Gophers men’s hockey beats No. 4 Denver 6-5 in overtime on Javon Moore’s goal

The Gophers men’s hockey team’s first game against Denver since the end of the WCHA certainly was not short of excitement.

Javon Moore’s goal with 35 seconds left in the overtime lifted the Gophers to a 6-5 victory over the fourth-ranked Pioneers in the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame game on Saturday night before an announced 12,228 at Ball Arena in Denver.

“Crazy things happen in this sport,” coach Bob Motzko told reporters at Ball Arena, the home of the Colorado Avalanche. “We’ll take it.”

In their first game against the Pioneers since 2013, the Gophers were outshot 52-25, blew a two-goal lead in the third period, gave up the tying goal with 23 seconds left in regulation and nearly gave up a goal seconds into overtime.

But Moore’s goal — his third of the season and the Gophers’ only shot on goal in the overtime — following a 47-save performance by Luca Di Pasquo lifted the Gophers (7-9-1) to their fifth victory in the past seven games. It was also their second victory over a top-five team, after they split a series with No. 5 Penn State last weekend.

“Not many times you’re going to see a goalie give up five goals and you think he was the best player,” Motzko said of Di Pasquo. “He was our best player tonight.”

The NCHC co-leading Pioneers (9-5-1) trailed 3-1 going into the third period, but scored three goals in a seven-minute span to tie it at 4-4. L.J. Mooney’s power-play goal, from a sharp angle following a backhanded, no-look pass from Brodie Ziemer, put the Gophers up again at 5-4. But Denver pulled goalie Quentin Miller with 1:22 to go, and Boston Buckberger tied the score with 23 seconds remaining on his second goal of the game, a goal that withstood a review for goalie interference.

The Gophers were outshot 25-5 in the first period but the teams were tied 1-1 after 20 minutes. Tate Pritchard scored 1:48 into the game for the Gophers, but the Pioneers kept the pressure on before tying the score 1-1 on Buckberger’s power-play goal with 23 seconds left in the period.

Gophers captain Brody Lamb’s goal from the high slot with 8:55 left in the second period broke the tie. The Gophers went on their first power play with 1:32 left in the period, and only 24 seconds later, Ziemer took a drop pass from Tanner Ludtke, skated into the right faceoff circle and fired in a goal for a 3-1 lead.

Samu Salminen got the Pioneers within 3-2 with 15:49 left in the third period. Less than two minutes later, Jimmy Clark restored the Gophers’ two-goal lead on assists from Beckett Hendrickson and Jacob Rombach. Only 57 seconds later, Salminen scored again to pull the Pioneers within 4-3.

The Pioneers tied it with 8:12 remaining on a goal from defenseman Eric Pohlkamp. Pohlkamp, who played at Brainerd High School and in one season at Bemidji State, is Denver’s leading scorer and the top scoring defenseman in Division I hockey (11 goals, six assists).

BOXSCORE: Gophers 6, Denver 5 (OT)

“It was a great atmosphere for our guys to come into. [You want] your young guys to see it, to get in a big venue against a great program. Those are the challenges you want,” Motzko said. “... It was just a great environment, you could feel it from the crowd.”