On a night where former Denver star Zeev Buim netted his first career NHL goal, Eric Pohlkamp proved there are still defensemen capable of lighting the lamp at Magness Arena.

In the Pioneers’ home opener Saturday night against Bentley, Pohlkamp’s hat trick led the way in a 6-0 shutout victory to cap an unbeaten first weekend of action. 

“It’s huge for our confidence to get the home opener and obviously it gives a lot of confidence going into the season,” Pohlkamp said. “It’s nice for the fans, too. I know we have a lot of parents in town, so it was nice to get this win and hopefully there’s more to come.”

Through two periods, though, the Pios were worried Saturday was going to end a lot like Friday’s season opener at Air Force.

Despite racking up nearly 60 shots on goal, DU had to settle for a 1-1 tie on the road before ultimately taking the shootout following overtime.

The Pios had 27 shots on target through two periods against Bentley on Saturday but just two goals to show for it.

“Oh crap, is this gonna be another Air Force game?” Pohlkamp said the feeling in the locker room was during the second intermission.

The Falcons even appeared to cut the lead to one on a five-minute major penalty on DU freshman Kyle Chyzowski, but it was overturned after replay showed the puck went in the net off the hand of a Bentley player.

The Pios were in complete control the rest of the way on that five-minute penalty kill and Pohlkamp got his second goal of the night in the dying seconds of it, which wound up being the first of four goals scored by DU in the final 11 minutes of the game.

“I thought they did a really nice job executing, all five (defensemen) that were used, the six forwards, (goalie) Paxton (Geisel),” coach David Carle said. “It was nice there wasn’t a lot of whistles. We were able to keep the clock moving and (it was) hard for them to change on the fly. I liked our pressure and what we were able to do.”

While trying to break in 10 new freshmen and with a three-man competition ongoing at goalie, the Pioneers were able to escape from the first weekend of the season unscathed — with a few newcomers getting their first big moments in college hockey.

Forward Clarke Caswell scored the only regulation goal for DU on Friday at Air Force, while Eric Jamieson, the lone freshman among the defensive corps, registered his first career goal on the way to a three-point night against Bentley.

“That’s great for the confidence, right?” Pohlkamp said. “I remember last year when I came in here (as a transfer), I wanted to score one really quick and for this crowd, too, it’s so exciting.”

A couple of key returners in sophomore Jake Fisher and senior Samu Salminen also found the back of the net Saturday. 

“Our game plan is (to) wear teams down and it gets to the third period and we get a couple of goals,” Fisher told The Denver Gazette. “Obviously, it started with that kill, so it created a lot of momentum for us and took advantage of it.”

One weekend of the 2025-26 season down, and the Pios are well on their way to being one of the nation’s top offenses once again.

“I think it’s nice for the guys to get rewarded,” Carle said. “We had a lot of shot volume on the weekend and a lot’s been made of the new people on the team and trying to get them comfortable at the level and timing all of that. To see some go in the back of the net was really good for everyone.”

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GAME RECAP

No. 5 Denver 6, Bentley 0

What happened: The Pioneers (1-0-1) used a third-period barrage to pull away from the Falcons (0-2-0) for a win in the home opener. DU used the momentum from a five-minute penalty kill to pour in four goals in the final 11 minutes as four different players found the back of the net one night after the Pios managed just one goal on nearly 60 shots against Air Force.

Star of the night: Junior defenseman Eric Pohlkamp registered the first hat trick of his Pioneers career as the former Bemidji State transfer kicked off year two in the Mile High City with a bang. The Baxter, Minn., native opened the scoring in the first period, then scored in the final seconds of the penalty kill in the third period before completing the trifecta a few minutes later.

Between the pipes: Junior Paxton Geisel made just his second career start as he got his first crack to impress the DU coaches in the midst of a three-way battle to replace Matt Davis as the program’s next full-time goaltender. Geisel stopped all 21 shots he faced Saturday and was named the first star of the game. 
Quotable: “I think that kinda woke us up a little bit. That’s a tough first game, but it’s really good for us to experience that and we probably won’t play in that physical of a game again.” — Pohlkamp on the physicality Friday night against Air Force