No. 11 Minnesota Duluth gave No. 5 Denver a dose of its own medicine on Saturday night.

One night after the Pioneers jumped on the hosts in the first period, the Bulldogs returned the favor, scoring three first-period goals en route to a convincing 6-2 NCHC victory that ended DU’s seven-game winning streak.

Denver (11-5, 5-3 NCHC) showed some fight after a rough first period, closing to 3-1 on Cameron Wright‘s seventh goal of the season midway through the second, and 4-2 on Carter Mazur‘s ninth early in the third. But Duluth (11-6-1, 4-3-1) got second goals from Jesse Jacques and Kobe Roth (empty net) to ice it.

It was only the second time this season Denver has allowed six goals. The first was Oct. 22 in a 6-5 loss at Providence.

Magnus Chrona, who had allowed 10 goals in DU’s previous seven games, allowed half that total in the first 44 minutes Saturday. He finished with 21 saves. Counterpart Ryan Fanti, who was fortunate DU didn’t score on a couple of misplays, made 29 saves to bounce back from a rough Friday.

The Bulldogs did a much better job clogging the neutral zone and jamming traffic at their blue line. As a result, Denver rarely gained clean entries into the UMD zone, and when they did, they struggled to establish extended possessions.

Other culprits in the Pioneers’ first loss since Nov. 6 at North Dakota, were defensive lapses and and a power play that was blanked on the weekend (0 for 8) after entering the series with a 29.6 percent success rate.

Jacques’ first goal came 1:57 in after Owen Gallitin corralled the puck off the forecheck and hit him with a pass in the slot. 3:07 later while on the power play UMD captain Noah Cates walked in virtually alone to the left circle and beat Chrona over his right shoulder. Roth scored with 6:56 to go in the first off the rush when he beat Reid Irwin to the outside and scored on a backhander just on the bar on Chrona’s glove side.

That barrage marked the first time Denver had allowed as many as three goals since a 5-3 victory against Western Michigan on Nov. 12.

Denver displayed much better jump in the second, and Wright finished an alert play by Mazur, who gathered a loose puck in the right circle after a Duluth turnover and found the senior between the circles.

Blake Biondi stripped a DU player of the puck by the wall to Chrona’s right, wheeled into the slot alone and sent another shot over Chrona’s blocker to make it 4-1 1:19 into the third. Mazur answered only 16 seconds later when he took a drop pass, strode into the left circle and snapped one far side on Fanti to make it 4-2.

But two minutes later Jacques struck again when he carried the puck into the zone, used a defender as a screen and beat Chrona from the high slot.

Notes: Freshman defenseman Sean Behrens, who had 13 points in 14 games and is a candidate, along with Mazur, for the U.S. World Junior team, did not play this weekend. … The Pioneers don’t play again until they host Alaska Fairbanks on Dec. 31 and Jan. 1 at Magness Arena.

©First Line Editorial 2021