PITTSBURGH, Pa. - The visiting Panthers of Davenport took care of the home Panthers of Pittsburgh with a pair of one-goal wins over the weekend. DU extended its win streak to five as they beat No. 14 Pitt 5-4 in overtime on Friday and 4-3 on Saturday.
Friday night's affair was a battle in which neither team could gain much room on the scoreboard. Jacob Alton broke the seal in the first period with his third goal of the season at 2:22 from
Austin Melone. Pitt would get the next two goals in the period. Josh Hrip managed his second goal of the season on the power play at 17:14 and then Daniel Kral scored 2:30 later for his third goal of the season.
Ryder McMillen tied the game early in the second period at 4:37 with his first goal of the season and
Ryan Blackburn and
Brendan Bauer each had an assist. Pitt's Ben Leslie broke the tie at 10:52 to set up a big third period.
Trent Benedict tied it up at 3-3 at the 3:20 mark from
Taber Gutschick and then Bauer gave DU a 4-3 lead at 12:42 from
Robert McLaughlin and
Jonathan Dubbink.
Kral would force overtime as he scored at 16:22 for his second goal of the game. The Panthers got a power play in overtime and took advantage. McLaughlin got the game-winner at 1:14 for his third goal of the season from
Kristers Klavins and Dubbink.
Sean Andrus stopped 30 shots between the pipes for Davenport.
On Saturday, Davenport got one goal from four different players.
Heath Drye scored 44 seconds into the game at even strength from
Peter Stojcevski and Benedict. Melone scored at 7:15 of the first period from Alton and
Noah Bradburn.
Dubbink got his goal on the power play in the third period at 6:19 from Klavins and Bauer.
Justin Turner added a third period goal at 13:21 from Blackburn and Bauer. DU finished 1-for-5 on the power play and killed all six penalties they committed.
Nathan Gauthier stopped 49 shots and was amazing in the victory.