DU 3 - Wisconsin 0 FINAL

(above) Great Brittain is back between the pipes and all is well in PioNation
The University of Denver continued a recent run of solid defense and timely goals to defeat the University of Wisconsin 3-0 on Friday night. DU improved to 14-3-3 all-time in the Kohl Center.

Sam Brittain recorded his first shutout this year after recently returning from offseason knee surgery.  He made 28 saves.

Luke Salazar started the scoring in the second period with an unassisted goal off of a turnover.

Jason Zucker returned from a recent injury and scored in third period. Nick Shore rounded out the scoring with a 170-foot backhanded empty netter.

DU remained in third place as the top five teams in the WCHA all won on Friday night.


18 comments:

dggoddard said...

DU up to tied for #6 in Pairwise immediately after the game. Lots of other results to come in.

Jordan said...

To be 6th after so many stretches of being mediocre, borderline bad this year is pretty sweet. So much parity this year. It will be interesting to see the continued shifts in PWR as the season ends up and we get into tournaments.

It's a pity the goalies collectively have only 2 shutouts- they've definitely been a strong point for the most part, and we were all thinking it was the biggest question mark in the preseason.

dggoddard said...

Nasty sounding injury for Sconnie goaltender Joel Rumpel. He was lifted after receiving a skate cut on the groin. Ouch.

Hope he'll be OK.

old pio said...

Sammy gets the shutout. J.Z. scores despite being at death's door. The Goal Czar make's 'em pay for a monumentally bone head TO and DU wins again. Nice work.

dggoddard said...

We have a fresh goaltender. I like out chances throughout the playoffs.

Seems like in recent seasons Chevy & Mannino were out of gas & obviously Brittain was injured last season.

old pio said...

I think you're on to something, DG. We all know there's a difference between being in shape and being in game shape. And Sammy's been rounding into game shape each time out. And we all know and subscribe to the cliche about how important it is to have a goalie with hot hand come tournament time. Besides, I'd guess Sammy's anxious to live up to his pre-season billing. And getting hot down the stretch would be a great way to do it.

du78 said...

Solid win, DU got off to a slow start but played strong D. Huge turnover by Zengerle led to Goal Czar's unassisted goal to start the scoring. Sam put out all the fires when the Badgers tried to come back.

Anonymous said...

Hello from balmy Madison. Any DU win is a nice win. I've never seen a goalie injury like that; or any injury like that, for that matter. When the play stopped, their goalie shook his hand a couple times as if it hurt, looked at it, then looked over at their bench and waived their alternate goalie onto the ice. Before the trainer could get to him, they opened the boards and he went off the ice. He threw his blocker against the wall and was cussing. He obviously knew he was ufcKed up and he knew it right away. Doubt he'll play tomorrow.

Hey ref - what's the NCAA Referee signal for Embelishment, anyway? The call against Zucker was bologna. How can you call embelishment and a trip? It's one or the other. Love walking out of Kohl Center seeing Badgers fans dejected.

Anonymous said...

Alright Wisco, hand over the Kohl center already. That building belongs to DU.
3 wins in 18 attempts? HA!

4 eyed Zebra said...

You can call embellishment and a penalty on the same play...I have done it. Embellishment is when a player dives or uses another motion in an attempt to influence a call by the referee, tripping and hooking are the most common occurrences for embellishment. More than likely Zucker did not know the referee was going to make a call because he did not see him put his arm in the air. I know it is part of the game but one respect it is like showing the referee up..."hey stupid make the call" two things players should not do to a referee, drop an "F bomb" and dive all over the ice. Let the comments begin.....

dggoddard said...

I agree.

The last thing we need are players flopping around on the ice or faking injuries like soccer players.

Anonymous said...

That's why Brittain is DU's #1 goalie.

Anonymous said...

I'm a soccer fan and couldn't agree more with your statement DG.

As it relates to Zucker's play. I didn't agree with the call. JZ skating fast out of the zone, he chips the puck up the ice and kinda awkwardly and off balance does a little jump to get around the guy..gets slightly bumped in air and falls over. Seemed like he honestly just lost his balance to me.

Twister said...

Great start to the weekend. Keep it going boys!!

Anonymous said...

Is the game online anywhere tonight? I don't get the FSN channels and I was trying to find on the Wisconsin website something like Pioneer Vision for the game but had no luck. Anyone know?

dggoddard said...

Tonight the game will definitely be on DirecTV #669. As opposed to last night, its listed on the channel guide.

Any sports bar worth its salt will have DirecTV. C & G, Campus Lounge, Jordan's, any BWW.

old pio said...

Kinda irresponsible to suggest DU fans should go to a BAR to watch the game, don't you think?

old pio said...

I appreciate Mr. Zebra giving us his perspective (seriously). But why do we really need this chicken sh*t penalty? I should think a zebra could let a player know that if he does that again, he won't get the next call. I guess it boils down to valuing a zebra's pride and dignity as highly as an actual violation. I don't agree.

Remember the scene in "League of their Own" where the very large babe is arguing a ball/strike call with a tiny little up. He tells her it might have been a strike yesterday, it might be a strike tomorrow, but today it's a ball.

Andy Gambucci didn't need embellishment calls to keep players from flopping. He'd just skate away after a player got carved up like a Christmas goose, whistling a little tune. They usually got the message.