St. Cloud State built an early lead only to see Denver rally to tie, but Mike Doyle tallied the key goal for the Huskies in a 5-4 win over the Pioneers.
Trailing 3-1, the Pioneers capitalized twice on a five-minute power play in the second period to tie the game. Then, Doyle scored shorthanded two minutes later to give St. Cloud a 4-3 lead.
“After we got through the first period and played well in the second, we gave ourselves a chance to come back in the third,” Pioneers coach George Gwozdecky said. “We had good scoring chances, but we did not bury the puck.”
Peter Szabo scored an empty-netter to give the Huskies a two-goal lead before Aaron MacKenzie scored with 30 seconds left to bring the Pioneers within one.
But in the end, Huskies goaltender Jake Moreland was unbeatable, stopping 41 shots, including 17 in the third period.
The loss snapped the Pioneers’ three-game winning streak and also ended their shutout streak at a school-record 182:05.
After not allowing a goal in three games, the Pioneers gave up three to St. Cloud in a 9:56 span during the first period. Pioneers junior goaltender Adam Berkhoel was taken out of the game at 11:43 after the Huskies scored a power-play goal to make the score 3-1.
Senior Wade Dubielewicz stepped in and made 11 saves after stopping 27 shots in a 4-0 win over St. Cloud State on Friday.
Kevin Doell, who leads the Pioneers with 29 points, scored 45 seconds into the man-advantage, boosting his scoring streak to seven points in four games. MacKenzie got his second consecutive multi-point game, along with eight points in the last five games.
Denver’s Lukas Dora and James each assisted on both second-period goals. The Pioneers had one goal in the first period, scored on the power play at 6:13 by senior Greg Barber off a rebound from MacKenzie.
