Saturday night was just one of those nights. One of those nights where a crowd was never quieted quicker. One of those nights where two goals were never bigger. One of those nights where hearts of DU hockey fans never beat faster. And one of those nights where a tie never meant more.

It wasn’t just a 5-5 tie to arch in-state rival Colorado College on Saturday night at World Arena in Colorado Springs, but much more. After being shut out in two straight games and going three for 36 on their power-play in the previous six games a 5-5 tie wasn’t bad at all.

“If you talk to our guys they will look at that as a real accomplishment for them, not a victory but a real accomplishment,” said Head Coach George Gwozdecky.

The Pioneers quickly dug themselves in a 3-0 hole early and it looked like this DU season was headed for another early exit. Denver slowly pulled itself together after Cody Brookwell was ejected from the game for a swing of his stick at a CC player.

“In boxing terms they had us on the canvas and the referee was counting and we came right back at them and got a couple pretty good shots,” said the 13th year coach.

With one minute to go and trailing 5-3 DU tried for one last attempt and what an attempt it was. Two goals in 32 seconds on basically what was a power-play after the Pioneers had pulled Mannino before both goals. Two of what possibly could be the biggest goals of the season, two goals that could have quite possibly saved the DU season.

“Relief from my standpoint, great joy from the players and probably relief from them that finally we dug ourselves a hole but we climbed out of it to the point where we had our heads out of the hole,” said Gwozdecky about the reactions to the tying goal.

Imagine if Denver had succumbed to the 3-0 score and went on to lose, it would have been the fifth loss in seven games going into this weekend’s WCHA first- round playoff series, which DU lost in three games last season to Minnesota Duluth.

Instead the Pioneers get a huge confidence building comeback tie which helps give them major momentum heading into what should be a great weekend with defending NCAA National Champion Wisconsin at Magness Arena.

This season has been a roller-coaster ride for the Pioneers to stay the least.

“You could probably divide the season into thirds, a mediocre beginning, a very strong middle third and a final third of the season that was just at times frustrating,” said Gwozdecky.

The pioneers saw themselves lose now NHL players Matt Carle and Paul Stastny along with outstanding forward and Los Angeles Kings minor league product Gabe Gauthier before the season started.

“That first third we were just trying to figure out whose who. With so many new faces it was an extended training camp for us in some respects,” said Gwozdecky.

The Pioneers started the season losing their first four of seven games including a surprising 2-1 home loss to unranked RPI.

DU then went 6-0-1 in the next seven games and started to feel comfortable playing with each other and the freshmen really started to show how good they are.

“I knew we had a good group of freshmen and the thing that did surprise me is how much freshmen were able to contribute, both from an offense stand point and in many ways in every situation called upon,” said Gwozdecky.

The middle part of the season saw the Pioneers go on one of their usual mid-season streaks and compile a 15-2-2 record. They are looking back on the streak and being grateful that it helped put them in the playoff position that they are in now.

“The middle third was really the part of the season that put is in good position and gave us a cushion in case we did falter like we did in the final third so that we wouldn’t fall off the face of the earth,” said Gwozdecky.

The face of the earth they almost did fall off in their final 11 games as the Pioneers went 3-6-2 overall, including a surprising 3-4-0 record at the lovely confines of Magness Arena during that mark.

But the Pioneers put on their climbing boots on Saturday night and clambered up and out of another big hole that they had dug themselves. Hopefully DU can leave its boots at home for the playoffs and score early and often.

Talking about scoring, the Denver freshmen have taken a stronghold in that department for the team as three of the four top point getters are first-years. Brock Trotter leads all players with 39 points on 16 goals and 23 assists, followed by Rhett Rakhshani with 9 goals and 26 assists for 35 points and Tyler Ruegsegger with 15 goals and 19 “thank-yous.”

Scoring is what the Pioneers are going to need to improve on if they wish to go deep in the playoffs, especially after they were shut-out in back-to-back home contests for the first time in school history and first time overall since ’83 and ’84.

“Obviously we have had some challenges over the season with Corbin going out early and T.J. Fast leaving us. I think with those things and other things it has been a year that we have learned a little bit about each other and, hopefully, we can take all those lessons and put them to good use in the post-season,” said Gwozdecky.

Will this be the post-season that sees the freshmen and seniors carry DU or the goalies return to their playoff form of the 2005 NCAA Championship season, or the more disappointing ending of a second-straight early bow-out from the playoffs.

But if nothing else, Saturday night was one of those nights that showed what college, and especially DU hockey, is all about.