No. 1 Pioneers rally to tie, but Michigan wins 4-3 on a late bounce

The No. 1 University of Denver hockey team lost 4-3 to No. 2 Michigan on Saturday at Magness Arena, as the Wolverines completed a two-game sweep of the Pioneers. The series was a rematch of the teams' Frozen Four meeting on April 9 in Las Vegas and the first No. 1 against No. 2 series Denver has played since 2016, according to Denver Athletics. Michigan was making its first visit to Denver since March 1981. Michigan won Friday's opener 4-1 in front of 7,099 fans, a single-game Magness Arena record, according to Denver Athletics.

Denver opened the scoring on the power play at 8:47 of the first period, when sophomore Kristian Epperson one-touched a wrist shot from the slot after a pass from Clarke Caswell. Garrett Schifsky tied the game at 1-1 about two minutes later, scoring on a rebound at the top of the crease. Michigan took a 2-1 lead into the intermission on a power-play goal by Adam Valentini with 3:48 left in the period, a one-timed snap shot from the left circle off passes from Landon DuPont and Henry Mews.

Jayden Perron pushed the Michigan lead to 3-1 early in the second period, scoring short-side on a rush for his ninth goal of the season. Denver cut the lead on the power play at 11:45 of the second, when senior Sam Harris knocked in a loose puck in the blue paint. The Pioneers finished 2-for-6 on the power play, but they could not score on two 5-on-3 advantages, one of 1:51 late in the second period and another of 1:49 early in the third. Denver also put the puck in the net twice more, and both goals were called off after review, one because the net came off its moorings and the other because officials ruled the whistle was about to blow after the puck was lost from sight behind the Michigan goaltender, according to Denver Athletics.

Senior captain Kieran Cebrian tied the game at 3-3 at 5:38 of the third period, knocking in the puck at the top of the crease from a shot by Jake Fisher. Denver outshot Michigan 14-4 in the third period. Michigan retook the lead at 15:07 of the third, with 4:53 remaining, when a long shot by Asher Barnett caromed off the end boards and into the net. The goal was first waved off for a high stick, but a Michigan challenge was successful and the goal stood, according to Michigan Athletics. Nick Moldenhauer and Michael Hage assisted on the goal, and the second assist gave Hage 100 career points, making him the 94th Michigan player to reach that mark, according to Michigan Athletics.

Denver outshot Michigan 36-25 for the game. Michigan goaltender Jack Ivankovic made 33 saves, and Denver goaltender Tyler Krivtsov made 21 saves in his third straight start. Denver won a season-high 39 faceoffs, according to Denver Athletics. Saturday's attendance was 7,009, and the weekend total of 14,108 set a Magness Arena record for a two-game series, according to Denver Athletics. Sophomore goaltender Johnny Hicks missed his second game with an upper-body injury and is listed as day-to-day, according to Denver Athletics.

"It was a great atmosphere," Cebrian said of the home-opening weekend. "They were awesome this weekend," he said of the Denver fans. Cebrian said the Pioneers would not overreact to an October result: "I don't think we need to overthink the results."

Denver (2-2-0) resumes its six-game homestand next weekend against Boston College, with games Friday at 7 p.m. MT and Saturday at 6 p.m. MT, before opening conference play against Omaha on Oct. 30 and 31. Michigan (6-0-0) has now opened consecutive seasons with six straight wins, a first for the program, and the two wins were its first two-game road sweep of Denver since November 1976, according to Michigan Athletics.