No. 3 Denver survived an Oreo game. The front and back sides were a bit hard, but the middle was smoother and sweet.

The Pioneers got a goal from senior Jarid Lukosevicius late in the second period and Filip Larsson made 21 saves – most of them in the first 10 minutes and the final 10 minutes to defeat Omaha, 1-0, in an NCHC game at Magness Arena on Friday night. It was the freshman’s first NCAA shutout.

The victory was the 13th in a row for Denver (13-4-2, 5-4 NCHC) against Omaha (6-10-2, 2-5-1 NCHC) and marked the Pioneers’ fourth consecutive shutout of the Mavericks and fifth in six games.

Overall, it was Denver’s sixth consecutive victory.

Like a wall

Larsson faced an early onslaught by the aggressive Mavericks, who opened an early 8-3 shots on goal margin. And he had to be on top of his game from the get-go, including stopping a point-blank try by leading scorer Mason Morelli 9:30 in.

Then, he saw just three more shots until the third period.

“It’s kind of hard, just waiting on the puck to come at you,” Larsson said. “You’re always ready. You get more nervous. It was a hard game, but the guys helped me a lot.”

Business picked up at the end. No fewer than eight of Omaha’s 10 third-period shots came in the closing minutes, including several on a 6-on-4 situation while the Pioneers killed off a Tyler Ward penalty.

“He’s a real calm person, a real calm goalie. During the 6 on 4 he was the calmest person in the building,” DU coach David Carle said. “He stood tall in his crease, he was square to pucks, not a lot of panic in his game. I’m really proud of him. He maintained his focus throughout all 60 minutes of the game.”

Added Lukosevicius, “Filip is a taller Tanner Jaillet. He’s super calm in the net and sees the play. He looks like he sees everything.”

It might not be everything, but Larsson said it was more than last weekend, citing adjustments he made after allowing five goals in a game and a half at Wisconsin.

“We struggled a little bit last weekend with the other team having goals from the blue line so I really worked on trying to see the puck a lot,” the goalie said. “Having guys block all those shots at the end helped.”

A jump start and a finishing move

Lukosevicius tallied his program-record 18th game-winning goal and fifth this season after a nifty thread-the-needle pass from Emilio Pettersen with 1:12 left in the second. The goal confirmed the obvious in a period in which the Pioneers outshot the Mavericks 12-1 and controlled the play for long sequences.

Pettersen drove down the left wing and curled at the lower left circle. He found Lukosevicius skating between the circles, and the senior wasted no time roofing the shot over Weninger (33 saves). It was the first goal the senior had allowed in nearly eight periods and it was the best game of his career by far against the Pioneers.

“That was a nice pass by Emilio. I don’t know how he saw me,” Lukosevicius said. “He placed it in an area and I happened to be there.”

Lukosevicius continues to contribute in a host of ways that don’t always show up on the scoresheet, Carle said.

“He’s a gamer. He draws a penalty, he scores a goal and he got our bench going in the first period by winning battles,” Carle said. “He’s out there at the end in the 6 on 4 blocking shots. He’s our MVP and I’m really proud of his effort.”

Let’s get physical

The Mavericks followed what has become an increasingly familiar template by foes against the Pioneers at the outset – play physical. Omaha didn’t miss many opportunities to lay the body whenever it could and as a result tilted the ice in its favor early in the first period, something the shot chart reflected. Omaha held an 8-3 edge at one point.

The strategy made sense as the Mavericks tried to negate DU’s speed and skill. Six of the seven defensemen Omaha dressed stand 6-2 or taller and four forwards were 6-1 or taller. Nine of the Mavericks’ 21 skaters weighed 195 pounds or more, while just three of DU’s skaters did.

“Omaha did a good job being in shot lanes, blocking shots. They were committed defensively,” Carle said. “Credit to them, they didn’t really give us anything for free or easy on offense.

“They were physical. We talked about being back in the NCHC. The level of intensity, physicality and desperation is going to go up. We have 15 games (left) and every one is going to have a playoff atmosphere. All eight programs are used to winning.”

However, the Pioneers adjusted late in the first and were quicker to pucks in the period’s second half, particularly in the final five minutes.

The instigators of the turnaround were Lukosevicius and Ryan Barrow, Carle said.

“The start was poor obviously, but I thought it turned with about 6 minutes left,” the coach said. “Ryan Barrow and Jarid Lukosevicius went out on back-to-back shifts and won big battles. We didn’t have a lot of talk or energy on our bench. We weren’t winning a lot of battles. … They showed the rest of the guys this is how we need to play. We ended the first well and had a very good second.”

Notes

In addition to sophomore goaltender Devin Cooley, who did not practice all week after being injured last Friday at Wisconsin, the Pioneers were without senior defenseman Les Lancaster (upper body). It’s possible both could return as soon as next weekend against Colorado College, but that’s far from a certainty at this point.

Denver’s three stars

1. Jarid Lukosevicius. The winning (and only) goal. A team-high seven shots on goal and drawing another penalty.
2. Filip Larsson. The freshman was really good during the bursts he needed to me and gained his first college shutout.
3. Emilio Pettersen. The freshman was flying all game in addition to setting up the winning goal.

Up next

The teams play the sequel on Saturday at 7:07 p.m. at Magness Arena. 104.3 FM and NCHC.tv will have the broadcast and webcast, respectively.

©First Line Editorial 2017-19