Box Score
HOUGHTON, Mich. - Sophomore Milos Gordic tallied a hat trick in his first game of
the season to help Michigan Tech upend No. 2-ranked Denver 7-2
tonight at the John MacInnes Student Ice Arena. Five different
Huskies had multi-point nights and goaltender Josh Robinson made 38 saves to keep Tech undefeated
at home at 5-0-0.
Tech (5-2-0, 3-2-0 WCHA) jumped out of the gates with a strong
first period. The hosts recorded a 11-4 advantage in shots and led
3-1 after 20 minutes. Freshman Tanner Kero broke the ice with an even-strength goal
just 1:53 into the game. Denver (3-2-0, 2-1-0 WCHA) answered less
than three minutes later to tie the game at 1-all.
Gordic then scored the first of his three goals by driving home
a rebound of a Jordan Baker shot on the power play. The marker came
at the 10:06 mark of the first. Just 16 seconds later, Ryan Furne made it a 3-1 score by capitalizing on a
nice passing sequence from linemates Brett Olson and Blake Pietila. Furne ran into DU goalie Adam Murray
after the puck had crossed the goal line. Murray was injured on the
play and did not return to action. Juho Olkinuora replaced Murray
in net for the Pioneers.
It was Huskies' goalie Robinson sparking in net in the second
period, making 21 of his 38 saves to keep the talented Pioneers off
the scoreboard. At least two of the saves came on point-blank
chances for the visitors.
Gordic expanded Tech's lead with his second power play marker of
the game. This one was a deflection of a Daniel Sova shot from the left point at the 3:17 mark
of the middle frame.
The teams skated hard through the first 13 minutes of the third
period scoreless. Denver coach George Gwozdecky elected to pull
Olkinuora with 6:54 remaining in the contest. Gordic completed his
three-goal hat trick with an empty net tally less than a minute
later. Olkinuora remained on the bench while Tech added two more
empty net goals-one from Olson and another from Dennis Rix.
Denver finished scoring with 56 seconds left to make it a
five-goal margin.
"We had a really good first period and played well for the first
half of the game," said head coach Mel Pearson. "They took it to us a little bit for the
final 30 minutes or so, but I thought Robinson had a heck of a
game.
"It's also nice to see our top two goal scorers from last year
(Gordic and Furne) get their first goals of the season."
Tech converted 2-of-5 power play chances while holding DU
scoreless on three opportunities.
The final shot tally showed a 40-28 advantage for the
Pioneers.
Robinson is now 4-1-0 on the season with a .922 saves
percentage.
The two teams will wrap up their WCHA series tomorrow. Faceoff
is set for 7:07 p.m. at the John MacInnes Student Ice Arena.
Notes: Tech has won two of its last three games with Denver ...
The seven-goal output was the Huskies' first since Oct. 20, 2007,
vs. Minnesota State ... Tech's last hat trick came from Brett Olson on Oct. 9, 2009, vs. Northern
Michigan.