DENVER – Gunning for its first road or conference sweep of the season, Miami entered the third period deadlocked in a 1-1 tie before No. 7 Denver struck for four goals in a 5-2 setback.
The RedHawks (11-17-4, 5-13-2-1 National Collegiate Hockey) skate out of Denver with a series split.
Denver (17-8-4, 9-8-2-2 NCHC) fired the first eight shots on goal and grabbed the lead 3:31 into the contest when Jarid Lukosevicius one-timed a feed from the right circle. MU's first shot on Filip Larsson did not come until there was 12:34 remaining in the opening frame. DU outshot MU by a 10-4 margin in the opening frame and took the one-goal lead into intermission.
Play was choppy over large portions of the second period, even though Miami did register four of the first six shots in the middle stanza. MU got a power play opportunity a minute and a half into the frame, but only got one shot off as it remained down a goal.
The Pioneers went on their first man advantage with 8:29 gone by, but
Ryan Larkin stood tall with a pair of in tight saves to keep the deficit at one.
DU went on another power play late in the frame, but it was MU that found the offense. After digging out a loose puck got Miami going with a 2-on-1,
Josh Melnick wired a wrist shot top shelf to tie it up with 5:17 remaining in the period.
Brian Hawkinson picked up the assist on Melnick's ninth goal of the season.
Miami ultimately killed off the minor penalty and despite a 23-10 shot lead for Denver, the score was all tied up at 1-1 following 40 minutes of play.
The Pioneers fired the first seven shots on goal in the third period and took control when Jack Doremus scored twice 17 seconds apart to put them up 3-1.
Zach LaValle did give the Red & White some life when he crashed the net and tapped in a rebound from a
Monte Graham shot for his second goal of the year, cutting the gap to 3-2 with 11:47 to go.
Grant Hutton also earned an assist on the tally.
A DU power play allowed it to regain a two-goal lead as Lukosevicius redirected a centering feed to the top corner for his second of the night with 7:46 to go. Miami pulled Larkin for an extra skater with just over four minutes to play, but could not get established offensively and eventually Colin Staub put the nail in the coffin on an empty netter with 2:32 remaining.
Denver outshot Miami 43-17 on the night and went 1-for-3 on the power play while killing off MU's only man advantage. Larkin stopped 38 shots while Larsson made 15 saves at the other end.
Miami returns to action on Friday when it opens a series at defending national champion Minnesota Duluth. Puck drop is at 8:07 p.m. ET.
