Denver opens postseason with 5-2 victory over Miami (Ohio) | Sports Coverage

Denver captain Cole Guttman knows to get open. That’s because he’s playing with Bobby Brink, the nation’s top playmaker.

So Guttman got open again, and Brink found him again. Guttman one-timed a power-play goal from the slot and pulled the Pioneers even midway through the first period.

The Pioneers used that to get the offense going and opened the postseason with a 5-2 win over Miami of Ohio in Game 1 of a three-game series in the quarterfinals of the National Collegiate Hockey Conference Tournament at Magness Arena Friday night.

“Playoff hockey is the best time of the year,” Guttman said. “And I really liked our game. … Fun to get the first playoff game out of the way.”

The best-of-three series continues Saturday at 6 p.m. at Magness Arena. If a third game is necessary, it will start at 6 p.m. Sunday.

The Pioneers (26-8-1) took the lead for good on goals 31 seconds apart by Jack Devine and McKade Webster in the second period.

The eight-time national champion Pioneers, ranked No. 3 in the nation in both the USCHO.com poll and the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll, are gunning for their first national title since 2017.

Even though they gave up the first goal of the game, coach David Carle didn’t detect any nervousness from a team that has national title aspirations.

“I think being part of the program has prepared us and our standards,” Carle said.

Before they worry about a national title, the Pioneers are focused on winning the NCHC tourney. Their first win is in the books, though it started out rocky.

With 14 minutes in penalties in the first period — all minor penalties — both teams scored on their first power play.

Miami (7-26-2) got off to about the best start it could hope to have. The Red Hawks’ PJ Fletcher scored a power-play goal 3:19 in, putting the Pioneers on their heels early.

But that just seemed to awaken the Pioneers.

Denver scored a little over nine minutes later when Brink found Guttman in the slot.

“It’s something we’ve been practicing a lot,” Guttman said. “He found me and created some space for me, and he put it right on my tap and I put it in the far side.”

Brinks is number one in the country with 40 assists after Friday night’s game.  

Brett Stapley added a power-pay goal with 12:23 to play and defenseman Shai Buium scored an emptynetter from his own zone to round out the scoring.

“Special teams were a factor in the game,” Carle said. “In playoff hockey, that’s often the case.”

Denver was tabbed the No. 1 seed in the NCHC Tournament after tying with North Dakota for the most points in the conference but having more conference wins than the Fighting Hawks.

Both teams ended up with multiple payers in the box simultaneously with 5:03 left as both teams lost their temper, leading to an interesting second game Saturday night.