University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Drop Series Finale to Denver 5-1
2/14/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Hockey
Denver completed a weekend sweep of Minnesota with a 5-1 victory over the Gophers on Saturday in Denver.
The Pioneers got a hat trick from Joe Colborne and goaltender Marc Cheverie came within 39 seconds of a shutout as Denver moved into first place in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association with a 20-6-4 overall record and 14-4-4 league mark. Minnesota has lost five of its last six and is now 13-15-2 overall and 8-12-2 in the WCHA.
Tony Lucia scored Minnesota's lone goal, breaking up Cheverie's shutout bid on a power play with 38.8 seconds left in the game. Mike Carman took a hard shot from the point that deflected off Lucia's skate. Nick Leddy started the play to earn an assist. However, it was Minnesota's lone highlight in a game dominated by the Pioneers.
Minnesota owned a 12-8 advantage in shots in the first period, but Colborne scored the only goal for Denver with 1:02 left in the period. Rhett Rakhshani took the puck around a Gopher defenseman and made a backhanded pass in front to Colborne for his first goal of the game. The goal came on Denver's third power play chance of the period.
Denver's Anthony Maiani scored early in the second period with a goal just 1:07 into the period. He took a puck from behind the net and slid a shot through Gophers' goaltender Kent Patterson.
The Pioneers spent much of the second period on the power play, getting two lengthy five-on-three advantages. The Gophers killed off the first, which lasted for 1:23 and resulted in just two shots on goal. The second lasted two minutes after simultaneous Minnesota penalties and Denver converted with Colborne's second goal of the game. The goal came at 12:39 of the period and featured nifty passing from Patrick Wiercioch and Rakhshani. Denver also killed off both of Minnesota's power plays in the period and held a 14-8 edge in shots for the period.
Minnesota had an early power play in the third period, but Colborne scored shorthanded to finish the hat trick. He picked up a loose puck near his own blue line and skated in on a two-on-one. Instead of passing, he waited for Patterson to commit and made a move around him for the goal at the 2:16 mark.
Brian Gifford added Denver's fifth goal on a power play goal with 2:29 left in the game. The Pioneers finished the night three-for-nine on the man-advantage, while Minnesota was one-for-seven after Lucia's late goal.
Patterson finished with 28 saves and Cheverie had 32 saves as each team attempted 33 shots on goal.
The Gophers return home to face Colorado College next weekend. Game times have been changed to Friday at 6 p.m. and Saturday at 3 p.m.
