On Friday, No. 2 Denver played a gritty game. On Saturday, the Pioneers played a dominant one in defeating No. 12 North Dakota, 6-3, and sweeping the Fighting Hawks at Grand Forks, N.D., for the first time since 2010.

Carter Mazur scored two goals, vaulting him into the NCAA lead with 12, Jared Wright added two, and Aidan Thompson and McKade Webster also tallied for the Pioneers (9-3-0, 5-1-0 NCHC). Magnus Chrona made 21 saves, all but three after the first period.

DU also won the special teams battle – scoring two power-play goals in three chances after going 0-for-6 Friday, and it outshot the hosts 63-41 overall and 33-24 in ones that went on goal.

Here are three notable points from the convincing victory:

Denver answered every challenge

The game had every opportunity to go sideways despite the Pioneers’ offensive dominance.

The Fighting Hawks (4-5-2, 1-2-1 NCHC) scored just 7 seconds into the game when Judd Caufield completed a play off the opening face-off, making a nice play off his skate to get the puck in shooting position after taking a pass from Dylan James. It was the fastest goal to start a game in NCHC history. DU couldn’t get the equalizer despite outshooting NoDak 14-3 in the period.

Early in the second a Kyle Mayhew goal was disallowed after a UND challenge that goalie Jakob Hellsten was interfered with by Webster. Minutes later not only did Mazur score off a cross-slot pass from Casey Dornbach, but he broke the Pioneers’ power-play drought at six. Webster gave DU its first lead when he tipped a Justin Lee point shot past Hellston (27 saves), who was making his first start of the season. At that point Denver held a 20-6 shots on goal edge.

The Pioneers then nearly self-destructed, taking back-to-back, after-the-whistle penalties on Mike Benning and Mayhew. North Dakota cashed in just 31 seconds into the 5-on-3, with Cooper Moore burying a one-timer.

But Thompson re-established DU’s lead for good with about 90 seconds to play in the period late in another DU power play. The man advantages often resulted from Denver’s speed advantage.

Freshmen answer every challenge for Denver

It’s possible we will look back at this weekend as a time when DU’s heralded freshman class came of age.

Thompson, who also scored Friday, had the gigantic second-period goal, and Wright, who like Thompson got his first NCAA goal Friday, added both of his in the third. The first came on a nice stretch pass from Carter King with 9:48 to play. Wright went between the pads on Hellsten, just as he did on Drew DeRidder for Friday’s winner.

Wright also added an empty-net goal after UND had closed the gap to two again with 6:19 to play.

In between, Mazur – who was held off the scoreboard for only the third time in 12 games on Friday – struck again to give DU its first three-goal lead.

Two more freshmen – Kent Anderson and Lucas Olvestad – played regular shifts on defense.

Road woes in rear-view mirror?

That DU won a Friday game on a long travel day, and then actually came back stronger for a rare sweep at one of the most difficult venues to win at in all of college hockey is a statement.

Recall if you will, the Pioneers could not generate much offense in getting swept at UMass in October (just two goals in two games). They swept Miami on NCHC opening weekend, but taking two at North Dakota is next level.

DU had been basically a .500 road team the past two-plus seasons before the Miami series.

The other thing this sweep does is give the Pioneers 16 of a possible 18 NCHC points. I can’t overemphasize how important racking up as many early-season points as possible is in this league. Injuries and the fatigue of playing ranked teams week-in, week-out can drain the best of teams.

Denver made a statement about its staying power this weekend.

Notes: Sophomore defenseman Sean Behrens missed his second game due to injury. … Thompson and Webster each added an assist for two-point nights, and Jack Devine chipped in two helpers. … The Pioneers are off until Nov. 25-26, when they play host to Omaha.

©First Line Editorial 2022