Miami hung with the defending national champions for 20 minutes.
But when the RedHawks were assessed a major penalty early in the second period, Denver’s NCAA-leading power play pumped in a pair of goals, as the Pioneers coasted to a 4-1 win at Magness Arena on Friday.
Colby Ambrosio scored the lone goal for the RedHawks, who lost their 11th straight game.
These teams wrap up their weekend series at 8 p.m. on Saturday.
RECAP: Neither team scored in the first period, but both goalies made cases for top save of the week within seconds of each other.
Denver’s Matt Davis stretched across the crease to deny a one-time rip by Christophe Fillion, and seconds later, Bruno Bruveris denied a breakaway backhander.
But the Pioneers took advantage of a major power play early in the second period.
DU’s Aiden Thompson wired a wrister past Bruveris short side from the top of the left faceoff circle just 1:15 into the stanza and 42 seconds into the power play to open the scoring.
Just over two minutes later, Eric Pohlkamp beat Bruveris glove side from the right faceoff dot to make it 2-0.
With 1:28 left in the frame, Ambrosio picked the top corner, far post with a wicked wrist shot while skating down the right wing, cutting the deficit to one.
But Denver reestablished its two-goal lead midway through the third period when a Jack Devine shot hit a Miami defender’s leg and snuck inside the far post.
Zeev Buium sealed it by burying an empty netter from the blue line through traffic with 1:53 left in regulation.
STATS: Ambrosio’s goal moved him into a three-way tie with Matt Choupani and Johnny Waldron for the team lead in points with 12.
Ambrosio snapped a 14-game goal drought, as his last tally came on Oct. 25 vs. Lindenwood.
Raimonds Vitolins picked up the assist with an outlet pass from his defensive zone, extending his points streak to three games. He is 1-3-4 in that span.
Defenseman Dylan Moulton also picked up a helper, his first point in seven games.
Bruveris stopped 32 of 35 shots, his third-highest save total of the season.
Now the rest…
— Miami barely won a third of its faceoffs, finishing 22-42 on draws.
— Special teams were costly, as the RedHawks were 0-for-4 on the power play and allowed two PPGs on five chances.
Miami has only scored on the man advantage in one of its last seven games and is just 12 of 20 (60.0 percent) on the penalty kill in its last four games.
The RedHawks are second in the NCAA in penalty minutes per game at 15.4, trailing only Boston College, and have now taken six majors in 19 games.
— Denver scored a pair of unanswered goals in the third period, and Miami has now been outscored, 12-0 in the final 20 minutes over its past seven games.
— Miami’s 11-game losing streak is tied for the fourth-longest in team history.
The longest skids in team history:
| Streak | Beginning date | Ending date |
| 16 | Dec. 22, 1990 | Feb. 23, 1991 |
| 13 | Oct. 15, 1983 | Nov. 26, 1983 |
| 12 | Oct. 24, 1986 | Nov. 29, 1986 |
| 11 | Nov. 1, 2024 | present |
| 11 | Nov. 15, 1985 | Dec. 10, 1985 |
| 11 | Jan. 3, 1987 | Feb. 7, 1987 |
ANALYSIS: Each of the last few coaches to spearhead this program has said repeatedly that it’s their staff’s job to prepare the team for each opponent.
Considering Miami hadn’t played in 34 days and is still very much banged up, the RedHawks were definitely ready to hit the ice.
Obviously Denver was the more talented team, and the Pioneers showed why they’re one of the best teams in the NCAA, but MU held its own for most of the game.
The Pioneers had outscored Miami, 46-10 in the teams’ eight meetings the previous two seasons, so while a team is never happy with a loss, this wasn’t a bad one for the RedHawks.
— Bruveris was the story in this game. He made three ridiculous saves, including one on a breakaway, and a couple others on Grade-A chances.
But he probably would’ve liked both of his power play goals against back, with one beating him short side and the other slipping by his glove.
Overall he finished 32 of 35 and did more than his share to keep Miami in the game. Definitely one of his best games of 2024-25.
— Miami is already banged up, and two more players were injured during this contest. Defenseman Michael Feenstra left after taking an awkward hit along the boards minutes into the game, and forward Brayden Morrison also did not return after getting cross-checked in the slot.
With defenseman Nick Donato getting the boot for boarding, MU was left with five defenseman and 11 forwards for much of the game.
— We rarely comment on officiating because it can hurt credibility, but Donato was called for boarding, and assessing a major is consistent with similar situations we’ve seen over the past few seasons, but to not eject Buium for a very similar play on Tanyon Bajzer is inconsistent.
I don’t think a game misconduct is warranted for either, but if Donato got 5-plus-10, Buium should’ve at least been assessed a major.
The shot on Morrison should’ve been called but was missed. The hit on Feenstra along the boards appeared to be legal.
— Really liked the third line of Bajzer, Morrison and Matt Choupani until Morrison was hurt.
— Very impressed with Vitolins, who not only sprung Ambrosio free for MU’s lone goal, he made multiple outstanding defensive plays to prevent scoring chances.
LINEUP CHANGES: Dylan Moulton returned to the lineup for this game after being scratched for the first time since Nov. 24, 2023 in the North Dakota finale, replacing Zane Demsey.
Demsey dressed for the first 15 games but has sat out three of the last four.
Bruveris played a full 60 minutes for the first time since Nov. 9.
STANDINGS: Miami dropped to 0-9 in NCHC play with just one league point.
The RedHawks are No. 60 out of 64 in the PairWise rankings.
FINAL THOUGHTS: It sounds like this post was sponsored by Kool-Aid, but it’s hard to be disappointed by this game, which was televised nationally on Altitude Network.
Considering some of the beatings Miami has taken at the hands of Denver over the past couple of years, giving up two goals on a questionable major power play, another on a shot that hit a defender and a fourth on an empty net is far from the worst scenario we’ve seen in this series.
Discounting the record — and yes, that’s hard to get past — this is three straight outstanding efforts and close games against highly-ranked NCHC foes.
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