1. DU flips the script — almost too well: The Pios deserved better than a 3-2 loss that ended in heartbreak at the start of a second OT. DU had taken a 3-0 lead into the third period of the Frozen Faceoff vs. Western Michigan last month. And lost in OT, 4-3. The Broncos took a 2-0 cushion into the third period of the Frozen Four semifinal Thursday and should’ve been up more. WMU outshot the Pios 32-8 through the game’s first 40 minutes and probably would’ve had a 4-0 or 5-0 cushion if it weren’t for DU goaltender Matt Davis, who racked a whopping 44 saves through the first OT, and a little Mile High puck luck. But that’s the thing about champions — they make their own luck.

2. Zeev dinged up, no call: Did a slew foot slay the defending champs? No, but it didn’t help. And was totally missed. With 6:07 left in the second period, star DU defenseman Zeev Buium was facing the boards behind his goal when Western Michigan winger Wyatt Schingoethe skated in behind the D-man, extending his right shin into Buium’s planted lower left leg and sending the latter to the bench with a nasty limp. At game speed, it sure looked like a slew foot. On replays, it absolutely looked like one. But no call was levied against the Broncos, while Buium returned to the ice but never looked quite the same. About 40 seconds later, WMU’s Owen Michaels fired a rope from the right faceoff circle to beat Davis glove-side, giving the Broncos a 2-0 lead with 5:26 left in the second stanza. It was the first time Davis had given up more than one goal in an NCAA tourney start.

3. Pios hung in through early barrage: The crowd at Enterprise was a loudly partisan one for the Broncos during pregame introductions — while the Pios were lustily booed — and Western Michigan seemed to feed on that early. The fired-up Broncos outshot DU 8-2 over the first 13 minutes of the contest and extended that gap to 12-3 at the end of the first period. On the flip side, the Pios hung in there, thanks largely to Davis, who was fortunate when a Zach Nehring laser fired into a wide-open net dinged hard off the crossbar 64 seconds into the game. The veteran netminder made his own luck after that, though, recording five of his dozen first-period stops during a furious Broncos power play.