Box Score March 4, 2018 Box Score | PDF Box Score
DENVER - After a disastrous beginning, the Miami hockey team showed toughness by rallying to tie No. 4/5 Denver, 3-3, and pick up two conference points in the team's regular season finale on Saturday night.
The RedHawks (11-18-5, 6-14-4-2 National Collegiate Hockey) erased an early 3-0 deficit to pick up a couple points in the final league standings.
A Miami penalty 30 seconds in started things off on the wrong foot as Jarid Lukosevicius struck on the man advantage with just 1:13 gone by. The Pioneers (18-8-8, 12-6-6-4 NCHC) grabbed a 2-0 lead just 18 seconds later as Ryan Barrow converted a breakaway with just 1:31 expired off the clock. Adam Plant then upped the lead to 3-0 at the 4:19 mark when his shot from the left half wall found daylight.
Kiefer Sherwood nearly put the Red and White on the board midway through the first when he found a path to the zone down the right wing. He stickhandled around Tanner Jaillet from the angle, but ran out of room before he could put the puck in. Sherwood did eventually factor into scoring with 3:15 left in the first as he fed Gordie Green on a 2-on-0 that Jaillet stopped, but he got collided with and the puck drifted in to put MU on the board trailing 3-1. Before the period ended, Ryan Larkin was tested by NCHC leading scorer Henrik Borgstrom on a breakaway and came up big to keep the score 3-1 after 20 minutes.
In the second, Zach LaValle kept possession in the offensive zone alive and found Karch Bachman coming down the right wing side. The sophomore forward buried his off wing shot to pull the Red & White within 3-2 just 2:47 into the period.
The RedHawks got their first power play of the night with 4:40 gone by in the second. MU got to work peppering new goaltender Dayton Rasmussen, who started in net at the beginning of the period. MU fired three shots on goal and generally pressed the DU penalty kill unit, but could not find the tying goal.
After killing off a Denver power play, Miami got another crack with the man advantage with 9:29 to go in the frame. This one connected and ended a drought of 27-straight scoreless power plays when Bachman redirected Louie Belpedio's point shot home for his first career multi-point game. Sherwood also drew a helper on the play that evened the score at 3-3 with 8:23 left in the second.
Miami continued to press the attack, but Denver nearly grabbed a lead with 2:38 left in the frame as Tariq Hammond crashed the net and knocked in a rebound off a Larkin save. However, officials waved the goal off as there was both contact with Larkin and a kicking motion of the puck that left the score tied at three apiece entering the final regulation period.
Denver outshot Miami by a 16-4 margin in the third period, but Larkin came up big by stopping each chance. MU's best opportunity came relatively early in the period when Josh Melnick found a soft spot in the slot, but his shot hit the post. The Neither team found the back of the net after combining for six goals in the first two periods as the regular season finale wore on into overtime. Larkin came up big in the final regulation frame, stopping all 16 shots he faced to leave the score tied.
Both teams had periods of sustained pressure in the overtime session with Ben Lown having a great chance to end it on a cross ice pass and a shot that Rasmussen got a pad on before he could score a back door goal. Ultimately, the game wore on into the 3-on-3 overtime as an official tie, where Phil Knies roofed a shot from the right circle to give MU two points to wrap up the regular season.
Denver ended up with a slim 35-34 shot advantage while both teams finished 1-for-3 on the power play. Bachman (2g) and Sherwood (2a) each recorded multi-point games while Larkin made 32 saves in net for the Red & White.
Miami begins postseason play in the NCHC Playoffs at St. Cloud State in a best-of-three series next weekend. Game one is on Friday at 8:37 p.m. ET.
