No. 11 Denver took a more assertive posture into its second game in two nights against Air Force, and the scoreboard reflected that.

Nine players registered points, led by sophomore Carter Savoie with six points, including three goals, and senior Cole Guttman with four points, as the Pioneers rocked the Falcons, 8-0, at Magness Arena.

The offensive eruption gave DU a total of 24 goals in four games (six per game) and give freshman goaltender Matt Davis a victory in his first NCAA start.

The Pioneers also chased Air Force goalie Alex Schilling, who made 42 saves Friday night, midway through the second period after he had allowed five goals on 26 shots.

“I did like our game tonight. I did think we were relentless tonight,” DU coach David Carle said. “Last night was a very tough environment. It’s hard to sweep opponents in college hockey.

“Overall, we couldn’t have executed our game plan much better.”

Added Guttman, “We were fast tonight. Our details in the D zone were better and led to more offense.”

Here are three observations from Denver’s fourth consecutive victory to start the 2021-22 season.

Top line is just fine

For the second time this season Denver’s top line put on a clinic. It had a hand in each of the Pioneers’ first six goals.

Savoie got it started midway through the first period when he finished a backdoor pass from freshman defenseman Sean Behrens, who had three assists, and has at least one assist in all four games this season.

“He was impressive all night long,” Carle said. “He was moving his feet more than last night. Pucks were finding him. He’s a big boy, very strong on his feet, hard to knock off the puck.”

Bobby Brink scored on a rebound that came to him on the back door to give Denver a 3-0 lead just 44 seconds into the second period.

Savoie then struck two more times in the second on the power play and passed to Guttman early in the third for the senior’s snap shot from the inside right hash mark.

Dazzling debut

Davis, who made 25 saves  presented a contrast in styles to usual starter Magnus Chrona.

Five inches shorter than the 6-foot-5 Chrona, Davis moves around more in net and seems more animated.

“I’m happy for Matty Davis,” Carle said. “He earned his shutout. … He was exceptional. He did an excellent job getting out and cutting down angles, tracking pucks.”

“We had a clean sheet on the penalty kill, and he was a big part of that. I was glad to see that. I’m very proud of him. He’s been working really hard.”

He had to make a couple of point blank stops in the first period. First on a breakaway by center Andrew DeCarlo, who was sprung down the the left wing and cut in sharply on Davis. Next, he stopped defenseman Drake Usher on a partial breakaway with 2:52 to play in the first period. A goal at either juncture might have changed the complexion of the game, which DU had dominated to that point.

He stopped a third breakaway in the third period, stopping Will Gavin with about 6 minutes left.

“He was on it from the get-go,” Savoie said. “Matty made some good saves, gave our game some confidence. He gave us an early lead, and we rolled form there.”

Davis’ gem also meant Denver has yet to allow an even-strength goal in four games.

Isn’t that special

If there was one major concern, at least in this corner, about Denver it was its penalty kill. Scorched last weekend by Arizona State, the Pioneers also gave up a power-play goal to Air Force on one of its four chances Friday.

That got cleaned up in a big way Saturday, when the Pioneers killed off all four Air Force power plays.

“It seems like our penalty kill starts out slow every year,” Carle said “In (preseason camp) a lot of our attention is on different parts of our game. Until you get live reps coming at you, it’s much easier to coach and make tweaks in those environments.

“We’re reading off each other better … it’s more comfortable. It’s hard to generate that (work on the penalty kill) in practice.”

Notes

Denver honored its 2020 Hall of Fame class during the first intermission. The group included longtime DU hockey coach George Gwozdecky, who led the Pioneers to consecutive NCAA titles in 2004 and ’05. … Freshman Massimo Rizzo scored two goals and is tied with Savoie for the team lead with five goals. … Graduate transfer Cameron Wright also struck on the power play for his first goal in a DU uniform. … The Pioneers hit the road next weekend for games at No. 10 Providence and No. 6 Boston College. “It’s a huge weekend coming up for us,” Carle said.

©First Line Editorial 2021