• UMass will play Minnesota-Duluth Saturday night in the National Championship game; 8 p.m. on ESPN2
• UMASS GOAL! Marc Del Gaizo with the blast from the point and the Minutemen somehow survive with the 4-3 victory!
• Timeout UMass with 5:41 remaining in the first OT. I’m tired just watching this bad boy.
• Still going. 10:21 remaining now….UMass with a few decent scoring chances.
• UMass is out of gas here. 13:21 remaining in OT, Denver buzzing.
• Under 18 minutes left in the first OT. Winner plays Minnesota-Duluth on Saturday for the title.
• We’re about to start overtime. People are breathing into paper bags throughout western Mass.
• END OF REGULATION: UMASS 3, DENVER 3. Overtime looming, unreal final period. UMass couldn’t hold on, Denver has all the momentum in the world.
• DENVER GOAL. Guttman again. Yeesh. 3-3 game. UMass looks dead in the water. 3:38 to play.
• 4:26 remaining, UMass still clinging to a 3-2 lead. Not going to be a fun last few minutes for Minutemen fans.
• DENVER GOAL. And there it is. Cole Guttman with the tally, on the power play, and the Pioneers are back within 3-2 with 9:28 remaining. Lindberg never saw it, through a screen. Hold on to your hats, folks. We’ve got a game.
• Denver on the power play… again. UMass not making it easy on itself in the third period. You’ve got to imagine one of these power plays is going to get the Pioneers back within a goal….
• UMass still holding a 3-1 lead with 12:43 remaining. Denver with a 23-18 edge in shots on goal.
• Third period underway… Denver still on the power play for less than a minute.
• END OF 2ND PERIOD: UMASS 3, DENVER 1. No scoring in the middle stanza, but UMass definitely feels lucky to get into the dressing room with its two-goal cushion intact. Denver still on the power play but Lindberg has looked good with some big saves in net. 20 minutes away from a spot in the National Championship game…. hang on.
• Denver on the 5-minute major power play – not ideal for UMass. Really not a smart play from Chaffee, who will be watching the rest of the game from the dressing room along with Hildrenbrand, who was tossed in the first period.
• Huge hit near center ice by UMass. They’re going to get whistled for another penalty. Denver to the power play…. 3:46 remaining in the second period. Mitchell Chaffee this time with the hit.
• UMass to the power play again. Denver called for slashing with 8:30 remaining in the second period.
• Still 3-1 in Buffalo. Play has settled considerably after that wild first period. So much so that we’ve sent out for another pizza — this time from Village. Support local business.
• We are underway in the 2nd period – I can’t imagine this is going to top the first period but who the heck knows.
• END OF 1ST PERIOD: UMASS 3, DENVER 1. Might need another pizza.
• Back to full strength. Winding down in the opening period. The Recorder sports department just polished off a full large buffalo chicken pizza from Goodies. Teamwork all the way around.
• We’ve got 4:06 left in the first, still 3-1. UMass on the power play, 1:33 remaining on it. Lot to recap in this one.
• UMASS GOAL AGAIN! It’s 3-1. Johnny Leonard with the goal, on the power play. And this has been a rollercoaster ride.
• UMASS GOAL! Mitchell Chaffee takes a feed from Cale Makar and buries a shot into the open net with 6:56 remaining. 2-1 UMass, and still a lot of that major penalty remaining. This has been a banana-land first period.
• It’s a 5-minute major against Denver, who also loses a player to a game misconduct. College hockey doing college hockey things.
• Another Denver penalty. Marc Del Gaizo is drilled at center ice, hit to the head, and the Minutemen are going to go back on a 5-on-3 advantage. The momentum has shifted quickly here.
• UMASS GOAL! Bobby Trivigno tips home a shot on a 5-on-3 power play, and UMass has tied it 1-1 with 8:19 remaining. Game on!
• Well that changed quickly. Another Denver penalty and we’re looking at 5-on-3 for UMass for over a minute now. 8:30 remaining first period.
• Kohen Olischefski with the goal for Denver. First goal UMass has allowed in the NCAA Tournament. The Pioneers were just called for a tripping penalty however, so we’ll play 4-on-4 with UMass still down 1-0.
• DENVER GOAL. Chaos in front of the UMass net…. goalie Filip Lindberg made a couple of saves but the Pioneers finally buried a loose puck with 11:31 remaining to take a 1-0 lead. Still plenty of time on the major power play. Minutemen in big trouble early.
• Denver has the first power play opportunity of the game. After a lengthy review, UMass’ Niko Hildenbrand is tossed from the game and given a 5-minute major for a hit to the head with 13:36 remaining. Not an ideal start for the Minutemen, to say the least.
• The Bruins trail 3-1 after two periods…. gotta put the UMass game on if you’re looking to be entertained (reverse jinx potential).
• The entire Recorder sports department went to UMass. So naturally, none of us were able to be in Buffalo for this game. We’re all watching it on TV — like you. Scoreless through 5:19 of the first period. Cale Makar had a breakaway chance just before the last timeout, but Denver’s Michael Davies managed to get a piece of the stick at the last second to keep the Minutemen off the board.
• Underway in Buffalo. UMass in the home white sweaters, Denver in the red. Game is televised on ESPN2.
• We’re closing in on faceoff between UMass (30-9-0) and Denver (24-11-5) in the Frozen Four (set for 8:45 p.m.) at the KeyBank Center in Buffalo, N.Y. We’ll be providing live updates throughout the game here on Recorder.com as well as our Facebook page. Keep checking back with puck drop nearing.
The winner will play Minnesota-Duluth, a 4-1 winner over Providence in the first semifinal. The National Championship is set for Saturday night.