Denver’s Carter Savoie is known for timely and pretty goals. Saturday’s game winner in the NCAA Loveland Regional Final was definitely the former, not so much the latter.
The sophomore forward will take it.
Savoie tipped a bouncing puck into the net for the Pioneers late in the third period, and top seed Denver hung on for a 2-1 win over No. 2 Minnesota Duluth on Saturday in Loveland, Colo.
“Yeah, I mean, lucky bounce,” Savoie said with a grin. “Obviously it hit him (Duluth goalie Ryan Fanti) in the back. Just right place, right time.”
Denver (29-9-1) will head to Boston for its first Frozen Four appearance since 2019, in search of its first national championship since 2017.
Just before the Pioneers struck for the go-ahead goal, Sean Behrens scooped up the draw on a faceoff to the left of Fanti (21 saves) and fired it from just inside the Duluth blue line, his shot wide right by about 18 inches. The puck then caromed off the boards and hit the back of Fanti’s left leg, his motion then carrying it across the goal mouth where it bounced off the inside of the far post. Savoie was right there to poke it back off the right pad of a sprawling Fanti and into the net for a 2-1 lead at 13:44.
Duluth (22-16-4) saw its streak of four straight Frozen Four appearances snapped. The Bulldogs were looking for their first NCAA title since 2019, when they won the second of back-to-back titles.
“Came down to a bounce,” Duluth coach Scott Sandelin said. “There’s things in the game you can control and things you can’t, and they got the break and that was the difference.”
Except for a span of just over three minutes of the opening frame, the first two periods were low-scoring affairs. Duluth got on the board first at 14:41 of the first when Darian Gotz crossed the blue line and scooped a pass from Kobe Roth on the right wing and one-timed a screaming slap shot into the net to the glove side of Denver goalie Magnus Chrona (24 saves). It was one of just two shots in the frame for the Bulldogs.
“The first period was definitely tough,” Chrona said. “Two shots — I think that’s probably the lowest amount of shots I’ve had in a period. I kind of set myself mentally for the second. (The) whole team was playing great. (I) feel like I really had to do my job to keep us in the game.”
Denver got that goal back shortly thereafter. Cole Guttman intercepted an attempted clear by Duluth defenseman Louie Roehl and fired it from high in the slot, where it went off the leg of teammate Matt Anderson and past Fanti’s right pad at 17:24.
“I thought we had a really good period all the way up until that,” Guttman said. “Pucks just weren’t going in. So I just wanted to throw it on net and it was nice to see it go through.”
There was no scoring in the second period, but there was plenty of excellent defensive play by the Pioneers. Antti Tuomisto and Guttman were sent off for minor penalties just 1:12 apart, giving Duluth a two-man advantage for 48 seconds. Chrona made three saves while his teammates were killing the penalty. Denver outshot Duluth 21-13 through the first two periods, and held a 34-25 advantage in shots for the game.
“It was a heavyweight bout,” Denver coach David Carle said. “I don’t think there was a passenger among our group tonight, and that was the most exciting thing to see. Excited to be going back to Boston.”
It was the sixth meeting of the season between the two NCHC rivals. After splitting four regular-season contests, Duluth was a 2-0 winner in the conference semifinals.
Denver will open the Frozen Four April 7 at TD Garden vs. the winner of Sunday’s regional final between No. 2 Quinnipiac (32-6-3) and No. 1 Michigan (30-9-1).
“This weekend was a great experience,” Carle said. “We’ll be ready to go come whatever it is — eight, 10 days from now? We’re really excited to get out to Boston and start preparing for whoever comes next.”
