Johnny Hicks stood up to Michigan shot after shot and Denver survived long enough for Kent Anderson to end it. Anderson scored in the second overtime, sending the Pioneers to the national championship game with a 92:35, 92-minute and 35-second win over Michigan on Friday night in Las Vegas.
The freshman goaltender won his 15th start after making 49 saves on 52 shots, and Denver advanced after the eighth-longest Frozen Four game in history. Michigan held a 31-18 edge in shots and entered the second overtime with 29 seconds of power-play time after a late Denver tripping penalty at the end of the first extra period, but Hicks held firm until Anderson finally broke through.
Anderson's winner was his second goal of the season and the sixth goal of his four-year career. It came in a game that had already stretched well past regulation after Denver and Michigan were tied at the end of 60 minutes and played through a scoreless first overtime.
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The matchup unfolded at T-Mobile Arena as Denver faced a Michigan team described as the nation's most lethal offense, and the Pioneers leaned on the kind of overtime experience that had already shaped their season. Denver's overtime record entering the game was 4-3-3, while Michigan was 5-0-1, but the night turned on one freshman goalie who kept Denver alive long enough for the winner to arrive.
Denver will face Wisconsin in the national championship game on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. ET on. For Hicks, the performance was the kind that can define a tournament run: 49 saves, one exhausted opponent, and a team still standing when the game finally ended.
NCAA.com's live reaction captured the swing of the night in a pair of posts, first celebrating Anderson's goal and then calling Hicks the one who kept Denver alive in overtime. The numbers told the rest of the story.
