After two nights of intense, physical hockey, it was only fitting the fighting continued after the final whistle blew.
No. 6 Denver got the better of rival No. 17 North Dakota Friday night in a 4-0 shutout, but the Fighting Hawks took the series finale by a final of 3-1 Saturday night at Magness Arena.
Both games were filled with players coming together after whistles and plenty of chirping between the two benches.
Once Saturday’s game ended, all 11 players on the ice ended up in one big brawl in the corner with Pioneers star sophomore defenseman Zeev Buium losing his jersey during a scrap with North Dakota’s EJ Emery. Each player involved received a roughing penalty and a “persisting in misconduct” penalty postgame.
“We don’t like each other,” DU senior captain Carter King said. “Everyone knows that. We play each other a lot in the conference, so that’s gonna happen.”
Denver senior forward Carter King (15) fights for the puck against North Dakota sophomore defenseman Caleb MacDonald (13) during a game on Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025 at Magness Arena in Denver.
It didn’t help that the two teams entered the weekend one point apart in the NCHC standings and with both in search of a key win or two to improve their standing in the PairWise rankings.
DU and UND ended the weekend where they started — with the Fighting Hawks one point above the Pios with three weekends left in the regular season.
The struggles for David Carle’s team on Saturday came on special teams.
North Dakota took a 2-1 lead in the second period on a power play goal and sealed the win with a shorthanded goal in the third period. The Pios scored their only goal during a 5-on-3 advantage. Fighting Hawks goaltender T.J. Semptimphelter was excellent, stopping 34 shots.
“We generated a lot (of chances),” Carle said. “T.J. played great for them tonight. I thought we could’ve generated a few more secondary chances, but it wasn’t in the cards tonight.
North Dakota graduate student goaltender T.J. Sepmtimphelter (35) looks during a game against Denver on Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025 at Magness Arena in Denver.
“I just thought their intensity level and battle level was a bit higher, especially in the first period. They seemed to be winning more of the 50-50 battles.”
It’s not the first or the last time this year that DU will face a hot goalie. The Pios got that type of performance from Matt Davis during last year’s national championship run, although Davis missed Saturday’s game with a lower-body injury that doesn’t appear to be a long-term issue.
“We’ve had difficult games this year,” King said. “We all know that. But you learn a lot from it and every single time, you just gotta get better and you gotta learn.”
The Pios are confident they have enough scoring, but those types of performances become rarer as playoffs approach. DU knows exactly what’s coming in the weeks ahead.
“It’s playoff hockey,” Carle said. “It’s good for us to go through these games and understand that the margins are tight. We’ve been kinda living this for the past month.
“We’ve got a lot of guys in the room who have been in playoff hockey, tight games, but for the younger guys, the intensity level is starting to ratchet up and it’s good for us to get that experience as this group.”
