Denver vs. Minnesota State Final Thoughts:

For a game that midway through looked like it wouldn't be much of a hockey game, it turned into a pretty entertaining affair with Sam Brittain needing to make a nice save off an Eriah Hayes shot with 6 seconds left to preserve a 4-3 win for the Denver Pioneers.

It was almost a tale of two games, with Denver dominating the first half and building a 3-0 lead, and Minnesota State spending the second half of the game trying to claw their way back and coming up just short. Denver was outshot 13-1 in the final period, but their one shot on goal was a snipe by Daniel Doremus that ended up being the game-winner.

Penalties were once again an issue for Minnesota State. The Mavericks took three penalties in the game's first nine minutes, putting the team on their heals. Minnesota State head coach Mike Hastings said he felt the turning point in the game for his team was once they started staying out of the box and playing five-on-five. For me, the turning point came about 12 minutes into the second period when Chase grant took an iffy hooking penalty, and frustrations boiled over into a small scrum near the benches. From that point forward, Minnesota State seemed to play a more aggressive, physical style of play that seemed to rattle the Pioneers.

To the Pioneers credit, they were able to use their skill advantage to score a couple pretty goals, including a laser of a shot by Joey LaLeggia from the top of the circles to give Denver a 2-0 lead, and when they had to hold on, they were able to thanks to a couple really nice saves from Sam Brittain down the stretch. It wasn't the prettiest, most complete effort the Pioneers will have all year, but they were able to find a way to come away with two points, on the road, on a night that they very easily could have had none. They didn't play like a great team, but they were a team that found a way to win with less than their best, which is something great teams do.

Final Scoring: Denver Wins 4-3

First Period:

10:18- Nolan Zajac from Matt Tabrum and Quentin Shore 1-0 Denver

Zajac showed some nice hands taking a pass from Tabrum, moving from forehand to backhand and beating the goalie high to the glove side

Second Period:

1:23- Joey LaLeggia from Zac Larraza 2-0 Denver

LaLeggia skated into the zone and fired a high wrist shot from just inside the blue line. It appeared that Cook didn't see the puck cleanly off his stick and was beaten to the glove side.

3:28- Shawn Ostrow from Paul Phillips and Dan Doremus 3-0 Denver

A Paul Phillips shot from the point was deflected by Ostrow in the circles and over Cook's shoulder.

15:43 Jean-Paul LaFontaine unassisted. 3-1 Denver

After a long stretch in the Denver zone, a wraparound attempt by LaFontaine went off the skate of a Denver defender and into the goal.

16:57 Eriah Hayes assisted by Jean-Paul LaFontaine and Brett Knowles 3-2 Denver

Another scramble in front of the net bounced off some bodies and slowly trickled into the net past Brittain.

Third Period:

13:54 Dan Doremus from Shawn Ostrow and Nolan Zajac 4-2 Denver

Ostrow fed the puck from the corner out to Doremus in the high slot. Doremus fired a quick wrist shot over the left shoulder of Williams.

18:09 Jean-Paul LaFontaine from Matt Leitner and Zach Lehrke 4-3 Denver

Leitner fed LaFontaine with a nice feed from behind the net, and LaFontaine one-timed it into the net before Brittain had a chance to react.

Third Period Notes: Denver Wins 4-3

Scoring:

13:54 Dan Doremus from Shawn Ostrow and Nolan Zajac 4-2 Denver

Ostrow fed the puck from the corner out to Doremus in the high slot. Doremus fired a quick wrist shot over the left shoulder of Williams.

18:09 Jean-Paul LaFontaine from Matt Leitner and Zach Lehrke 4-3 Denver

Leitner fed LaFontaine with a nice feed from behind the net, and LaFontaine one-timed it into the net before Brittain had a chance to react.

Notes:

Minnesota State had an early power play in the third period, and had two or three Grade A opportunities to tie the game but weren't able to capitalize.

Minnesota State also brought more of a physical edge to the third period than they did in the first half of the game, and Denver seemed to struggle with it. The biggest hit was a crushing open ice hit by Max Gaede on Denver's Jarrod Mermis.

Minnesota State controlled play for a large chunk of the third period, but it was Denver that scored the games sixth goal. Another example of Denver making a nice skill play, while Minnesota State couldn't get a puck to bounce into the net off a scramble in front.

Down two goals, Minnesota State pulled Williams with 4:00 remaining in the game. Pulling the goalie earlier and earlier also seems to be a growing trend.

Jean-Paul LaFontaine took a checking from behind major with with 1:26 left in the game. I didn't see the hit in question, but I can say it was a very small player knocking over a very big player.

Second Period Notes: Denver Leads 3-2

Scoring:

1:23- Joey LaLeggia from Zac Larraza 2-0 Denver

LaLeggia skated into the zone and fired a high wrist shot from just inside the blue line. It appeared that Cook didn't see the puck cleanly off his stick and was beaten to the glove side.

3:28- Shawn Ostrow from Paul Phillips and Dan Doremus 3-0 Denver

A Paul Phillips shot from the point was deflected by Ostrow in the circles and over Cook's shoulder.

15:43 Jean-Paul LaFontaine unassisted. 3-1 Denver

After a long stretch in the Denver zone, a wraparound attempt by LaFontaine went off the skate of a Denver defender and into the goal.

16:57 Eriah Hayes assisted by Jean-Paul LaFontaine and Brett Knowles 3-2 Denver

Another scramble in front of the net bounced off some bodies and slowly trickled into the net past Brittain.

Notes:

Stephon Williams replaced Cook after the third goal. The second goal was the only really bad one. The Mavericks were likely looking for a change in momentum after digging a deep hole early in the second period.

Around the midway mark of the period, Minnesota State picked up their intensity with some heavy pressure around the DU goal, but couldn't get a puck to bounce into the net. That's the advantage to being a team like Denver that can rely on skill plays to score goals, whereas MSU has to rely more on grinding out dirty goals. The Mavericks eventually got one back when J-P LaFontaine scored one of those ugly goals, bringing the Mavericks at least within striking distance, and then followed it up with another grinding goal to make this a very interesting hockey game heading into the third period.

Denver drew a penalty for the second time tonight with a pretty obvious dive. There was definitely some frustration with that on the MSU bench, especially since the Mavericks had just 31 seconds of power play time of their own at that point. It could be an ugly third period if the power play advantage doesn't even out at least a little bit.

Denver used their timeout after an icing call during a long shift in their zone. it seems like that is becoming more common practice by teams around the league.

It's a game of inches. Minnesota State's second goal was almost disallowed due to a hand pass, but J-P LaFontaine was able to barely get his stick on the puck, waving off the hand pass before Eriah Hayes redirected the puck towards the net for the goal.

First Period Notes: Denver Leads 1-0

Scoring:

10:18- Nolan Zajac from Matt Tabrum and Quentin Shore 1-0 Denver

Zajac showed some nice hands taking a pass from Tabrum, moving from forehand to backhand and beating the goalie high to the glove side

Shots were 9-5 in Denver's favor.

Notes:

Minnesota State caught a huge break in the first minute of the game when defenseman Zach Palmquist appeared to hit a Denver player from behind into the boards, but was only assessed two minutes for checking from behind instead of a five-minute major. Not only would it have been a tough kill, but perhaps more importantly, Minnesota State would have basically had to skate the whole game with five defensemen.

Denver controlled the first half of the period, thanks in large part to three straight MSU penalties to start the game, but Minnesota State drew the better of the scoring chances, including a 2-on-1 and a breakaway that they didn't convert on while shorthanded. Brett Knowles hit the outside of the post on his breakaway.

Nolan Zajac had a nice period. On the shift before his goal, he also made a nice move in the offensive zone to create a shot for himself. My big knock on him in the past is that I felt he was a guy that contributed to the offense, but never really created offense, but that play, combined with the goal are starting to make me reconsider that.

As you'd expect from a team that's pretty loaded on the back line, Denver likes to give their defensemen a lot of freedom to rush up the ice.

Line Charts: Minnesota State vs.Denver

Line charts from Friday's Minnesota State/Denver