The spirit was willing but the offense continued to struggle.

No. 6 Denver threw everything but the kitchen sink at No. 1 North Dakota and goaltender Peter Thome, but the Fighting Hawks emerged with a 3-1 victory and a sweep of the NCHC series at Grand Forks, N.D.

Thome stopped 25 shots and held the Pioneers (17-8-5, 7-7-4-3 NCHC) to one goal for the third game in a row. Magnus Chrona made 21 saves for DU, which has lost four in a row.

Brett Edwards‘ bad-angle goal with 3:43 left in the second period drew DU to 2-1, but that was all the offense the Pioneers could muster.

Chrona kept the Pioneers in it with a handful of magnificent saves. Neither of the Fighting Hawks’ first two goals were his fault.

On the first, defenseman Matt Kiersted‘s power-play blast from the high slot hit DU defender Justin Lee and changed direction on Chrona at 9:31 of the first period.

On the second, North Dakota’s counter attack created an odd-man rush. Jordan Kawaguchi‘s nice left-to-right pass found Collin Adams locked and loaded in the right circle, and the forward one-timed it into the net as Chrona slid across with 8:35 to go in the second.

Jasper Weatherby added an empty-net goal with 11 seconds play.

Notes

DU freshman Bobby Brink, who scored his team-leading 11th goal in Friday’s game, sat out Saturday because of a lower-body injury sustained later in the series opener. NoDak co-captain Cole Smith dove at the back of Brink’s legs as the Pioneer was trying to gain control of the puck.

©First Line Editorial 2020