KALAMAZOO, Mich. --  The fifth-ranked Western Michigan hockey team downed No. 3 Denver in a thrilling 5-4 victory on Saturday night at Lawson Ice Arena.
 
Senior forward Drew Worrad tied a career-high with four assists, while the Broncos (20-8-1, 12-7-1 NCHC) picked up two goals from Ethen Frank and tallies from Josh Passolt, Ty Glover, Michael Joyaux and Jamie Rome. Joyaux had two assists for a three-point night, while senior forward Cole Gallant had two assists. Junior goalie Brandon Bussi had a career-high 42 saves in the win.
 
Western Michigan jumped out to a very early lead with a power play goal by Frank at 1:52 in the first period. Joyaux fired a blast from the deep slot with Magnus Chrona making the save. The rebound kicked out to the left circle and Frank punched it in for his 22nd goal of the season. Worrad picked up his first assist of the night and his 28th of the season.
 
DU's Bobby Brink tied it up on a short-handed goal at 7:26 in the first period after banking the puck off of a Bronco defender and into the net during a 2-on-1 rush.
 
WMU responded with its own short-handed goal at 15:32. Gallant stole the puck at the Denver blue line and pushed it forward to spring Passolt on a breakaway. The fifth-year senior beat Chrona on his stick side for his seventh goal of the season. Gallant picked up his 14th assist of the season on the goal.
 
Western Michigan scored three goals in the span of 5:25 in the second period. Glover started it off with the team's second power play goal of the night at 5:22. Worrad fed the puck to Glover down low and he spun and slid the puck through Chrona's legs and into the net for his sixth goal of the season. Worrad tallied his second helper of the night along with Joyaux.
 
Joyaux then lit the lamp on the power play at 7:09. The senior defender fired a rocket from the center point and it hit the crossbar and bounced down into the goal for his seventh of the season. Worrad set up the goal, tallying his 30th assist of the season and third of the night. Worrad becomes the first Bronco to reach 30 assists since Mike Bishai and David Gove did so during the 2000-01 season.
 
Rome capped off the spurt with his first goal of the season at 10:47. The Broncos had an odd-man rush and Luke Grainger dished it off to Rome, who was trailing on the play. Rome put a one-timer in the top-left corner of the net, with Chrona heading to the bench and Matt Davis coming on in relief.
 
Denver quickly chipped away at WMU's 5-1 lead with Brink's second of the night at 12:59 on the power play. Just 22 seconds later Carter King deflected in a shot by Antti Tuomisto to cut the lead to 5-3.
 
Cameron Wright scored on the power play just 1:40 in the third period to get the Pioneers within one but the Broncos clamped down and Bussi made 12 saves in the final 20 minutes before Frank tallied an empty-net goal with 1:05 left to play.
 
Western Michigan heads on the road for the final time of the regular season, heading to North Dakota to take on the Fighting Hawks on Friday night at 8 p.m. and Saturday at 7 p.m. Friday's game will be carried live on CBS Sports Network. Western Michigan is hosting a watch part/open skate for Saturday's game at Lawson Ice Arena. The event is free to the public, with skate rental costing $5.