Box Score Feb. 17, 2017 Box Score | PDF Box Score | Photo Gallery 
OXFORD, Ohio -- Zach LaValle and
Jared Brandt's first goals of the season helped the Miami hockey team erase a 2-0 lead in the third period, but No. 2/2 Denver scored three times in a 2:58 span late to prevail 5-2 on Friday night.
Friday's result drops the RedHawks to 9-14-6 (5-10-4-2 National Collegiate Hockey) while the Pioneers are now 21-6-4 (13-3-3-2 NCHC).
The Pioneers controlled the puck for several shifts in the offensive zone, but most of their shots were kept to the outside. Miami got some offense started about eight minutes in when
Louie Belpedio intercepted a pass in the neutral zone, skated in down the right wing and wired a wristshot that got by Tanner Jaillet, but rang off the post.
An offensive zone penalty by Denver gave Miami a power play try nearly midway through the opening stanza. The initial shift of the man advantage saw the puck worked to
Josh Melnick atop the crease, but Jaillet smothered it from up close. That was the best chance that was generated as DU was able to kill off the MU power play to leave it scoreless 11 and a half minutes in.
Denver put 13 shots on goal compared to Miami's six in the opening frame, though most were from the outside with a clean lane for
Ryan Larkin to make the initial stops. Despite the shots tilted in favor of DU, the contest remained scoreless at intermission.
A pair of Red & White penalties proved costly for the Red & White early in the middle stanza. Dylan Gambrell opened the scoring by knocking in a loose puck that slid across the crease at 4:20 and Troy Terry redirected a puck in with 5:32 gone by. The latter tally was initially waved off, but officials took another look and after a long review, signaled goal to make it a 2-0 DU lead.
Miami did get a chance on a power play roughly eight minutes into the second, but was unable to convert as it continued to trail by a pair midway through the contest. The Red and White had one more power play with three minutes left, but their best look, an
Anthony Louis one-timer from the slot, was knocked aside by Jaillet as DU maintained its two goal advantage at the end of two periods.
The beginning of the third saw Miami come out with a surge of energy as it spent extended time in the Denver zone, though still couldn't fire a shot on goal in that stretch. A Red & White bounce put them on the board with 4:15 elapsed off the clock when LaValle chipped the puck from the behind the goal line off Jaillet and in. His first goal of the year was set up by a feed by
Gordie Green with
Kiefer Sherwood also picking up an assist. That tally cut the gap to 2-1 with plenty of time on the clock.
Energized by the goal, the RedHawks kept on pressing on the attack over the next few minutes. With 10 and a half minutes left,
Carson Meyer dug the puck out from a scrum behind the net to feed
Grant Hutton at the point. The sophomore blue liner flung a shot that went off Jaillet's pad and kicked back to his defense partner Brandt, who ripped a slap shot home from the left circle for his first collegiate goal to even the score at 2-2.
A giveaway in front of the Miami net forced it into a penalty with 7:47 left, but that was negated by a Denver hooking penalty seven seconds later, opening the ice with 4-on-4 play. During this sequence, Larkin made a sprawling save after Henrik Borgstrom fed Troy Terry at the doorstep during a down-low 2-on-1 that seemed to earmark the game for overtime. However, Will Butcher put the Pioneers back in front with 6:04 remaining when a clean faceoff win in the offensive zone allowed him space in the middle to pick a corner. Gambrell then bumped the lead back to two when he redirected a shot by Evan Janssen over Larkin and in with 3:38 to go. Miami then pulled Larkin for an extra skater, but Emil Romig potten an empty netter with 3:06 remaining to seal the game.
The Pioneers outshot the RedHawks 32-20 on the night and went 2-for-3 on the power play while killing off all four MU man advantages. Larkin made 27 saves while Jaillet countered with 18 at the other end.
These teams finish up the weekend series on Saturday night. The game is televised on American Sports Network and puck drop is slated for 8 p.m.
