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UAA gets big credit for staging a comeback in dire circumstances Saturday night.
And big demerits for putting itself in straits that required rallying. The Seawolves fell behind by four goals in the opening 15 minutes, and by five goals early in the second period, before generating a rebuttal that fell short in No. 15-ranked Denver's 6-3 victory, which wrapped with an empty-net goal at Sullivan Arena. Denver's sweep of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association series -- the Pioneers won 4-2 Friday -- pushed UAA's losing streak to seven games. That's its most consecutive losses since the 2005-06 team, coach Dave Shyiak's first, dropped its final 10 games of the season. Yet, after the Seawolves slashed their 5-0 deficit to 5-3 with consecutive goals from Daniel Naslund, Quinn Sproule and Alex Gellert in the second period, they could not crack Pioneers goaltender Sam Brittain (24 saves) for a critical fourth goal. Brittain, the reigning WCHA All-Rookie goalie making his first appearance of the season after offseason knee surgery, stopped all 10 UAA shots in the third period and made a pivotal power-play stop on Curtis Leinweber late in the second period. "Resilient comeback, and I think there was potentially a game to be won because we were carrying the momentum,'' Shyiak said. "Curtis had that power-play chance -- key moment.'' Leinweber broke in on Brittain, who made a pad save. "I got in too tight, and had an arm up (to ward off a defender),'' Leinweber said. "I made a move and hoped he would bite. He didn't bite too much. He made a great save.'' After being outshot 17-6 in the first period, UAA (6-16-2, 3-16-1 WCHA) outshot Denver (15-8-3, 10-5-3 WCHA) by a margin of 21-10 the rest of the way. Part of that was the way things often unfold in a one-sided game -- the team on top lets off the gas, the team trailing pushes back with pride. "You can make one of two decisions,'' Shyiak said. "You can either self-implode, or buckle up and stay together as a team because in today's game you can always come back. "We got one -- we believe. We got two -- believe more. Third one -- OK, now we have some mojo.'' But Brittain rediscovered his. Brittain carried some rust, as should be expected from a guy who had not played a game in 10 months. He was slow pushing across his crease on Sproule's wraparound and gave up a fat rebound that led to Gellert's goal. But he played his best in the third period and earned the win. "He knows, and we know, it wasn't a great performance,'' said Denver coach George Gwozdecky. "He had a good third period, but the second and third goals were usually shots he shuts down.'' Denver, which moved into sole possession of third place in the 12-team WCHA, jumped UAA right off the hop. Defenseman Joey LaLeggia beat UAA starter Rob Gunderson, who was screened, with a wrister from the high slot 76 seconds into the game. Jason Zucker's goal off his own rebound in the second half of the period was followed by strikes from Ty Loney and Nick Shore for a three-goal barrage in a 76-second span and a 4-0 lead that chased Gunderson (nine saves) for fellow sophomore Chris Kamal (13 saves). "That was as a good a rhythm as we've had in the first period in a long time,'' Gwozdecky said. Loney pumped the lead to 5-0 with a goal two minutes into the second period. And that put the Seawolves in a nearly impossible hole from which to escape. "You can't spot 'em three or four goals,'' Leinweber said. "It's not going to work.'' Seawolves notes Five of UAA's six defensemen registered a point Saturday. Denver's LaLeggia stretched his point streak to eight games and Loney stretched his to seven. Denver's student assistant coach is David Carle of Anchorage, a senior who is on pace to graduate with a degree in finance in the spring. Carle was a prized recruit and expected to go as high as the second round in the NHL draft in the summer of 2008, when a pre-draft exam discovered he suffered a heart condition that required him to stop playing. Denver honored his scholarship, and he's been on Gwozdecky's staff for four seasons, involved in every aspect of the staff's work. "He's as associate, not a student assistant,'' Gwozdecky said. Carle, the younger brother of Philadelphia Flyers and former DU defenseman Matt Carle, said he hopes to remain in coaching after graduating. At 22, he's already got a four-year head start on his contemporaries.