Denver rallied for a 3-2 non-conference victory over Arizona State on Friday night in a game that had the feel of a shooting gallery at times.

Carter King netted the game-winner with 1:58 to play after Massimo Rizzo had tied it on a power play. Mike Benning also scored for the Pioneers (11-4), who outshot the guests 56-20.

Welcome to the DU shooting gallery

Not only did the Pioneers have 56 shots on goal, they fired an unreal 93 overall. That’s more than three every two minutes of game time.

Sun Devils goalie T.J. Semptimphelter (53 saves) likely will to spend the night in a hyperbaric chamber to recover from that onslaught.

Four DU players were in double digits in shot attempts – Carter Mazur (15), Aidan Thompson (12), King (11) and Benning (10).

Mike Magic Mitts keeps it up

Benning had 14 goals last season, and he’s up to five this season after scoring for the third time in the past two games. And just like last Saturday against Omaha, the junior defenseman got the Pioneers on the board first with a power-play strike 54 seconds into the second period.

The Florida Panthers draft pick also assisted on Rizzo’s goal.

Winning special teams

Close games often come down the special teams, and give DU full marks for Friday’s effort. Not only did they get the two power-play goals in their five chances, but they killed off all three of their penalties against a pretty dangerous Sun Devils power play.

If this continues, it bodes very well going forward.

©First Line Editorial 2022