As senior weekends go, there isn’t much more No. 3 Denver could ask for.

Ryan Barrow, Cole Guttman and Brett Stapley scored goals Saturday, one night after veteran colleagues Cameron Wright and Kyle Mayhew joined Stapley in the goal column, and the Pioneers routed Colorado College for the fourth time this season, 5-2.

The triumph coupled with North Dakota’s 4-1 loss at Omaha gave DU a share of the Penrose Cup for finishing atop the NCHC.

“It’s a real hard trophy to win,” DU coach David Carle said. “I’m really proud of our guys and what they were able to accomplish. (The Penrose Cup) was a goal they set at the start of the year. It’s the first of a few we want.”

The Pioneers, however, earned the league’s top seed by virtue of having more conference regulation wins than the Fighting Hawks.That means eighth-place Miami will pay its second visit of the season to Magness Arena for the NCHC’s best-of-3 quarterfinals next weekend.

The victory also was Denver’s 25th of the season, the most of Carle’s four seasons. If the Pioneers win out, they could match the 2017 squad with 33 wins. That team did more than notch wins, as you might recall.

Two of the players who’ve been around for Carle’s entire tenure were quick to credit him for the bounce back from last season’s 10-win, NCAA-less campaign.

“He’s been great. His communication with players has been really good this year,” Guttman said. “All year this team has been super close, and it starts with him, goes through our leadership group and to the rest of the team.”

Added Stapley, “Our team is a lot closer than last year, and when we’re on the ice it shows.”

Another difference? “We’re also getting more consistent scoring from all four lines,” he added.

More than seniors

That was the case again Saturday – Line 1 had three goals and Line 3 had the other two. Friday, the second and fourth lines were in on the act.

On this night the seniors had starring roles – “all five played a huge factor in the game,” Carle noted. “It was the first time for them to win (the Penrose Cup).”

Those weren’t the only highlights for Denver (25-8-1, 18-6 NCHC), which had shut out the Tigers (9-22-3, 6-17-1) in their first three meetings of the season by a combined 14-0.

Sophomore Carter Savoie scored two goals, including his 11th power-play goal, and is tied with Wright for the team lead with 20 overall. It was his fifth multi-goal game of the season. What’s his secret?

“Sometimes you just have a lucky stick,” he said. “On the second one, Bob (Brink) tried to make a play in front, the puck hit one of their guys and bounced to me. That’s the way it goes sometimes.”

Brink picked up two assists, giving him 53 points – the most in a season since Drew Shore had that many during the 2010-11 season.

And freshman goaltender Matt Davis made 23 saves for his third win in four starts.

Balanced scoring

Just as they did Friday, the Pioneers hung two goals on the Tigers in each of the first two periods, with Savoie striking in each.

Stapley went bar down on Dominic Basse (31 saves) in the first period, and Barrow did likewise after hammering a one-timer from the slot during the second. Guttman’s goal came short-handed early in the third.

CC sophomore Marc Pasemko scored the first goal of his college career – the Tigers’ first against the Pioneers since last season – in the third period. Stanley Cooley, who could not covert a first-period penalty shot, scored a late power-play goal.

After being held to eight shots on goal in the first two periods, CC had 17 in the third, when it spent about half of the period on the power play.

Notes: DU again was without defensemen Sean Behrens and Antti Tuomisto, each of whom are out with upper body injuries.

©First Line Editorial 2022