Denver vs Western Michigan | NCAA College Hockey | Highlights - March 29, 2026

...is on the line. In each of the previous three match-ups, they needed extra time. Oh boy! Sam Sholin keeps it in. Johnny Hicks, the freshman goaltender, peering behind his net. Shoves one away for his first action. And here come the Paios. So Kempke's an excellent puck handler. We saw that in the semifinal. Turnover! Shot blocked! Rebound! The first big save of the game! Angle shot goes wide and comes all the way down to the Bronco end. How's the ice down there, Colby? It looks good. The ice had a lot of time to set. A couple of floods before. It seems to be playing a heck of a lot of play. ...the opening game of the Regionals. Looks smoother and faster in the early going here. And there's that combination! Caswell hit the post after the beautiful move by Epperson. And Sam Harris, Red Hot Regional, continues. Well, you can feel the home flavor in this building. And it's the freshman that we talked about, Christian Epperson. He makes such a crafty play at the blue line to buy himself a little bit of time just right there before he makes Denver bodies going towards the net. Sam Harris, a guy who is no stranger to this tournament, he bangs it in. But it's the two freshmen we just talked about. Epperson creating some diagonal space for himself on the entry at 25. Okinski, middle, shot just wide, rebound! Valente tried, puck bouncing dangerously in front. Hicks can't scoop it up and now he covers it with his catching blow. Well, Western, a team that has no issue playing from behind. And you see Grant Slukinski, number 13, one of the best 5-foot passers in all of college hockey just finding a little bit of space. And his linemate, Zach Neering, the Winnipeg draft pick, just- McClure, number 19. Wahlberg, wait, good patience, shot, blocked wide! Cowan down low, throws it in front! Bounces right back to him. The fourth line for Western. Evan Denver in. I love that as a coach. Wahlberg, quick transition up to McKenzie. Gets the flex off his stick and deep. And now McKenzie. And Western. Here comes Polkamp, he can fire! Just wide, the San Jose Sharks draft pick. Number 23 talked to Kobe before the game. He is a beauty. And he'll be playing in the NHL here soon. Finish by Kyle Chazowski, but how about the outlet pass? Eric Polkamp, as this puck gets broken up at the blue line. Polkamp never stick-handles Pucci. It's on and off his stick. He makes the 70-foot pass up to the streaking Chazowski. And what patience to get it across the crease and up. He springs the freshman Chazowski. And from there, the rest is history. And what a commanding lead early in this game for Denver. Wisdom, Sholin. Shot! Saved! Western is right back in it. 2-1. What a big-time goal for Zach Bookman. The defenseman for Western Michigan. And this is exactly the play that Pat Verschweiler just drew up. Off the draw to use both of his defensemen. It's Sholin to Bookman, who creeps in behind Rieger Lorenz in coverage. And then he stays on top of his rebound. What an unbelievable first save. The ice stick on the ice. Rieger Lorenz has speed. Rieger Lorenz. In their last 14. They came into this tournament red-hot. Opportunities, and they will both continue to do so. Verschweiler, interview with the Flyers. Last offseason, when they were looking for a head coach, they eventually went to Rick Tocant. And Porter Martone has signed a contract with the Flyers. They're now former Michigan State Spartans after their devastating loss yesterday to Wisconsin. That will hurt for a while. Good stick there by Kalbach. Denver numbers. Salmon finishes! His 11th goal of the year. And Denver has their two-goal lead right back. A brilliant shot by Salmus Salmonen. Love how he gets his lower hand down, but it's back to the turnover and the transition. You see the red sweaters overwhelming the puck. And look how he lowers his hand right at that second Salmonen, just to make sure he gets this up. You know Slukinski has the ability to get across, so you know it's got to go to the upper. Western now once again down two. You know they need the next one. Shot just wide. Got him after Christmas, number 15, as well, to try to fill the void. Kalbach is out there now with Sharp. Wins that wall battle. Beautiful pass down low. The Pioneers just dominating the middle of the ice, winning their puck battles, filtering pucks towards the net. This is a recipe for winning hockey. You get below the puck. You get multiple bodies going towards the net. It's Chizowski again creating offense. And then his wingman, McMorrow, 22 for the Pios, just cleaning up the rebound. And I was kind of looking to my left to see if maybe Pat Birschweiler would try to go to that timeout and maybe kill. What a start by Denver here. A lot of work for Western to do. The defending national champions. Michaels. What a save by Hicks. Great chance. Comes Sebrean. Sebrean to the net. Save. A low ESPN in 19. Slutkinski in front. Shot. Tipped over the netting. Back to the point it comes. Shot off the glove. Pops up in the air and stays out for Captain Slutkinski. Western trying to get to the room. Turnover. Caswell. He could have made it 5-1. That might have been the backbreaker. There's another good play there by Christian Epperson, though, above the puck. Defensive plays. It's just so hard to get going against Denver. They're so disciplined. The way that they're constantly above you in defensive posture. Here they go again. Shot wide. Kent Anderson was looking for the rare goal in his Denver career. This has to be one of the most complete periods. Denver has probably played all season. Polkamp. One more shot for good measure. And the standard of college hockey continues to raise the standard after that first period. And Denver continues to pour it on offensively. Hampton Slutkinski faced with a couple of his most difficult saves of the period. A breakaway in the dying seconds followed by a two-on-one opportunity. And the Denver onslaught, Butchie, continued all the way to that final. Here comes Wisdom. Dangle. Hip check. Pedal. See what the call is here. Looked like a classic hip check. They're going to call holding on somebody. And Western Michigan a good opportunity. Yeah, Vark. Oh, it looks like Ashcroft. I thought it was just a hip check from Ashcroft. Let's see. Slutkinski looking. He's their best passer. Yep. One of the best five-foot passers in America. Great in tight spaces. Looking to pass. Could have shot there. Showing Dr. Slutkinski. They're giving the shot. One-timer. Saved from Hicks. That's Palente. He's got ten power play goals on the year out of his 20. That's seam play. That's the money shot right there to have the opportunity. Right to McMurrow who has the 28 seconds before a pioneer power play will begin. The speed of McMurrow draws the penalty. Western Michigan penalty number 37. Two minutes for tripping. Yeah, I don't know if Bookman realized that he had his house key to take that puck off of Wisdom right at the offensive blue line. McMurrow, what a play. Shot just wide. What a play by Brendan McMurrow to set up that chance. The freshman air team. Long stretch pass up. Palente with room. Palente middle. Has it. Palente. Shot. Side of the net. They're so good in stick battles. David Carl prides himself. Shot in front. And the stick broke. That kind of day so far for Western as Whitelaw gets mugged in front of the goalie. We might have a penalty. We got a point from one of the referee percent this season on the power play. Here's Polkamp. Fires. Can't settle it down. Polkamp gets it back. Give and go. One at a time. Pass in front. In both teams that we've had so far in this regional. Caswell played four years for the Swift Current Broncos. He was their MVP. He was a recipient. You just go practice and see just how thorough and how good the guys are in the American League. Here's Cowan now. Western pulled down. Play continues with under five to go here in Loveland. Icene. Icene is not on goal, but it is on goal. And Glukinski forced to cover it up. Salmon a great hustle to get that face off. Good shot. Blocked by Sebrean. So once again, Johnny Hicks, a big part of this Denver story this year. We are never out of a hockey game, but, you know, the Denver Pioneers, this is probably five of the best periods in a row that they've played all season right there. Zalowski, excellent play. Shot off the crossbar. I thought this hit the crossbar for sure just from the sound. They're talking about it now. We'll see Zalowski's shot here. Call on the ice is a good goal. The play is under review to determine if the puck crossed the goal line. That puck hits off the outside bar and comes out. I understand why the officials make that call on the ice. They know they can go upstairs, but that to me is crossbar and out. This will be very short review. This will take about three seconds. The sound is different from the crossbar to the back bar. Yeah, that's bar and out. After review, the puck hit a no goal. Cole Spicer gets a short area pass, but not much on that one. Didn't quite get that one to go. He scored on that against Cornell. That rick shot saved by Slukinski, and he covers up. Of course, Vegas won't be there that week because they'll be on the road because we're using their rink. Oh, what a save by Hicks. A great chance for Western to cut this to a two-goal lead. Zach Sharp had a chance. He chose on right now. Henricks back to the point. Here's Bookman to the net. Blocked, never got there. They beat Boston College and that great team. Here come the Pios again. Good pad save on Harris by Slukinski. Hicks has been a winning goalie last year in the Western League, 10-4-1. He was 18-3. Sholen will try to keep this in. He does. Rips it across. Quick shot deflected. Nice save by Hicks. Another save. Good effort down low as Western was grinding away. Tyler McKenzie had a tip, but then he had a whack at the rebound as well. This is what Western's got to do if they're going to break through. Great quickness side to side. His competitiveness. He's trying to pitch another win here. One goal allowed on his last 70 shots, hence the gaudy save percentage numbers this year for Hicks. And here's another save. And, again, keep your eye on his positioning. He knows he's got to be out. It's a fine line to get those heels just above the blue paint. Good stick work down low by Brown. Henricks had a good chance to walk in there and get Western within two. They're still tough to hit, right, that human nature. You're looking up at the scoreboard. Some of these guys are seniors. Some of them know they're going to sign, and that stuff starts to really creep into your mind right about now. Fourth line out there for Western. Zydlowski throwing his body around. There's number six. Able to get that through all the traffic. It's just his second goal of the year. But with 8.46 to go, it's a two-goal game in Loveland. Another face-off win. That creates a goal. This one in the neutral zone. And, you know, Pat Verschweiler, he wanted to see execution from his team. And a perfectly executed forecheck where the Western Michigan Broncos, they outnumber the puck. Not something they've been able to do. And there's for Western. Open is Sholin. Looking. Michaels, quick shot. Deflected. It's loose. But picked up just like we saw with Michigan State in Wisconsin yesterday. Two quick goals by the Badgers. Ground shot. Nice save by Slukinski who's given up Nuffie. Back to Polkamp. Quick shot. Off the body of McKenzie. Polkamp has some room. Off the back on purpose. Wrapped in front by Lorenz. Looking for the 6.16 remaining. Slukinski battling a minor injury in this regional final. Back out there. He gets it. Shot just. Went wide. It hit Buckberger on the way in. Went wide of Hicks. Onside the Liger in Sebrian. The kid who grew up in Denver called dreaming of playing for the Pikes gets goal number five. This is just heads up hockey by the Denver Pioneers on the transition. Yet again, here in Sebrian is going to be the beneficiary of a phenomenal little pass by his lineman, Kyle Chizowski. More help from the freshman making the big plays, and David Carl just came down the bench and whizzed. And a great foundation for these young guys to play with. Spicer shot just wide. So Western needs three quick ones here. It might have even been McMorrow who may have generated enough offense, five on five, that I think the next time Western has it and possesses it in the offensive zone, I get that. They can just play keep away here. They don't have to shoot. Yeah, they're playing a spread right now, a 2-3. Shot. Denver just playing that running football, you know, run it for five yards, get it, run it another three, and then punch it in. Three yards and a pile of snow. And that will do the Mason point for the game in the locker room. And his bite is worse than his bark. He puts it away with the empty net goal from 175 feet. Denver is going to Las Vegas. Shooter. Colorado. Lukinski a three behind him, tapped away. And the standard is Denver.