Denver's Matt Davis picked up a 35 save shutout to beat Boston College for their second National Championship in the last three years.
ST. PAUL - Matt Davis earned the Most Outstanding Player award after his tremendous Frozen Four that included a 2-0 record and a 35-save shutout in the Championship game over Boston College.
Davis had a few ups and downs throughout the season but he found his game when it mattered the most and became as calm as he could when he would enter the crease.
“I had to go through a couple of hiccups to learn that,” Davis said on being so calm recently. “It was just trusting in the process that me and Ryan Massa set up and my sports psychologist Steven. We made it so I was just focused on my breath and just pump my own tires while I’m in net when I talk to myself. It sounds kind of weird but I am a goalie.”
Davis faced only five shots in the first period and seven shots in the second period. But he had to stop a whopping 23 shots in the third period, he stopped every one of them. Boston Colege’s 23 shots in one period is now fourth all time in most shots in a single period in the Frozen Four.
The 6-foot-1 goaltender’s 23 saves in the third period tied a record for most saves in a single period in Frozen Four history.
"Super human," Denver head coach David Carle said of Davis. "This whole run. He gave up three goals. It's incredible what he did. A lot of big-time saves in those wins. It's not like we weren't giving up any chances.
"There were many moments in these games where he could have cracked, but he didn't. Without him, we're not sitting here. He earned this for us.”
Allowing three goals in the entire tournament is certainly a way to win it all. Umass did it in 2021, Minnesota Duluth did it in 2019, and Denver did it this year. All three of those teams won the National Championship during the season they allowed only three goals in the whole tournament.
The Junior goaltender went 9-0-0 in his last nine games with a remarkable 1.33 goals-against average and a .959 save percentage with two shutouts.
"Matthew Davis... what a job he did," Denver captain McKade Webster said. "He's the best goalie in the world."
Ryan Leonard, who finished his freshman season with 31 goals and 60 points in 41 games for Boston College, had a chance on the power play in the third period with a yawning cage staring him on. Davis jumped across his body to make an unbelievable save.
“I saw the puck go back door again and I was like ‘uh oh’ and then I dove over. I made the save and then I was [hanging] on the net catching my breath back.”
But has he seen his save?
“I just saw it on the jumbotron and thought it was sweet,” Davis said on his save. “As long as it’s not in the back of the net, that’s sweet.”
There is something about this city and this rink in particular that just brings the best out of Minnesotans or a Minnesota school.
In 2018, Minnesota Duluth won the National championship at the Xcel Engery Center in St. Paul. This was the last time the Frozen Four was played in Minnesota. In 2011, Duluth won it again which happened to be in Minnesota again.
In 2002, the Gophers won the National Championship which happened to be in St. Paul. This year, the Gophers were the only team from the state of Minnesota to make the tournament but lost in the Regional Final game in Sioux Falls.
But Minnesota was represented well in the championship this year. Jared Wright, a native of Burnsville, Minnesota., got the Pioneers on the board in the second period after a scoreless first period.
“I just remember coming up the ice with the puck and kicked it out to Rieger. I tried picking the guys stick and Rieger made an awesome play to get it back to me and I just kind of threw it blind to the net and luckily it rolled in.”
Rieger Lorenz, a Minnesota Wild prospect, picked up the primary assist on the play for his 14th assist of the season and 29th point. Just about six mintues later, Lorenz picked up his 16th goal of the year and his 30th point.
“Yeah, I mean Zeev [Buium] has been doing that all year. He climbed out the ice, beat a few guys, and I was lucky enough to find some open ice there. He found me and I was lucky enough to put it in.”
This was the last goal Denver had to score as Davis continued to stand on his head to push the Pioneers to their second title in the last three years and their tenth total.
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