Zac Larraza was wearing a white hard hat after Denver's 4-3, two-overtime triumph over Minnesota Duluth on Friday at the Xcel Energy Center in the Final Five semifinals.
Larraza was the game's unlikeliest of heroes. The fourth-line winger from Scottsdale, Ariz., had not scored a goal in 23 games this season. Yet he ended this 3-hour, 45-minute struggle on a rebound at 8:14 of the second extra session.
He really should have given his hard hat -- awarded after games to the Pioneers' hardest worker -- to the goalie. Sam Brittain faced 70 shots and stopped 67 in the longest game in Final Five history. It went 88 minutes, 14 seconds in ice time.
Larraza? "At most I played about 10 shifts," he said. "I had fresh legs in the overtime."
He scored on his only shot of the game, seconds after linemate Matt Tabrum clanked a shot off the right post.
Denver (25-12-4), which beat Michigan Tech 3-2 in one overtime on Thursday, will play either the Gophers or North Dakota on Saturday for the Final Five championship.
It looked like the Pioneers would get there easily. In front of a announced crowd of 12,804, they took a 3-0 lead over the defending NCAA champions six minutes into the second period. Shawn Ostrow of DU had the only goal of the opening period, then Jason Zucker and Dustin Jackson scored early in the second.
The Bulldogs (24-9-6) started their comeback on Mike Seidel's power play goal midway through the second period. Then it was Seidel scoring again three minutes later, at 13:45.
Jack Connolly, the WCHA's player of the year, tied the score at 3-3 midway through the third period.
"It was a tough loss, but we have to move forward," said coach Scott Sandelin, whose Bulldogs are assured of being among the 11 teams who will receive NCAA at-large bids on Sunday.
A year ago, UMD lost 3-2 to Bemidji State in the Final Five quarterfinals before getting hot in the national tournament.
"You have to have short-term memory," Sandelin said.