Denver wins in 2OT

Denver looked finished twice on Thursday night, and both times it found one more goal. The last one came 12:35 into the second overtime, when captain Kent Anderson scored from the slot to beat Michigan 4-3 in the Frozen Four semifinal in Las Vegas. (espn.com) The game lasted more than 92 minutes of hockey time, which is more than a full National Hockey League game without counting stoppages. Denver survived that marathon because goalie Johnny Hicks stopped 49 shots, including a pile of Michigan chances after regulation ended tied 3-3. (espn.com) Michigan had controlled long stretches and carried the top seed into the semifinal, but it never created the two-goal cushion that usually buries a team in a single-elimination game. Denver kept answering, then turned the game into a coin flip once it reached sudden-death overtime. (ncaa.com) That pattern fits Denver’s season better than its record first suggests. The Pioneers entered the Frozen Four at 28-11-3 as a No. 2 regional seed, not the overwhelming favorite, but they were chasing a third national championship in five years and an 11th title overall, which is already the most in Division I men’s hockey. (espn.com) Michigan came in with the shinier seed line and one of college hockey’s biggest brands, but its recent Frozen Four history has been cruel. The Wolverines have now lost five straight national semifinal games, and this one joined a long list of overtime heartbreaks on the sport’s biggest weekend. (aol.com) The setting added to the weirdness of it all. This was the first men’s Frozen Four held in Las Vegas, at T-Mobile Arena, a long way from the cold-campus-rink image most people attach to college hockey. (reviewjournal.com) Denver’s reward is a title game against Wisconsin, which beat North Dakota 2-1 in the other semifinal. Instead of the tournament’s top two seeds meeting for the championship, both were knocked out on the same night. (espn.com) Saturday’s championship is set for 5:30 p.m. Eastern time on April 11, with ESPN carrying the game in the United States. Denver will skate for title No. 11, and Wisconsin will skate for title No. 7 and its first since 2006. (ncaa.com)