Denver Stuns BC in Frozen Four Final, 2-0

Saturday, April 13, 2024

Robert McMahon, Sports Columnist

 

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IMAGE: University of Denver

For the fourth straight game in this year’s NCAA hockey playoffs, the Denver Pioneers were limited to two goals.  And for the fourth straight game, Denver won.  This time, shutting out the high-scoring Boston College Eagles 2-0 to win its record 10th national hockey championship Saturday evening in St. Paul, MN, before 18,694 fans.

 

If you had told Denver coach David Carle back in March that they wouldn’t score more than 2 goals per game in the NCAA playoffs and yet win the Frozen Four title, he would have been doubtful. Denver led the nation in goals scored this year during the regular season, averaging 4.65 goals/game, but it won this year’s national championship thanks to its goalie Matt Davis.

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Davis helped Denver win its first three games in the NCAA playoffs with 2-1 victories over UMass, Cornell, and BU. Davis saved his masterpiece though for the Frozen Four Final, shutting out BC while stopping 35 shots on goal.  It was the only time this year, the Eagles were shut out.

 

Denver had a slight edge in shots on goals, 8-5, in the first period but frustrated BC’s first line of freshmen phenoms with a 1-2-2 defensive strategy and by winning 75% of the face-offs.  Denver controlled the second period and scored the only goals of the game from its third line, with Jared Wright and Rieger Lorenz lighting the lamp at 9:42 and 15:16, respectively.  Once again, the Denver defense was outstanding, limiting the Eagles to only 7 shots on goal.

 

The third period saw the Eagles dominate play with several good opportunities, with two power plays, and with 23 shots on net. Denver’s goalie Davis was equal to the task making several point-blank stops.  The Eagles pulled their goalie Jacob Fowler with 2:37 to go but BC couldn’t convert even with a 6-5 advantage of skaters.

 

Some Final Slapshots

Denver discovered team defense in the last third of the season.  Because of their ability to score at will in most games, averaging almost 5 goals/game, they practiced a lackadaisical defense allowing 3.2 goals/game in their first 32 games.  Over their last 13 games, they only allowed 1.7 goals/game.  And it helped that their goalie Matt Davis did his Ken Dryden impression in the four NCAA games, allowing only 0.75 goals/game.

 

During the Denver 4 games in the NCAA playoffs, Denver goalie Matt Davis faced 141 shots and saved 138 of them.  That’s a pretty nifty .978 save percentage!

 

Boston College bounced back from a 14-16-6 record in 2022-23 to a phenomenal 34-6-1 record in 2023-24. They occupied the #1 ranking in college hockey since December.  They featured the highest-scoring freshman line in recent memory.  They won the Beanpot Tournament and the Hockey East Tournament.  But they lost the big one, a head scratching shutout, in the national championship game.  It will be difficult for the players to reconcile the defeat in the Frozen Four title game with the earlier season success.

 

The Providence College Friars defeated Denver 4-3 back in early October.  That seems like that was a different Denver team, still trying to find its best combination of players for offense and defense.  Denver figured out how to get better.  The Friars peaked in December and could never figure out how to score goals down the stretch in March.  Let’s hope they add some scorers in the off-season and head to the Frozen Four in 2025 in St. Louis.

Bob McMahon is the former Director of Parks in the City of Providence and a lifelong Providence College Friar fan.


 

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