Denver wrapped up a weekend sweep of Alaska Fairbanks on Sunday night with a 5-2 victory. Jack Devine scored two goals for the second game in a row, Massimo Rizzo had four assists and Sean Behrens had three for the Pioneers.

3 Takeaways from Denver’s Sweep

The Kids Are Alright

Denver dressed eight freshmen each night, and with goalie Freddie Halyk’s appearance late in the third period, all eight played.

This included four rookie defensemen. One, Boston Buckberger scored his NCAA first goal Saturday. Another Zeev Buium had a goal and an assist Sunday. Forward Kieran Cebrian added a shorthanded goal Sunday, when DU’s special teams accounted for three goals.

Obviously, the freshmen will play a big role this season, particularly on the back end, and they seemed to hold up well against a physical team a long way from Denver. It’s too early to say if this group will match the freshmen of two seasons ago, but there is a lot of promise.

DU’s Scoring Depth Is Evident

The Nanooks finished tied for fourth with DU in goals allowed per game last season (2.2) and very nearly made the NCAA Tournament as an independent. The teams split in Denver last season, so this promised to be a tough series. Until it wasn’t.

Four defensemen had multi-point weekends: Behrens (three assists), Buium and Buckberger (one goal, one assist), and sophomore Kent Anderson, who scored his first two goals of his NCAA career Saturday.

The newly minted top line of Rizzo (seven assists), Devine (four goals, two assists) and captain McKade Webster (one goal, two assists) accounted for 16 points. It was especially strong on the power play, where four of the five goals originated.

The second line got a goal Saturday from center Aidan Thompson and another from winger Tristan Broz on Sunday.

The Welcome Matt

Junior Matt Davis played consecutive games for just the fourth time in his DU career and also was solid, allowing four goals in slightly less than two full games. His 40 saves gave him a .917 save percentage. Keep in mind, that came behind a defense playing four newcomers.

The Pioneers will take this sort of weekend and roll with it all season. As Davis and the D core gains more experience through playing time, this has the potential to become a strong strength later in the year.

Next games: Oct. 20 at Providence, Oct. 21 at Boston College

©First Line Editorial 2023