Strange things, it seems, occur whenever the Minnesota State men’s hockey team plays Denver.

Friday night was no exception, as the second-ranked Pioneers defeated the Mavericks 4-3 in a Western Collegiate Hockey Association game at Magness Arena.

On the same night that Denver goaltender Marc Cheverie set the school record for consecutive shutout minutes, the Pioneers’ backup, freshman Adam Murray, ended up getting his first collegiate victory.

“Everytime these two teams get together, something unique is going to happen,” Pioneers coach George Gwozdecky said. “That’s not a slam on either team. The two teams play very hard. It was a very, very close game tonight.”

Cheverie left a tie game on a stretcher after his leg was cut by the skate of Mavericks forward Justin Jokinen on a scoring chance 2 1/2 minutes into the third period. Denver officials said Cheverie suffered a deep cut on his left calf and is likely out for a few weeks.

Cheverie’s departure gave the Pioneers a spark, though, and their third line of Jesse Martin, Matt Glasser and Luke Salazar scored two goals in a span of 2:02. Martin had the first at 4:50, and Glasser got behind the Mavericks defense and tipped in a Salazar shot at 6:52.

“It was a really good college hockey game,” Mavericks coach Troy Jutting. “I thought we played hard. I thought we competed. Both goaltenders made some big saves and kept things tight for both teams.”

Shots on goal were even at 35 apiece. Mavericks goaltender Austin Lee stopped 31 shots. Murray stopped seven of eight shots after replacing Cheverie.

Minnesota State freshman Eriah Hayes made it a one-goal game at the 11:29 mark of the third period, picking the upper right-hand corner of the net for his third goal of his young career. However, Minnesota State couldn’t get the equalizer, and extended its winless streak at Denver to nine games (0-8-1).

Early on, it was a goaltending battle between Cheverie and Lee, who faced a combined 26 shots in a scoreless first period.

“(Cheverie) was probably the hottest goalie in the country, and Lee was toe to toe with him,” MSU junior Rylan Galiardi said.

Cheverie stopped 15 MSU shots in the first period. After 5:23 had passed, the junior set his record and built the three-plus-game mark to 218:51 before Galiardi broke a scoreless tie just 32 seconds into the second period.

Galiardi finished off a rush started with Mike Louwerse’s steal in the defensive zone. Jerad Stewart passed the puck across to Galiardi, who fired it into the upper corner on the goalie’s stick side.

That goal sparked a brief, old-fashioned MSU-DU shootout, as the two teams scored four goals in first 3:50 of the middle frame.

Martin tied the game with a backhanded shot at the end of a 3-on-2 rush at 1:30.