ST. CLOUD, Minn. — Ryan Poehling found himself on a breakaway, and that was all that stood between St. Cloud State (21-6-5, 15-4-3 NCHC) and the Penrose Memorial Cup. The Huskies defeated Denver (17-8-7, 11-6-5 NCHC) with a final score of 4-2, on an empty-netter from Jon Lizotte following the Poehling goal.
Poehling went top shelf after a subtle deke at 12:25 of the third period for the game-winner to clinch the regular season title over defending champion Denver at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center.
“Ryan was great all weekend,” SCSU coach Bob Motzko said. “I had him matched up all weekend. I messed up on a line change where I didn’t get his line out against (Henrik) Börgstrom and (Troy) Terry, and that’s when they scored to tie it up.”
Jimmy Schuldt dove to the ice in order to break up Denver’s pressuring forecheck, found Poehling center ice, and the crowd of 4,643 erupted for the final time this regular season. With three minutes left in the game, Denver pulled goaltender Tanner Jaillet to initiate the final barrage.
“It was a heck of a hockey game that we played tonight,” Motzko said. “Both teams really laid it out on the line tonight. One is a championship team that knows how to win, and we needed to bounce back.”
In the first period, St. Cloud State picked up right where they left off on Friday in that they struggled to get pucks on net. SCSU was outshot 12-9 in the first, but it took the Huskies considerable time to get past their first shot.
Mikey Eyssimont was called for a cross-checking penalty on action that developed just behind Jaillet’s net. It was the first power play of the game for Denver, but the Huskies were the ones to celebrate a short-handed goal at 14:43 of the first period, a result of a breakaway led by Robby Jackson, who connected off a through pass from Judd Peterson, who managed a rebound for Jackson to open the scoring.
Denver pressed on in the first frame and was able to create traffic in front of goalie Dávid Hrenák. They were able to do what SCSU needed to do, generating more dangerous plays in the slot. Börgstrom controlled a loose puck in the crease and passed it far side to catch Hrenák out of position for Jarid Lukosevicius to net it at 16:13 and tie the game at one. The quick response signified another evenly matched tilt.
“I thought we were a better hockey team than we were last night, and St. Cloud State was too,” Denver coach Jim Montgomery said. “They deserve the Penrose Cup; they were the best and most consistent team in the NCHC, so congratulations to them. We have to learn from this tonight and continue to get better. We can’t have bad results anymore.”
With the same conservative feel to the game as Friday, Jacob Benson did the complete opposite in the second period. Benson skated the puck from the neutral zone with pace, shaking a defender and cutting into the slot, where he let go a low wrister to beat Jaillet at 2:34 and make the lead 2-1. Schuldt and Lizotte were credited with the helpers.
[youtube_sc url=https://www.youtube.com/embed/UTzakBxG3mo]
[youtube_sc url=https://www.youtube.com/embed/SRxpIJAb32Y]
