LAS VEGAS — Kent Anderson scored from the slot at 7:25 of the second overtime to back up Johnny Hicks’ 49 saves and lift Denver to a 4-3 victory over Michigan on Thursday night in a Frozen Four semifinal and keep alive the Pioneers’ hoping of winning their third national title in five years.
The Pioneers (28-11-3), a No. 2 regional seed, advance to Saturday’s championship game against Wisconsin (24-12-2), a 2-1 winner over North Dakota in the other semifinal. Denver will try to extend its record to 11 titles.
“I don’t score many goals, so this is ranking up top so far,” Anderson said. “That means everything to play in this national championship game.”
Michigan (31-8-1) had hoped to make its first championship appearance since 2011 and win its first title since 1998. The Wolverines, who outshot the Pioneers 52-26, also were trying to tie Denver for most overall championships.
They had hoped to take the next step this weekend, having reached the Frozen Four for the fourth time in five years.
“It’s hard to have it be over,” Michigan coach Brandon Naurato said. “What these seniors have done for this program, it’s really special. You can tell a little bit from the outside, but if you’re in that room and all the conversations we had with these guys, they changed the program.”
Denver’s Clarke Caswell sent the game into overtime with a goal and had an assist. Kyle Chyzowski and Cale Ashcroft also scored, and Hicks — a freshman — set a personal high in saves.
Hicks, who entered this game leading the nation with a 1.12 goals-against average and .958 save percentage, stayed in after taking a nasty hit early in the third period when teammate Eric Jamieson made contact with Michigan’s Malcolm Spence on a rush to the net.
“He’s a battler, he’s unfazed — he was our best player tonight,” Pioneers coach David Carle said.
Josh Eernisse, Jayden Perron and T.J. Hughes each scored for Michigan, with Hughes’ goal giving the Hobey Baker finalist 179 career points, tops among active players. Jack Ivankovic saved 22 shots.
The Wolverines were on the verge of advancing to the final when Perron scored from the right point with 8:58 left in regulation. That goal came on a power play, the nation’s top-ranked unit that entered the game by converting 31.6% of its chances.
Denver, however, kept alive its season when Caswell redirected a shot from Garrett Brown from the goal line with 2:46 remaining in regulation.
Neither team scored in the first overtime, though Pioneers winger Rieger Lorenz hit the crossbar. Teammate Boston Buckberger later had his left hand badly bloodied when it was stepped on, but he played through it.
Michigan outplayed Denver through the extra sessions, outshoooting the Pioneers 21-8, including 13-3 in the second OT.
“We stuck with it throughout the whole game,” Anderson said. “Our belief didn’t change when we were down one in the third.”
Wisconsin 2, North Dakota 1
In the other semifinal, Simon Tassy and Ryan Botterill scored 27 seconds apart in the first period, and Wisconsin held on to make the Frozen Four title game for the first time since 2010.
The Badgers (24-12-2) have won six titles, the most recent one coming 20 years ago.
“At this time of the season, [winning is] all that matters,” Wisconsin coach Mike Hastings said. “It doesn’t have to be a Mona Lisa. You’ve just got to find a way to make sure you’re living for another day, and this group has talked about this moment for a long time.”
Wisconsin defeated North Dakota (29-10-1) for the first time in the NCAA tournament after going 0-3 against the Fighting Hawks. Wisconsin, which beat a No. 1 seed for the second time in a row, had gone 1-11-2 in its previous 14 meetings with the Hawks.
“I think at this time of year, you should be playing your best hockey,” Wisconsin defenseman Ben Dexheimer said. “We’ve been slowly ramping up, and it’s pretty close to one of our best [games]. So we’re just going to keep moving the trajectory upwards.”
North Dakota, which came less than a minute from being shut out for the first time in more than a year, has gone a decade since winning its eighth national championship.
Daniel Hauser stopped 21 shots for the Badgers, including a tough glove save through traffic while sitting down on a 6-on-5 with 2:05 left.
“Luckily, I found a sight line,” Hauser said. “I was lucky enough to get a glove on it. That was probably a boxout from one of our D-men to let me see it. It was kind of a funny play, but I came up with it.”
Front-line center Ellis Rickwood scored North Dakota’s lone goal on a 6-on-5, and Jan Spunar made 35 saves.
The Badgers’ defense limited a North Dakota offense that entered the game third nationally in scoring (3.8 goals per game). But Wisconsin’s forecheck dictated the early points and set the tone.
Wisconsin dominated the first period, taking 18 shots on goal to four. The Badgers scored when Tassy and Botterill hit the back of the net from the right circle.
Even when the Hawks had chances, they usually failed to take advantage, going 0-for-5 on the power play, including a 5-on-3 in the second period that lasted 1:56. Ollie Josephson also missed a chance in that period to score on a breakaway.
“Special teams is such an important part of the game,” North Dakota defenseman Jake Livanavage said. “We just weren’t good enough. The amount of power plays we had, we really should capitalize.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
