No. 3 ranked Denver Pioneers outpaced on home ice

DENVER – Many people had marked Oct. 7, as day to be excited about as the Denver Pioneers returned home to follow up their Frozen Four run. That Excitement dissipated quickly as the Ohio State Buckeyes were up to the task of facing the No. 3 ranked team in country. The Buckeyes blitzkrieged the Pioneers to get on the board and never looked back, winning 3-2.

The Pioneers got off to a slow start when they allowed a goal just 29 seconds into the first period. A defensive breakdown led to a two-on-one and Luke Stork was able to find Matthew Weis at the back just waiting to put it in the back of an empty net.

In hockey, especially in the first game of the season, getting the first goal can be crucial. When Ohio State scored it seemed to take all the air out of the Magness crowd, but it was a wake-up call to the players.

Denver finally got their first goal when freshman Tyson McLellan, son of San Jose Sharks head coach Todd McLellan, found a puck-sized area of the net and was able to put it in that exact spot to score his first career collegiate hockey goal. That goal came at 14:06 into the first period. After that, it looked as though the Pioneers were going to start taking over the hockey game.

When the horn rang for the second period, it was almost as if the Pioneers forgot to make their way out of the dressing room. DU didn’t register a single shot until around the ten-minute mark, and the Buckeyes were able to take the lead on a Matt Joyaux slapshot made it 2-1, with 7:26 expired in the middle frame.

Ohio State was able to extend their lead to 3-1 when John Wiitala was able to clean up some trash in front of the net, 16:14 into the second period.

The third period brought a little change of scenery, when head coach Jim Montgomery put two of his best goal scorers, in Troy Terry and Dylan Gambrell, together with Jarid Lukosevicius.

“The second period was so bad, we had to change things up,” Montgomery said following the game.

Although the electrifying trio were able to generate lots of scoring chances, they were never able to find the back of the net because, as Montgomery put it, they were ‘a little too cute’.

The Pioneers were able to get a goal from Lukosevicius, with 16:28 left in the third period. Getting their first power play goal on their fifth chance of the night. But the failure on the power play cost the Pios as they weren’t able to capitalize and they dropped this contest on home ice.

The Pioneer team that was on display tonight that is one that is still trying to get their feet wet in the young college hockey season. They clearly haven’t figured out their lines yet and they didn’t seem quite ready for the pace of college hockey.

“It looked like Ohio State was the team that’s used to playing at altitude,” Montgomery said.

Saturday night will bring the matchup most of the college hockey world was hoping for in Boston College vs. Denver. But no one expected it’d be the consolation game and not the championship.