Cameron Wright‘s late second-period goal gave No. 11 Denver a spark, but the Pioneers couldn’t light a fire on the scoreboard in a 3-1 loss at No. 8 North Dakota at Grand Forks on Friday night.

The Fighting Hawks (5-3, 1-0 NCHC) took the conference opener largely on the strength of a two-goal surge midway through the second period before Wright answered with 34 seconds to go in the frame.

Wright took a pass from Massimo Rizzo, who had just left the penalty box after serving the second of Denver’s two too-many-men-on-the-ice penalties, and waited out North Dakota goalie Zach Driscoll (23 saves).

The loss was Denver’s third in a row, and it marked the second game in a row it was held to one goal after scoring 29 in its first five games.

Turning point

The Fighting Hawks took control on two goals in 49 seconds.

Matteo Constantini finished what for all practical purposes was a 2-on-0 with Judd Caufield against Magnus Chrona (20 saves) 7:02 into the second period.

Louis Jamernik cashed in a nice back hand pass from Mark Senden, who forechecked Antti Tuomisto off the puck behind the Pioneers net. Jamernick, who also added an empty-net goal with 28 seconds left, put his fly-by shot between Chrona’s pads at 7:51.

The Pioneers (4-3, 0-1) played their best period of the game in the third, outshooting the hosts 12-6. They were done in when Carter Mazur was called for a questionable goaltender interference penalty with 1:58 to go.

DU struggled to establish enough possession to get Chrona out of the net for the extra attacker, and seconds after it did Jamernik iced the game seconds later.

Notes: Denver’s penalty kill made some progress, allowing only Jamernik’s empty-netter, on five chances. The Fighting Hawks came in converting more than 30 percent of their power-play chances. … The teams conclude the series Saturday at 5 p.m.

©First Line Editorial 2021