DENVER – Behind a four-goal second period, the No. 1 Denver Pioneers came back to defeat the Niagara men's hockey team, 6-2, in the teams' series opener on Friday night. The Purple Eagles blocked 15 shots, while goalkeeper Brian Wilson made a career-high 42 saves.
 
Game Recap

• After Denver opened the scoring, Niagara responded with a goal of its own seven minutes in. With the Purple Eagles pressing, Chris Harpur flung the puck off the left wall and on net, where it slipped through the legs of Magnus Chrona for the equalizer.
• On Niagara's first penalty kill of the night, the Pioneers got five shots off, but only one made it on net. Wilson made the save on the lone shot he faced, but Jack Zielinski, Reed Robinson, Ryan Naumovski, and Ludwig Stenlund put the body in front of the puck, combining for four shot blocks in less than two minutes.
• The momentum swung after Niagara earned its first power play of the night. Though the Purple Eagles didn't score with the man advantage, they continued to press and throw pucks deep in the Denver zone. With three minutes to go in the opening frame, Jared Brandt took a shot from the blue line. Brandon Stanley, camped in front of the crease, tipped the puck over the goalie to put Niagara up, 2-1.
• With time winding down in the third, Ben Sokay nearly scored on a wraparound, but the Denver defense raced back and was just able to get a stick in the middle of the play to foil the chance.

 
Coach's Corner

• Head coach Jason Lammers: "I thought we had some real good moments. The score is what it is, but I liked [the early part] of the game. […] Until the second period when the penalty fest started, we were playing some good hockey. I liked our habits and I liked our simplicity."
• On the first period timeout: "At that point it was a 1-1 game. You never know what the score is going to be with guys that have been out there for 1:40. They put out their top line [following our icing] and I just didn't think that they guys had enough gas to take care of that. We wanted to keep it close at that point."

 
Up Next

• Game two against Denver will be tomorrow night at 9:07 p.m.

 
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