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DENVER — With all the offensive talent the No. 5 Denver Pioneers have, they don’t often rely on their fourth line for anything but hard-nosed play. However, on Saturday, the fourth line came up big, scoring three goals as Denver swept Michigan State with a 3-0 win. Matt Marcinew scored twice and Denver goalie Tanner Jailet made 16 saves for his second career shutout.
“I thought Michigan State played a really tough weekend; they never went away, they were resilient,” said Denver coach Jim Montgomery. “I really like the way we played. That’s Denver hockey, that’s the way we want to play, when we are hard to play against for every minute of the game, and it’s the way our team played last year, and it’s great to see that our players are starting to develop that attitude and work ethic.”
Unlike Friday, where it was Michigan State that struck early, on Saturday it was Denver that struck in the first couple of minutes, as Marcinew got the puck down low and got a step on MSU defenseman Rhett Holland and drove to the slot, beating Jake Hildebrand with a quick shot at 1:19. The play went under review, but stood as a goal.
“It’s just energy; coming out of the room, the guys were all pumped up,” said Marcinew. “On that play, he’s a big guy, and I kind of spun off him on a clear from the point and tried to get to the net and I beat him to the net. The puck got caught in my feet and I went feet to stick, and I tried to get a shot and it went post in.”
Denver controlled much of the play in the first, outshooting MSU 13-5, and getting several good chances to build on the lead, but Hildebrand stood tall. The Spartans then got a late power-play opportunity that carried over into the second, but Denver’s relentless forecheck held the Spartans in check.
“We watched video after last night; our kill was good last night, but I thought it was better tonight,” said Marcinew. “Coach made adjustments and we executed tonight and it was great to see.”
That proved costly, as shortly after the power play ended, Marcinew struck again. Jarid Lukosevicius got the puck in the left corner and got it to Grant Arnold cycling behind the net, and Arnold passed it back to Lukosevicius, who spied Marcinew streaking into the slot and fed him a perfect pass. Marcinew one-timed the pass low glove side past Hildebrand at 55 seconds of the second.
“Grant Arnold is 15 pounds lighter this year than he was last year, and he’s had a great summer of conditioning and he’s super fast now,” said Montgomery. “He wins every race, he’s relentless. He’s still playing the same Grant Arnold hard mash-type player, but now he has the puck a lot more because he’s winning footraces. And then Matt Marcinew, I challenged him to be our type of (Matt) Tabrum-type center, and he’s taken ownership of it. He’s hard to play against all 200 feet, and he’s really good on faceoffs and has a great shot, and he’s taken advantage of it.”
Just a few minutes later, Michigan State got another power-play opportunity, but Denver completely shut it down, holding the Spartans without a shot, and almost scoring a goal on a two-on-one.
“They dominated the game; that’s a darn good team,” said Michigan State coach Tom Anastos. “I didn’t think we were able to handle their pressure in all phases of the game. We have to get better. I thought there were times we moved the puck around well, but we never generated any dangerous scoring chances on the power play. I thought that was indicative of the whole game.”
Denver struck early again in the third to up it to 3-0. Arnold skated in hard on the left side and cut to the net, one-handing a shot on goal. Lukosevicius picked up the rebound and lifted it over Hildebrand’s right pad for his first collegiate goal at 3:24.
“You look early in the year to keep getting better every game, and every game we’ve gotten better, so that bodes well for how good we can become,” said Montgomery.
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