking Huskies forward before waiting out David Hrenak to score five hole.

“I saw the loose puck and thought I could get to it and get it out of the zone,” Mitchell said. “When I poked it, I saw there was some space that I could poke it again and get an odd-man rush. Once I got back past No. 20 (Nolan Walker) I saw I had a clear lane and could get a breakaway.

“I knew I had to get a move in and I think my speed caught him off guard a little. I think he thought I was going to try to take it to the far post, so I tried to shovel it five hole and he opened up enough for it to squeak through.”

Magnus Chrona stopped 23 shots for DU, while Hrenak, under siege much of the game, made 42 saves.

DU’s output marked its third six-goal game of the season, and the second time during its six-game unbeaten streak.

Power surge

The typically sterling DU penalty kill was tarnished twice in the second period, when all three goals came on the man advantage – the only three such instances of the game to that point.

Just 3:30 in, St. Cloud cut Denver’s lead to 2-1 on a pretty tic-tac-toe play from Nick Poehling at the lower right circle, across to Walker at the left circle to Jack Poehling on Chrona’s back door. DU’s penalty kill had generated the first three shots of the Huskies power play, before Jack Poehling’s shot.

Denver cashed in on its first power with 8:17 to go in the period, when Ryan Barrow tipped the puck past Hrenak after a similar sequence to the one the Huskies scored on. Liam Finlay, controlling at the right half wall, foundStapley in the left circle. Stapley sent a crisp pass into the slot and Barrow did the rest for his fourth goal but first since Oct. 12.

With 5:34 to go in the second, St. Cloud again cut DU’s lead to one, again on the power play. Easton Brodzinski tipped a pass from Walker, stationed near the left side of the goal line, past Chrona from the slot.

“We made a couple of adjustments from their second goal, we had to guard that backdoor better,” Mitchell said. “Their power play is really good, they moved it around well.”

The penalty kill was a hot topic in the DU locker room during the second intermission.

“In between the second and third period we talked about our penalty kill, and how to defend that,” Carle said. “They did a great job executing tonight and exposed us.

“We talked about not getting too crowed in the offensive zone. Continue possessing pucks but spread out a little bit to create some more open ice in and around the net. I thought our guys did a good job continuing their puck pressure, staying above pucks. At the end of the day they’re a real dangerous team. They had a lot of really good looks that were near misses for them.”

First things first

A fast start was just what the doctor ordered for the Pioneers, who initially seemed inclined to chip and chase the puck against a taller (five players 6-foot-2 or taller) but slower Huskies D.

“Our identity is possessing pucks low and making teams work defensively,” Crone said. “We really bought into that and it worked.”

Over time DU began to sustain more pressure and Crone, who was scratched in the second game against UMass last weekend, finished off a nice play initiated by Mitchell 9:59 into the game. The captain shot the puck over Hrenak’s net where it caromed to Brett Edwards just to Hrenak’s left. SCSU’s D moved toward the freshman who then slipped the puck through the slot to a wide open Crone.

“Nobody wants to be out of the lineup so it fueled me a little bit,” Crone said. “I tried to play the role I needed to tonight, and I got lucky and cashed a few times.”

Kohen Olischefski made it 2-0 on a similar goal with 56 seconds to play in the first. Cole Guttman dropped a spin-o-rama pass to Demim, who patiently moved from the high slot to the left circle. The St. Cloud D again got caught out of position, and the sophomore found Olischefski all alone on Hrenak’s left doorstep.

The goal gave Olischefski a career-high 12 points.

Notable

St. Cloud’s Chase Brand scored with 3 seconds to go for the final margin. … Junior goaltender Devin Cooley missed his third game in a row due to a lower-body injury and junior center Jaakko Heikkinen (unknown) missed his second. Cooley has played in just three games this season after starting 20 a season ago. … Junior forward Jake Durflinger was serving a one-game, NCHC-imposed suspension for illegal hits and unsportsmanlike conduct near the end of Denver’s game vs. UMass on Jan. 4.

©First Line Editorial 2020