Kohen Olischefski scored two power-play goals to pull Denver even, and Griffin Mendel‘s third-period goal lifted the fifth-ranked Pioneers to a 3-2 NCHC victory over Miami at Oxford, Ohio.

The win extended DU’s season-high unbeaten streak to 10 games. Cole Guttman assisted on both Olischefski goals and Magnus Chrona made 21 saves for the Pioneers (16-4-5, 6-3-4-3 NCHC), who overcame an early 2-0 deficit.

Mendel scored DU’s go-ahead goal with 6:15 into the third on a slap shot from the left point with traffic in front from Liam Finlay and Jaakko Heikkinen. The tally came after Denver, which had 33 shots, had a sustained attack.

Olischefski’s first goal drew the Pioneers to 2-1 with 5:58 to go in the first, taking a feed from Guttman.

Olischefski tied it 2:26 into the second, again off a pass from Guttman. Olischefski’s seventh goal tied his career high, and his 14th point further extended his career high in that category.

That set the tone for a period in which the Pioneers generated more pressure and had a 16-7 shots on goal edge.

As has been the case often this season, Denver fell behind in the first period, when they have a minus-7 goal differential. This time, the Redhawks took a 2-0 lead midway through the first after two players scored their first goals of the season.

Carter Johnson struck 5:20 into the game. Bray Crowder then scored the first goal of his career with 9 minutes to play in the period. DU had four players pursuing the puck along the right wall, Matt Barry escaped with the puck and sent a pass from Chrona’s left to Crowder at the left circle. The defenseman caught Chrona leaning right.

©First Line Editorial 2020