DU 3 - Nebraska Omaha 3 FINAL OT

The University of Denver hockey team trailed Nebraska-Omaha 2-0 in the first period on Saturday night at Magness Arena.  To make matters worse, starting goaltender Adam Murray suffered a lower body injury (left leg?).  Goaltender Juho Olkinura repaced Murray and proceeded to give up a 90' shot on the first shot he faced.

The rest of the game was a story of redemption as DU came back to with two goals in the second period.  Shawn Ostrow and Jason Zucker scored for the Pioneers.

Beau Bennett scored the game tying power play goal in the third period.  Olkinura played very well down the stretch as Denver salvaged the tie.




13 comments:

old pio said...

Under the circumstances, I'll gladly take the point. DU completely MIA in the first period. And it took a Makowski like goal for UNO to get the tie.

dggoddard said...

I'd agree, DU was lucky to tie.

Three points is always a good weekend in the WCHA.

Bring on Princeton and Miami.

Anonymous said...

DU had another patented slow start, but played much better in the second and third to get the tie. UNO is a good team, and they had much better goaltneding with Belfour than Faulkner on Firday.

This weekend is a trap weekend for DU each year during finals. The players are not well rested, the students are gone and there is little atmosphere without them.

I'll take these three points. Hope Ryder and Murray are ok after injuries forced them out of the game.

Aluuum said...

Murray did not look good leaving the ice. My guess is that we will see the Plying Finn next week. Rudy is one pulled muscle away.

Exciting second and third periods.
The first period is not to be discussed.

Considering the small student size they were alive and into the game.

Anonymous said...

Tonight was a fairly disciplined game by each school. I thought for sure there would be alot of facewashing and after-whistle punches and such. there were some big hits though.
Speaking of - It was interesting to hear Cwoz disclose during the post-game that Bennett, from the sounds of it, took a gargantuan hit during practice - "foolish", and "if it happened in a game, it would have been a DQ", according to GG. I'm curious to know who delivered that hit.........

Twister said...

After the horrendous start I'll gladly take the tie as well. UNO is a solid team, and 3 points against them is a good weekend. DU worked hard to get back in this game after getting down 3-0.

Hopefully the Pios get through exam week and come out with energy for the Denver Cup.

I really hope the injuries tonight are not serious.

Anonymous said...

3 points is a good result for the weekend, especically in finals week. After Tuesday, its no classes till january for the boys, and a chance to concentrate on hockey only for a while.

Anonymous said...

JOe Colborne called up by the leafs, and Jumbo JOe sets up Matt Frattin for Frattin's first NHL goal. Bozak also had a goal and an assist in a 7-1 Leafs rout of Washington.

Anonymous said...

Interesting stats department:

Denver is 6th nationally in offense at 3.91 GPG, but 46th out of 58 teams in defense, giving up 3.27 GPG.

DU's Power Play is 28th nationally (18.4%), but the PK is a very surprising 40th nationally (79%).

Shawn Ostrow scores on about 1/4 of his shots on goal - 26%

Adam Murrsy is 45th nationally in saves percentage out of 72 goalies at .902. Olkinoura is 28th at .918.

Nick Shore wins 57% of his faceoffs, but is a -4, the lowest on the team.

Drew Shore is a +8. to lead the team in +/- and is 6th nationally in scoring.

Jason Zucker is tied for 11th nationally in scoring

Scott Mayfield leads all DU defensemen with a +7, and is tied for second on the team with Dan Doremus in plus/minus.

Joey Laleggia is shooting a terrific 28% of his shots into the net. He's 12th nationally in rookie scoring, and the #2 rookie defenseman in PPG.

The Mermis is shooting 20%. He needs to be unleashed for more ice time.

Anonymous said...

Knowlton-Jackson-Ostrow line #1 third line in the nation. Great work ethic & results. They are good in all three zones. Play them more.

Juho #1 third string goalie in the nation. Hope Murray heals quickly but DU looks comfortable playing in front of the Finn so Pios OK as long as he stays healthy.

Salzar #1 inconsistent player in the nation. Pios need the Goal Czar to play well every night. The offense needs him to consistently perform like a top 6 forward. Very talented so bring it every night Sal.

Mermis #1 in the nation in selfish stupid penalties. Glad Gwoz sat him the rest of the game last night after he punched the UNO player in the back of head as the guy was skating away. The last thing this team needs is more Mermis penalties, turnovers, lost faceoffs, overall weak play.

DU freshman D #1 in the nation in early season play. Very impressed with all three of these new D men. Freshman forwards not even ranked and need to contribute.

2011-12 Pios #1 mystery in the nation. One period they look like a Frozen Four contender and the next they look awful. Hoping next weekend they bring 6 consecutive periods of great play.

Pairwise rankings DU #16 and it will be difficult to make the tournament this year with so many teams that are usually non-factors having seasons worthy of a bid. Not too early to start watching Pairwise. Go Pios!

dggoddard said...

Miami game is going to have huge Pairwise ramifications because its the only game on the schedule against a CCHA opponent.

CCHA teams are dominating the Pairwise this season.

Anonymous said...

I have aquestion about the DCC. Does Denver get all the revenue? How does that work? I only ask because, they're not "marketing" the afternoon games at all; (which, I guess they never have now that I think about it). The seaon ticket holders get both games - but I've seen nothing regarding the non-DU games

Anonymous said...

Yes, Denver gets the revenue, but I would guess that DU makes a one-time guarantee payment to the each of other 3 schools to help offset the travel costs.

It's not really a moneymaker - the big purpose for it is to get two home games for DU, and for DU to choose the best two of the three opponents for record and PWR purposes.

DU's limited marketing dollars are mostly being spent on basketball to get that program up to break even.