Top-ranked Denver rallied for the second night in a row in the third period and went on to win in overtime Saturday night, 4-3, to complete an NCHC sweep of host Minnesota Duluth.

Freshman center Aidan Thompson stole the puck near the boards in the Duluth zone, walked in on goaltender Matthew Thiessen and roofed the winner with 1:59 to go in overtime.

Junior forward McKade Webster had tied the score with 4:47 to play after Luke Mylymok scored on a rebound 4 minutes earlier to give the Bulldogs (8-10, 4-6-0-2 NCHC) their second lead of the back-and-forth game.

Carter Mazur scored a tying goal for the second night in a row, his 14th, and Casey Dornbach got DU 14-4, 8-2 NCHC) on the board in the first period.

Here are three notable developments from the game:

Who us, worry?

Winning in Duluth is never easy, something the Pioneers know all too well. To battle back two nights in a row to tie the score in the third period and then win in overtime says a lot about DU’s confidence level right now.

The win, Denver’s fifth in a row and eighth in nine games, was another display of the quiet confidence this group is developing. Even when Duluth pushed hard after starting goalie Zach Stejskal left early in the third because of an injury and eventually took the lead on Mylymok’s strike, DU didn’t panic.

Chrona is money for Denver

Throw the stat lines out the window. When Denver needed goalie Magnus Chrona to stand tall, the 6-foot-6 Swede did exactly that. Whether it was shutting down outnumbered counter attacks that led to jail breaks into the slot or clutch point-blank stops late in the third and in overtime, Chrona was strong all game long.

For the record, the senior made 23 saves, but a number of them were high-danger ones.

He gave up a late first-period goal to Dominic James and another midway through the second to Bulldogs captain Tanner Laderoute, but he didn’t have much of a chance on either. James, a Chicago Blackhawks draft choice, picked a corner from below the left dot, and Laderoute was alone between the circles on a play in which UMD had Denver outnumbered below the dots.

Oh those details

The shots on goal were closer Saturday (29-26 in Denver’s favor), and the power-play opportunities were within one. Denver went 1 for 5, while Duluth went 1 for 4.

That was a draw one night after Duluth had a 2-1 PPG edge. Regardless, the Pioneers are playing with fire on the road if they don’t win the special teams battle.

The other detail that UMD exploited at times was defensive coverage. The hosts seemed to generate many odd-man rushes that Chrona had to clean up. Sometimes they were due to counter attacks, sometimes due to turnovers and sometimes due to spotty coverage or MIA back checks.

Whatever the case, those are things DU should – and most likely will – clean up as the season’s second half approaches.

Nonetheless, taking four of six points at Duluth is nothing to sneeze at. Keeping in mind an earlier sweep at North Dakota, and the Pioneers have taken 10 of 12 at two of the destinations they have struggled to win at the most in recent times.

Those are hugely encouraging signs for a young team with a national championship target on its back.

©First Line Editorial 2022