Sophomore Kevin Ulanski scored the game-winning goal and added two assists while senior Kevin Doell also had a goal and two assists as the Denver Pioneers cruised to a 7-1 win over the Wisconsin Badgers in WCHA play Saturday night before a standing-room only crowd of 6,055 at Magness Arena.
The Pioneers swept the season series against the Badgers for the third straight time and have won eight consecutive games against Wisconsin, which is the longest streak for the Pioneers in the series with the Badgers.
Junior Connor James, sophomore Jeff Drummond and sophomore Luke Fulghum each added a goal and an assist for the Pioneers, who have a 17-7-4 overall record and 8-6-4 in the WCHA. Wisconsin is winless in their last eight road games and drops to 8-17-3 and 2-13-3 in the WCHA.
After missing the last three games with a shoulder injury, senior Greg Barber wasted little time getting back to work, scoring on the first shot 51 seconds into the game to give the Pioneers an early 1-0 lead. Barber took a pass from Ulanski and beat Badgers goaltender Scott Kabotoff with a slapshot.
“We got off to a great start,” Pioneers coach George Gwozdecky said. “Greg Barber came back from injury and got that first goal for us, which gave us a boost and then we built on it from there.”
Ulanski gave the Pioneers a 2-0 lead at 9:06, scoring a power-play goal while falling to the ice. The play started with senior goaltender Wade Dubielewicz clearing the puck up to Doell, who passed it to Ulanski. Dubielewicz picked up his first assist this season, made 27 saves and has a 7-4-2 record.
Badgers freshman John Funk got the puck behind Dubielewicz in a pile up in front of the net with 1:24 left in the first period to close within one goal of the Pioneers, but Denver regained a two-goal lead 2:28 into the second period on a goal by Drummond.
“By the time we got our third goal, we were well on our way,” Gwozdecky said. “There is always a worry that you are going to get sloppy, but we played smart and did not break down.”
Doell made it 4-1 for the Pioneers with scoring off a high wrist shot on the power play at 10:03 of the second period. Doell leads the team in scoring with 36 points and has 14 points in an eight-game scoring streak.
Fulghum increased Denver’s lead to 5-1 scoring off a high wrist shot 1:56 into the third period while James added another power play goal and senior J.J. Hartmann scored shorthanded to cap the scoring. Denver scored three times on five power-play opportunities.
