OXFORD, Ohio — No. 11 Denver rode into town Friday night, heads held high after a home-ice sweep of conference opponent St. Cloud last weekend.
The RedHawks? Not so much.
After suffering a sweep at the hands of the very same St. Cloud squad two weeks ago, Miami scored first on Friday to jump out to an early lead, but Denver silenced the home crowd with two even-strength markers and an empty-net tally to take the game 3-1.
Miami had a strong showing in the early going, outshooting its opponent by a two-to-one margin for much of the initial period. The RedHawks were winning the races to loose pucks and winning battles in the corner, seeming at ease at home following their nearly two months away from home ice.
After Louie Belpedio was whistled for goaltender interference, it looked like the Pioneers would be the first to strike, but the Austin Czarnik-Riley Barber tandem broke free on the penalty kill. The former set up the latter as Barber skated in and buried a backhand from a deke around netminder Tanner Jaillet, putting Miami up at 8:54 of the first frame.
The early lead sent the crowd into a frenzy, but it was Pioneers that responded in the following periods. As Miami coach Enrico Blasi mentioned after the game, “I thought we had a good first period – and then Denver took over from there.”
Despite being outshot for what seemed the majority of the contest, the squad from Colorado converted in the first minute of the second and third periods, shocking the RedHawks with one-touch passing and a physical presence in front of the net.
“After the first period, I thought we managed the puck better,” Pioneers’ coach Jim Montgomery explained. “We managed our ice better.”
The first Denver goal came from the stick of Emil Romig, as he was set up from two quick passes from linemates Gabe Levin and Zac Larraza. Trevor Moore tipped in the go-ahead point off a Danton Heinen shot and from there, the RedHawks never seemed to regain control in the offensive zone.
Even with four power plays, including a five-minute major with which to work, Miami just couldn’t solve the riddle that was Jaillet, who earned his seventh win on a 27 save effort after Moore’s empty-netter secured the victory with just 10 seconds remaining.
“[Jaillet] played very well tonight,” DU forward Matt Tabrum. “It’s great knowing that whether he’s playing, or it’s [Evan] Cowley, we’re going to get a good performance. It really helps us out up front, knowing we’ve got guys backing us up.”
Montgomery, too, was pleased with the performance between the pipes.
“He came up big a few times, especially on turnovers in our own zone,” Montgomery said. “There were some big ones that helped keep us out in front.”
Blasi, however, wanted to see more from his squad. Outshot 9-6 in the final period, the RedHawks couldn’t muster much of a comeback effort and Denver’s defense shone on the way to its 14th win on the year.
“We can’t let goals in the first minute of any period,” Blasi said. “We did that twice, and they did a good job of making sure we didn’t get any chances after that. Our power play had no real sustained pressure, so we’re going to have to come back and regroup and see if we can play better tomorrow night.”
The Redhawks drop to 14-9-0 and 7-6-0 in NCHC play. The Pioneers pick up another few points and improve to 14-7-1 and a 7-5-0 record within league contests. They look to secure a second series sweep on Saturday, while the RedHawks hope to end the 3-4 slump they’ve fallen into their last seven outings.
