DU Sweeps Gophers Behind Bozak's Hat Trick

From DU Website

(left) Tyler Bozak

MINNEAPOLIS – Freshman Tyler Bozak (Regina, Saskatchewan) netted his first career hat trick, including two shorthanded goals, and Peter Mannino (Farmington Hills, Mich.) stopped 32 shots to lead No. 7 Denver to a 4-1 win and series sweep of No. 8 Minnesota this afternoon before 9,898 fans at Mariucci Arena.

Denver improves to 6-2-0 and 3-1-0 in the WCHA, while Minnesota falls to 4-4-0, 0-4-0. The sweep was Denver’s first at Minnesota since Dec. 10-11, 1994.

Blake Wheeler beat Mannino five-hole from the left slot to give Minnesota a 1-0 lead at 11:33 of the first period, but Bozak responded with a nifty one-on-one goal at 16:13. Rhett Rakhshani (Huntington Beach, Calif.) regained the lead for Denver with a power-play goal at 17:26.

After a scoreless second period, Bozak netted a shorthanded goal on a pretty breakaway at 6:25 of the final stanza. Minnesota pulled goaltender Alex Kangas to created a 6-on-4 advantage during a five-minute power play near the end of the game, but Bozak tallied his second shorthanded goal with an empty net at 18:07 to ice the win.

Brock Trotter (Brandon, Manitoba) added two assists for Denver, who went 1-for-4 on the power play. Minnesota outshot Denver, 33-23, but went 0-for-6 with the man advantage.

The Pioneers return to action against Minnesota State on Nov. 16-17.

Notes: Denver sophomores and freshmen have scored 24 of the team’s 25 goals this season. Mannino is tied for ninth on DU’s all-time wins list with 44.

3 comments:

Twister said...

Great weekend for the Pios! Bozak and the other freshman are the real deal. Looking forward to seeing this team continue to mature and improve.

Eric J. Burton said...

The funniest thing I heard tonight was woog saying Bozak got a hat trick and was the difference in the game. I you have to be kidding me well no crap he was the difference.

dggoddard said...

I thought the funniest line was when the Gophers were down 3-1 in the third period and Wooger said, "If the Gophers are going to come back tonight, they'll have to do it without the support of the crowd."