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MINNEAPOLIS – A balanced offensive display pushed the No. 5/6 Miami hockey team to the brink of a National Collegiate Hockey Conference Tournament title for the second-straight season as it topped defending NCHC Tournament Champion Denver 6-3 on Friday night.
Eleven RedHawks (24-13-1) recorded at least one point to move them to Saturday night’s Frozen Faceoff Championship for the second year in a row.
Denver (22-13-2) had the first good opportunity of the evening just over two minutes in when Grant Arnold picked up a Miami turnover at the right circle and walked in for a close range angled shot that Jay Williams smothered. The Red and White got their second shot and first truly clean opportunity less than two minutes later as Cody Murphy skated the puck up the right wing before moving into the middle for a wrist shot that Evan Cowley kept in front of him.
The RedHawks fired 10 of the first 13 shots on goal of the night, but Cowley’s play kept the Pioneers locked in a scoreless tie through the early barrage. Miami got the night’s first power play with 7:42 left in the frame, but the man advantage was cut short by a minor penalty on MU 53 seconds later. With the ice more spacious for 4-on-4 hockey, Riley Barber hustled to a loose puck to create a 2-on-1 rush the other way. The junior walked the puck into the slot and beat Cowley high glove side for his career-high 20th goal of the year, extending his point streak to a career-best eight games, to put the Red and White on top 1-0 with 5:45 remaining in the first. Matthew Caito garnered an assist after getting to a rebound in his zone and firing it out of the zone for Barber to catch.
DU went on the power play shortly after Barber’s tally, but MU stood tall during the man advantage. Extended Pioneer offensive pressure eventually led to a tying tally when Will Butcher wristed a shot through traffic from the point that evened it up at 1-1 with 2:33 to go until intermission.
It appeared the contest would remain tied after 20 minutes, but Anthony Louis changed all notions of that when he took Austin Czarnik’s outlet feed at center ice, weaved through the defense down the left side and skated the puck out front to beat Cowley with a backhand to give Miami a 2-1 lead after 20 minutes. Louis’ eighth goal of the year capped the scoring in a period that Miami held a 16-8 edge in shots on goal. Caito also assisted on the play to give him a pair of first period helpers.
Denver spent the first few minutes of the second period establishing pressure in the offensive zone, but couldn’t find the net in the early going. The Pioneers found some skating room with a 4-on-2 in transition, but Blake Coleman and Cody Murphy busted their tails to get back into the play and force a turnover. Murphy corralled the puck to start a 2-on-1 the other way and beat Cowley with a heavy wrist shot to make it a 3-1 Miami lead just 4:53 into the period. That tally was Murphy’s career-high 12th goal of the year and chased Cowley from the net in favor of Tanner Jaillet. Coleman assisted on the play.
Play appeared to settle down for awhile, though a Miami penalty midway through the frame opened the door a bit for Denver. The RedHawks were the team that went on the attack, creating a pair of 2-on-1 rushes, though not converting on either. Miami killed off the man advantage fairly easily, maintaining a two-goal lead into the latter stages of the frame.
A sensational individual effort by Czarnik gave Miami a 4-1 lead when he shook a defender at the right wing half wall and drove the net before beating Jaillet up close for his seventh goal in the past five games with 1:34 left in the frame. It seemed that MU would enjoy a three-goal cushion after 40 minutes, but the RedHawks were penalized on the next shift and Daniel Doremus jammed a rebound home off the ensuing faceoff to cut the gap to 4-2 just 26 seconds after Czarnik’s tally. Nonetheless, MU still held a two-goal bulge after 40 minutes of play.
The Pioneers came out with a surge to start the third period, hemming the RedHawks in their own end for the first few minutes. That pressure paid off when they forced a turnover behind the goal line and started a tic-tac-toe passing display that ended on a tap-in goal by Trevor Moore. That tally cut the MU lead to 4-3 with 13:55 to go in regulation.
Denver kept pressing to get that tying goal, but Miami once again had a counter to the momentum as Louis threaded a cross-ice pass through a seam to Louie Belpedio at the left circle, where he one-timed a shot into an open net to up the lead to 5-3 with 10:22 to play.
A Miami penalty with 7:23 to go gave Denver another chance to claw back into the contest, but the RedHawks were disciplined in their lanes and would not allow even a shot on goal during a scoreless two minutes. With time winding down, the Pioneers pulled Jaillet for an extra skater, but a clean hard check by Ben Paulides allowed Alex Wideman to clear the puck ahead and Alex Gacek won a foot race to the puck before burying it into the empty net with 2:28 to go, putting the contest away.
The RedHawks outshot the Pioneers 29-25 on the evening. Denver went 1-for-4 on the power play while Miami did not score on its lone man advantage. Czarnik (1g, 1a), Louis (1g, 1a), Caito (2a) and Kevin Morris (2a) all posted multi-point games for the Red and White. Williams moved to 18-8 with his second-straight win after stopping 22 of 25 Denver shots. Cowley got the start for DU and allowed three goals on 18 shots before giving way to Jaillet, who picked up the loss after allowing two goals on 10 attempts.
Miami will try for its second league tournament title in school history when it faces sixth-seeded St. Cloud State on Saturday at 8:38 p.m. The championship game is televised nationally on CBS Sports Network (DirecTV Ch. 221, DISH Ch. 158, check local cable listings).
