ST. PAUL, Minn. — Boston University’s Luke Tuch scored short-handed in the first and Denver’s Tristan Lemyre took advantage of a Terriers mistake in the second as BU and Denver were tied after regulation play in the opening semifinal of the 2024 Men’s Frozen Four on Thursday.
Denver began the overtime period with a 47-second power play after BU’s Dylan Petersen was whistled for boarding at 18:47 of the third.
Power plays were the story of the game. The Terriers put Denver on the man advantage four times, including three times in the third.
Denver did not take a penalty through regulation.
The Terriers began the game fast as Devin Kaplan was stopped on a one-timer by Denver goaltender Matt Davis just 45 seconds in. Denver didn’t have a shot until 5:50 of the first, but that led to Carter King with a great look on a rebound that BU’s Mathieu Caron stopped.
Seconds later, the Terriers took the game’s first penalty but instead of Denver’s power play capitalizing, BU scored short-handed.
Kaplan flicked a quick pass to Tuch that sent him past the Pioneers defense on a breakaway. Kaplan ripped a shot up high for his first career short-handed goal at 7:45.
Through the middle frame, the Terriers continued to hold a strong territorial advantage but a mental mistake by All-American defenseman Lane Hutson allowed Denver to strike back.
Behind his net, Hutson made a blind pass that was perfectly anticipated by Miko Matikka. He intercepted the puck and fed quickly to a wide-open Lemyre, who fired the puck five-hole on Caron at 15:21 to even the score. The goal came on just the eighth Pioneers shot of the game.
That goal gave Denver life, and the Pioneers hemmed the Terriers in their zone for the remainder of the second. With 23.4 seconds left, it looked as if Aidan Thompson would give the Pioneers their first lead when Davis made a perfect stretch pass to spring a 2-on-1. Appearing to be beat, Caron reached behind him for a glove save that robbed Thompson, sending the game to the third tied at 1.
Caron remained sharp in the third with his biggest save coming on Denver’s scoring leader Jack Devine as a Denver power play ended. A rebound popped right to Devine’s stick and he made a move past Caron, but the junior netminder reached his arm across to stop the puck with 9:13 left.
At the other end of the ice, it wasn’t so much the goaltender stealing the show, but the post. Lane Hutson took a feed from Macklin Celebrini with 3:33 left and ripped it off the inside of the post.
Boston University led in shots through regulation 25-23 but Denver outshot the Terriers in the third 12-5.