DENVER — Second-ranked Denver suffered a rare home loss on Friday, but bounced back on Saturday with the help of a strong first period.
The Pioneers scored twice in the first 2:37 and had the first nine shots of the game and were able to beat St. Cloud State 3-2 in an NCHC game at Magness Arena. That came one night after the Huskies pulled off a 4-3 overtime win.
Denver got goals from Casey Dornbach at 1:13 and Jack Devine at 2:37 of the first period to take a 2-0 lead. The Pioneers (3-1 NCHC, 7-3 overall) outshot the Huskies (1-1, 8-2) 9-0 in the first 11 minutes of the game.
But St. Cloud State made it interesting after that.
Senior center Jami Krannila scored a power-play goal off a one-timer at 8:09 of the second period to cut the deficit to 2-1.
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Krannila was called for a five-minute major and received a game misconduct for a hit on Denver's Sean Behrens at 13:26 of the second period, but the Huskies did not allow a goal on the ensuing power play.
Kyle Mayhew connects on the power play to give DU a 3-1 lead with 17:17 left in the 3rd period. pic.twitter.com/dH3DmZQPpn
— Denver Hockey (@DU_Hockey) November 6, 2022
But Denver got the game-winner when Kyle Mayhew scored a power-play goal at 2:43 of the third period.
The Huskies, though, did not go away. Fifth-year center Grant Cruikshank scored a power-play goal when he jammed in a loose puck at 10:50 to cut the deficit to 3-2.
St. Cloud State pulled goalie Dominic Basse for an extra attacker, but could not tie the game. That came one night after Zach Okabe sent the game into overtime with an extra-attacker goal.
Josh Luedtke , a sophomore defenseman from Minnetonka, Minn., played his first game since the season-opener for the Huskies. Luedtke suffered a concussion against St. Thomas on Oct. 1.
The Huskies play host to Western Michigan (2-0, 7-4) at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 11 and 6 p.m. Nov. 12 (both on FOX 9+) at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center. The Broncos swept Miami this weekend in Kalamazoo, Mich.
No. 2 DENVER 3, No. 4 SCSU 2
SCSU 0-1-1—2
DU 2-0-1—3
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First period scoring — 1. DU, Casey Dornbach (Massimo Rizzo, MIke Benning) 1:13; 2. DU, Jack Devine (Justin Lee, McKade Webster) 2:37. Penalties — DU, Cale Mayhew (boarding) 11:51; SCSU, Jack Peart (tripping) 17:58; DU, Rizzo (cross-checking) 19:04.
Second period scoring — 3. SCSU, Jami Krannila (Peart, Zach Okabe) 8:09 (pp). Penalties — SCSU, Krannila (cross-checking) 4:52; DU, Carter King (hooking) 6:53; DU, Dornbach (tripping) 10:03; DU, Webster (roughing) 13:26; SCSU, Krannila (hitting from behind, major, game misconduct, roughing) 13:26.
Third period scoring — 4. DU, Kyle Mahew (Carter King, Aidan Thompson) 2:51 (pp); 5. SCSU, Grant Cruikshank (Veeti Miettinen, Dylan Anhorn) 10:50 (pp). Penalties — SCSU, Adam Ingram (tripping) 1:04; DU, Mazur (interference) 10:40.
Goalie saves — SCSU: Dominic Basse 13-9-10—32 (3 GA); DU: Magnus Chrona 5-8-15—28 (2 GA).
Penalties-minutes — SCSU 6-23, DU 6-12.
Power plays — SCSU 1-4; DU 1-6.
Faceoffs — DU 42-27.
