No. 14 Huskies Win Shootout with No. 6 Denver to Remain in First Place of NCHC

Saturday, January 13

Denver, Colo.

7:00 P.M. CT

St. Cloud State

11-6-3, 7-1-2

Denver

15-5-2, 6-3-1

OT 1

OT 2

St. Cloud St.

Denver

Photo by: Bill Prout

No. 14 Huskies Win Shootout with No. 6 Denver to Remain in First Place of NCHC

1/13/2024 11:36:00 PM | Men's Hockey

Box Score

Posch logs season-best 33 saves and shuts down nation’s best offensive when it mattered most

DENVER, Colo. – No. 14 St. Cloud State Men's Hockey (11-6-3, 7-1-2 NCHC) earned a hard-fought two points in a shootout win and 2-2 tie with No. 6 Denver (15-5-2, 6-3-1 NCHC) on Saturday night at Magness Arena in Denver. SCSU scored twice in the first and second periods, and dominated play in the third period before the shootout victory to remain in first place in the NCHC standings.

Three Huskies scored two points in the game, led by a pair of assists from fifth-year defenseman Dylan Anhorn (Calgary, Alberta) and fifth-year forward Kyler Kupka (Camrose, Alberta). Meanwhile, freshman forward Verner Miettinen (Espoo, Finland) scored the Huskies fourth goal and added an assist for two points. Freshman goaltender Isak Posch (Umea, Sweden) made 33 saves in the game, including 13 in the first period, 12 in the second and an impressive five in overtime to lift the Huskies to the shootout win and earn the tie.

Denver jumped out to a 1-0 lead following a score from Jack Devine 12:40 in the first, but the Huskies were the ones who went into the locker room with a lead for the first intermission after two scores in the final minute of the opening frame. First up, junior defenseman Josh Luedtke (Minnetonka, Minn.) fired a one-timer from just inside the blue line that beat the Pioneer netminder for a score with 32 seconds left in the period. The Huskies weren't done yet, however, as just 28 seconds later a centering pass from junior defenseman Jack Peart (Grand Rapids, Minn.) found fifth-year forward Zach Okabe's (Okotoks, Alberta) stick for a goal in front of the net with four seconds on the clock to give SCSU a 2-1 lead.

Denver knotted the score at 2-2 again early in the second period, but the game didn't stay tied for long, as sophomore forward Ethan AuCoin (Calgary, Alberta) tallied a score in his third consecutive game to put the Huskies up 3-2 at the 8:05 mark of the second period. The play started with freshman forward Tyson Gross (Calgary, Alberta), who caused a turnover in the neutral zone and passed the puck to a streaking AuCoin who was all alone in front of the net for a breakaway score. Verner Miettinen increased the Huskies lead a few minutes later, launching a slap shot from just inside the blue line for a score 13:42 into the period. Denver would then score a pair of goals in the final five minutes of the period on a five-minute major penalty from Okabe.

St. Cloud State dominated puck possession and recorded 18 shots in the third period, but failed to find the back of the net for the regulation win. After a scoreless overtime session where Posch made a crucial five saves, the game moved to a shootout. Miettinen and Kupka scored in the shootout, while Posch made two stops to preserve the extra point with the shootout victory.

TOP HUSKIES

Posch was given the first star of the game following his 33-save performance, as he allowed only one even-strength goal in the game.
Verner Miettinen logged a goal and assist for two points.
Kupka earned the third star in the contest with two assists.
Anhorn had the primary assists on Luedtke and Miettinen's goals.

NOTES

With the tie, SCSU is now 53-56-7 all-time against Denver and 25-34-3 in Denver.
The Huskies' earned two points and remain in first place in the NCHC standings with 24 points, two ahead of next week's opponent No. 4 North Dakota.
Posch logged a season-best 33 saves and earned the tie to move to 1-0-2 on the season.
Miettinen scored his third goal and recorded his sixth assist to post his first career multi-point game.
Playing in just his fifth game of the season, AuCoin scored a goal in the Huskies third consecutive game, upping his season tally to three goals.
Okabe scored his third goal of the season and 45^th of his career with his first period score.
Luedtke scored his second goal of the season and seventh of his career with his first period tally.
Anhorn registered two assists in the game to bring his season total to 15. It marks the third time this season and 13^th time in his career he has had at least two assists in a game.
Kupka had a pair of secondary assists in the game to match a season-high of two assists. It marks the second time this season and seventh time in his career he has logged two or more assists.
Gross registered his seventh assist of the season and extended his point streak to three consecutive games.
Peart had his fifth assist with a primary assist on Okabe's score.

UP NEXT

St. Cloud State returns home for its next series as the Huskies host No. 4 North Dakota in a matchup of the top-two teams in the NCHC on Jan. 19-20 at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center. Friday's contest is slated to start at 7:30 p.m. CT, while Saturday's game will begin at 6:00 p.m. CT. Both games will be televised on Fox 9 + and NCHC.tv with radio coverage on KNSI.

For all the latest on St. Cloud State Men's Hockey, stay tuned to SCSUHuskies.com and follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Tickets for the 2023-24 season are available at www.scsutickets.com, downloading the St. Cloud State Huskies app or by calling 1-877-SCSUTIX / 320-308-2137.