Top-ranked Denver couldn’t have had a much worse start than it had at Amherst, Mass., on Friday night, yet the Pioneers persevered and gave No. 14 Massachusetts some food for thought for Saturday’s rematch..

Denver, which absorbed a strange, 4-2 loss, struggled mightily to begin the game, and its special teams were the primary culprit.

The Minutemen (1-0-1) scored two shorthanded goals while killing off a first-minute, 5-minute major and added a third goal with 7:27 to play in the opening period to equal the goal total the Pioneers surrendered all last weekend in defeating Notre Dame and Maine in winning the Ice Breaker Tournament.

The penalty kill continued the foul play by giving up a goal just 2:58 into second period for what turned out to be an insurmountable 4-0 lead.

Extra attacker fuels Denver comeback

The Pioneers, however, corrected some of their early-game issues – mainly a lack of sustained pressure, shoddy puck management and a dearth of bodies screening UMass goalie Luke Pavicich.

As a result, DU (2-1-0) was able to eventually close the gap to two goals on two strikes with goalie Magnus Chrona pulled in the final 6:41. The tallies by sophomores Carter Mazur (his fourth in three games) and Shai Buium came during a final period in which DU outshot the hosts 22-1 as part of a 47-15 gap in shots on goal.

Mazur’s goal came on a deflection of Jack Devine’s shot between the circles on a power play. It was the 36th DU shot and the first to elude Pavicich (45 saves). Buium struck with 4:12 to go from the right point through multiple screens on the Minutemen goalie.

An alarming trend continues for Denver

A road washout, particularly in the East, shouldn’t come as a complete shock. Denver gave up four or more goals eight times during its 2021-22 national championship season, and seven of those came on the road. The Pioneers lost six of those contests, the exceptions being a wild 8-5 win over St. Cloud State at Magness Arena, and a 5-4 overtime win at Miami.

Unlike those two triumphs, Denver couldn’t get its offense in gear on Friday until late in the game. Many of the Pioneers shots in the first half of the game came from the perimeter, and the UMass defense did a good job giving Pavicich clean looks at the puck.

The main culprit in the Pioneers’ most pronounced early-game woes was puck management. Gifted a 5-minute power play just 38 seconds into the game when UMass top-line forward Cal Kiefiuk drilled Massimo Rizzo into the boards from behind in the neutral zone, DU promptly gave up two shorties.

The Pios would get the puck into the Minutemen zone and promptly lose it – sometimes through the efforts of UMass players, sometimes through costly mistakes. Regardless, UMass got three odd-man rushes during the five-minute PK and buried two of them.

On a three-on-one, freshman Kenny Connors was credited with a goal when Reed Lebster’s pass hit his midsection and beat a surprised Chrona with 3:33 in. Defenseman Scott Morrow made it 2-0 1:18 later by finishing another odd-man rush. The game’s only five-on-five goal came with 7:27 to play in the first, when another UMass freshman, Tyson Dyck scored on a rebound in tight. Connors’ shot from the top of the left circle was directed on Chrona (11 saves) by Cole O’Hara, and the puck hopped right to Dyck.

Webster made it 4-0 just 2:58 into the second period on a power-play goal he redirected between Chrona’s pads.

Notes: The teams play at 5:30 p.m. Saturday (ESPN+ and 104.3 FM HD3). … DU was without second-line center McKade Webster, who was injures last weekend against Maine. … UMass dominated in the face-off circle, winning 35 of 61 draws (57 percent)

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