In a game highlighted by a Mike Vannelli hat trick, 115 penalty minutes and five power-play goal, the top-ranked Golden Gophers edged No. 4 Denver 5-4 tonight at Mariucci Arena to gain a hard-fought split in a pivotal WCHA series. Minnesota (21-3-3, 13-2-3 WCHA) led the entire game, but the Pioneers (18-8-2, 10-6-2) rallied to keep the contest close until the final horn sounded.

Three different Golden Gophers notched multi-point games, led by Vannelli's first career three-goal game, and 11 different players in the Maroon and Gold recorded a point. Minnesota scored two power-play goals and allowed three to DU, but the Golden Gophers won the 5-on-5 battle by a 3-1 margin.

The Golden Gophers jumped out to the game's first lead at 5:42 of the opening period with Kyle Okposo's team-leading 16th goal of the season. With the teams skating 4-on-4, Okposo gained the puck at the Minnesota blue line, skated into the DU zone and fired a wrist shot from the point to beat Pioneer goaltender Glenn Fisher to the stick side. Derek Peltier and Erik Johnson picked up assists on the tally. The opening period saw the Maroon and Gold out-shoot Denver 13-6 and the two teams combine for 23 penalties and 89 penalty minutes. Minnesota's Ben Gordon and Denver's J.P. Testwuide were called for fighting at the 15:45 mark, resulting in both players missing their teams' next game.

The second period saw more penalties, but was highlighted by seven goals with the Golden Gophers out-scoring the Pioneers 4-3 to take a 5-3 lead into the second intermission. Justin Bostrom got the scoring barrage started at 6:58 with his second goal of the season. David Fischer took a shot from the point with Bostrom deflecting the puck in front to beat Fisher to the glove side. Tony Lucia was credited with the second assist on the play.

Minnesota pushed its lead to 3-0 just 31 seconds later with Vannelli's first goal of the night. Getting the puck from Mike Howe, Vannelli deked a DU defender, had his shot blocked, picked up the loose puck and went high to the glove side for his fifth goal of the season.

The Pioneers struck back just 21 seconds after that with Brock Trotter's 12th marker of the year. Adrian Veideman took a shot from a sharp angle with Tyler Ruegsegger poking the rebound to Trotter on the far side to go low to UM goaltender Jeff Frazee's glove side.

Denver made it 3-2 at the 13:09 mark with the first of four power-play goals to finish the period. Keith Seabrook took a shot from the point with the puck hitting Frazee's right pad and trickling over the line. Brian Gifford was credited with Seabrook's first career goal.

At 17:46, Vannelli got his second goal of the night to push the score to 4-2. Taking passes from Alex Goligoski and Mike Carman, Vannelli fired a shot from the right circle with the puck glancing off a DU defender to beat Fisher for the 5-on-3 power-play goal.

Just 36 seconds later, Vannelli got his hat trick, one-timing a Tony Lucia pass to beat Fisher to the stick side for the power-play goal. Carman got the second assist to record his fourth multi-point game.

The Pioneers wrapped up the period's scoring with 3.9 seconds to go as Chris Butler scored on a 5-on-3 power play with a shot from the point. Trotter and Ryan Dingle got assists on the play. For the period, Denver out-shot Minnesota 23-8.

The third period saw DU cut the Golden Gopher lead to one, but Frazee and the Minnesota defenders stood tall from there to preserve the one-goal win. Midway through the period, Geoff Paukovich made it 5-4 with his fifth goal of the season, deflecting a Patrick Mullen shot from the left circle past Frazee to the glove side. Seabrook was credited with the second assist.

The Pioneers pulled Fisher with under two minutes to go in the period, but the Maroon and Gold withstood the extra pressure to gain the series split. For the period Denver out-shot Minnesota 16-15.

The Pioneers finished the game with a 45-36 advantage on the shot board. The two teams combined to go 5-for-16 on the power play (Minnesota 2-for-7). Frazee picked up the win with a career-high 41 saves to improve to 10-1-1 on the season, while Fisher got the loss with 31 saves to fall to 12-5-1.

The Golden Gophers wrap up their four-game homestand next weekend with a key WCHA series against border rival North Dakota on Friday-Saturday, Jan. 26-27. Both games face off at 7:07 p.m., and will be televised on FSN North.

Game Notes
• The Golden Gophers lead the all-time series against Denver with a 90-59-11 record, including a 49-22-6 mark at home.
• Five of the last six games in the series have been decided by one goal or less.
• Denver has not swept the Maroon and Gold since Feb. 27-28, 2004, in Denver, and has not had a road sweep at Mariucci Arena since Dec. 10-11, 1994.
• The Maroon and Gold owns a 59-20-42 series record under Don Lucia, including an 8-0-3 mark this season.
• The Golden Gophers have not been swept since Dec. 2-3, 2005, vs. Wisconsin, and have not been swept on the road since Feb. 27-28, 2004, at Denver.
• The Golden Gophers are 34-13-8 as the nation's No. 1 team under Don Lucia, including a 13-2-1 mark this season.
• The Maroon and Gold is 74-48-8 against ranked opponents in the last six-plus seasons, including a 5-2-0 mark this season.
• Minnesota is 119-34-15 at home under Don Lucia, including a 12-1-2 mark this season.
• The Maroon and Gold is 16-2-3 (10-1-3 WCHA) in games played in the state of Minnesota this season.
• With his 210-89-29 record at Minnesota, Don Lucia stands in second place on the school's career wins list. Doug Woog (390-187-40 from 1985-99) leads the chart.
• The Golden Gophers are out-scoring their opponents 64-29 in even-strength situations, 33-19 in power plays and 6-2 in shorthanded situations.
• Minnesota is out-scoring its opponents 39-14 in the first period, 38-20 in the second, 27-17 in the third and 1-0 in overtime.
• UM is 18-1-1 when scoring the first goal, 15-1-2 when leading after one period and 19-0-2 when leading after two periods.
• Minnesota is 8-2-0 in one-goal games, 3-1-0 in two-goal games and 10-0-0 in three-goal or more games.
• Frazee (10-1-1) is unbeaten in his last 11 games. He got the loss in the season-opening 3-1 defeat at the hands of Maine on Oct. 6, 2006.
• Frazee is 12-0-1 in his career (9-0-0 in 2006-07) when Minnesota scores three or more goals.
• The Maroon and Gold scored its first power-play goals since Jan. 5 at Minnesota State, a span of four games. Minnesota was 0-for-17 in the prior four games.