A 27-save performance from Ryan Fanti wasn't enough as the No. 6 Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs fell on the road to the No. 3 Denver Pioneers by a score of 5-3 on Friday night in Denver, CO. The loss drops the Bulldogs to an overall record of 14-11-3 and gives them a record of 7-6-3 in NCHC play. 

Tanner Laderoute found the back of the net for a second-straight game as he notched a goal in the late moments of the third period. Both Casey Gilling and Blake Biondi also registered goals in the loss. For Biondi, his goal was his team-leading twelfth of the season. A trio of Bulldogs defenseman tallied an assist on the night, including Connor Kelley, Owen Gallatin, and Darian Gotz. As previously mentioned, Fanti started his 24th game of the season and made 27 saves for UMD in the loss. 

The Pioneers came out firing in the first ten minutes of action, heavily outshooting UMD in the early going. Multiple big time saves from Fanti would keep it a scoreless game. Just past ten minutes into the first, UMD would head to the first power-play of the night. Early in the man-advantage, a turnover behind the UMD net would lead to a Denver opening goal. While attempting to leave the puck behind the net for Wyatt Kaiser, Fanti lost the puck to DU's Carter King who quickly banked the puck into the net off Fanti. The short-handed goal came at 11:05 of the first and gave Denver the 1-0 lead. However, just over a minute later, the Bulldogs responded. While still on the power-play, Olson pulled up at the Denver line and found Biondi open in the slot. A quick snap shot from Biondi beat DU goaltender Magnus Chrona low-blocker side to tie the game at one. It's back-to-back games in which the Bulldogs have registered a power-play goal. The goal was also Biondi's team-leading twelfth of the season. The two sides went into the first intermission tied at 1-1 with Denver leading 17-8 in shots on goal. 

Early in the second period, a five-minute major penalty was given to DU's Brett Stapely for kneeing Tanner Laderoute in the Denver slot. The Bulldogs would get mutiple scoring opportunities on the extended power-play, but saves from Chrona would keep the game tied at 1-1. Just past the midway portion of the period, an interference penalty to Kaiser would give the Pioneers another power-play opportunity. With the man-advantage, a one-timer from the left face-off circle would beat Fanti to give Denver a 2-1 lead. Following the tie-breaking goal, Denver would notch back-to-back markers to extend their lead to 4-1 at the end of the second. It looked as if Denver would take a three-goal lead into the third period, however, a last-minute goal from Gilling would get UMD back in the game. While camped out in front of the Pioneers net, Gilling deflected a point shot from Gotz to cut the DU lead to two. The Pioneers took a 4-2 lead and a shot advantage of 24-15 to the third period of play. 

Looking to tie the game in the third, UMD was forced to kill-off multiple penalties through the early and midway portions of the period. Saves from Fanti and blocks from Hunter Lellig helped the Bulldogs to successful penalty kills. With 6:40 remaining in regulation, UMD still trailed by two. The game tightened up in the closing minutes and UMD decided to pull goaltender Fanti with around two minutes remaining. DU's Carter Mazar would get free and bury a shot into the empty-net to give the Pioneers a three-goal lead with just over a minute remaining. However, Laderoute would answer for the Bulldogs moments later. Following a nice rush up the ice, Gallatin made a beautiful pass to Laderoute on the backdoor, who would deflect a shot past Chrona. The goal came in the final minute of play and would ensure a 5-3 win for Denver in game one. 

Up Next
The Bulldogs and Pioneers will close out their two-game series tomorrow eveing in the Denver. Puckdrop from Colorado is set for 7:00 PM CT.