On the strength of a 37-save performance from junior goaltender Tanner Jaillet (Red Deer, Alta.), the DU Pioneers earned a series split with SCSU on Saturday, downing the Huskies by a score of 3-1 at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center. Denver was perfect on special teams in Game 2 of the weekend series, going 1-for-1 on the power play and 2-for-2 on the penalty kill in laying claim to victory.

“I was very proud of our effort here tonight,” Denver head coach Jim Montgomery said following Saturday’s win. “It’s never easy to win on the road in the NCHC and tonight was no exception. Tanner played great for us, we won the special teams battle and we played hard, Denver-style hockey for sixty minutes which is always a recipe for success. After a disappointing performance on Friday (a 3-2 OTL), it was great to bounce back with a good win tonight and hopefully we can keep this momentum going into next weekend’s series versus Omaha.”

For the second straight night, the home team opened the scoring on Saturday as freshman forward Jake Wahlin found the back of the net in the 11th minute of play for St. Cloud State. Denver produced the equalizer at the 6:19 mark of the middle frame, with San Jose Sharks prospect Dylan Gambrell (Bonney Lake, Wash.) taking a feed from senior forward Evan Janssen (Green Bay, Wis.) deep in SCSU territory and beating Huskies netminder Jeff Smith with a well-placed backhand shot. An unassisted goal off the stick of sophomore winger Jarid Lukosevicius (Squamish, B.C.) then gave the visitors a 2-1 lead midway through regulation.

Freshman blueliner Michael Davies (St. Louis, Mo.) tallied an insurance marker for Denver early in the third period, lighting the lamp during a DU power play to register his second goal of the season. Jaillet and the Pioneers’ rock steady defensive corps were able to keep the Huskies at bay from there on out, with the visitors ultimately taking the decision by a 3-1 final.

Denver (16-6-4, 8-3-3-2 NCHC) returns to Magness Arena next weekend (Friday – 7:30pm & Saturday – 7:00pm) to face conference rivals Nebraska-Omaha.

Featured Image Credit: Denver Pioneers