Was it a good reminder about postseason hockey? Or a moderate cause for alarm?

Regardless of how one views Friday’s 1-0 loss to Colorado College in the first NCHC semifinal at St. Paul, Minn., No. 3 Denver received a significant wakeup call that could serve it well as it moves into the NCAA Tournament next weekend.

Anything can happen in March (and April for that matter) in NCAA hockey, and very often a hot goaltender has a large say in it.

Freshman Kaidan Mbereko stopped all 23 DU shots, backstopping a Tigers team in desperation mode. CC (13-21-3) has been playing win-or-go-home hockey for two weeks. The Tigers, who had lost 12 consecutive games to their neighbors, were fresh off a sweep at No. 9 Western Michigan in a quarterfinal series and had an extra hop in their stride.

Junior Hunter McKown scored the game’s only goal on a power play with 6:38 remaining in the second period. It was his team-high 21st of the season.

The Tigers generated 26 shots on goal.

Causes for concern for Denver

Two areas stand out as concerns for Denver (30-9).

First, Denver’s offense, which averages four goals and 32.5 shots per game, couldn’t generate many chances from inside the dots. That made Mbereko’s job infinitely easier.

Some of this might be due to a lack of continuity because DU had to reintegrate five players into its lineup, all of whom had missed two to six games. Getting that group a game-speed refresher ahead of the NCAAs can only help.

Second, goaltender Magnus Chrona, who looked sharp after missing the past four games, left the ice with a little over 10 minutes left. He has been battling a lower-body injury and wore a walking boot on the ice during senior night two weeks ago. Chrona returned to the bench, but not the game. He stopped 20 of 21 shots he faced, and junior Matt Davis handled the final five Tigers shots.

(Update: Coach David Carle said after the game that Chrona’s exit was a coach’s decision and not injury related).

It might be fashionable to point to last season, when DU fell in this same round to Minnesota Duluth, then exacted revenge in an NCAA Regional final en route to the program’s ninth national championship. However, UMD was a senior-laden, ranked team that was expected to make a deep playoff run – not a program with nearly twice as many losses as wins. CC is improving but most observers would not consider it an NCAA threat at this point. Yet here it is, one win away from clinching an improbable NCAA berth.

Pioneers welcome back five players

DU swept Miami with a handful of players out for various reasons. All five returned to the lineup Friday, none more important than Chrona, the senior goaltender, who had missed the previous four games with a lower-body injury.

Also returning were forwards McKade Webster (out three games), Massimo Rizzo (out both games vs. Miami last weekend), and Jared Wright (out six games). Defenseman Sean Behrens (out four games) also returned, but that was offset by fellow D Mike Benning’s absence due to an illness.

Meanwhile, the Tigers will play St. Cloud State, which edged North Dakota, 3-2 in overtime, in Saturday night’s championship game.

The Pioneers will await Sunday afternoon’s announcement of NCAA Tournament pairings.

Notes: Three Pioneers were honored with NCHC awards on Thursday night. Chrona won the league’s goaltender of the year and three stars awards. Senior Justin Lee was selected as the defensive defenseman of the year, and Benning was picked as the offensive defenseman of the year.

©First Line Editorial 2023