Denver hockey tied Colorado College 2-2 on Friday, March 6, in Colorado Springs and came out on top 5-1 on Saturday at Magness Arena to secure home-ice advantage in the first round of the NCHC playoffs next weekend. The weekend also gave Denver the chance to take back the Gold Pan against their arch in-state rival, with the Pioneers’ successes combining with their two consecutive victories over the Tigers in December.
On Friday, the first period went by scoreless for both teams, with the Pioneers outshooting the Tigers 12-11. Junior defenseman Ian Mitchell (Calahoo, Alberta) was able to score and convert in transition at 10:57 of the second period from freshman goaltender Magnus Chrona’s (Stockholm Sweden) stop on a breakaway. The goal was Mitchell’s tenth of the season. Denver scored once more in the period with a last-second one-timer from sophomore forward Brett Stapley (Campbell River, B.C.), which set up the rebound for sophomore forward Tyler Ward Kamloops, B.C.), who gave the Pioneers a 2-0 lead going into the third period.
In the third period, the Tigers came roaring back. Chris Wilkie scored on a power play at 14:24 and sent the game into overtime with eight seconds remaining in regulation with a goal off a pass from Alex Berardinelli.
Though neither team was able to score in NCAA or NCHC overtime, Stapley’s goal in the NCHC shootout gave Denver an extra point in conference standings.
On Saturday in Denver, CC struck first, with Nick Halloran scoring on a breakaway four-and-a-half minutes into the game. However, that’s where the Tigers’ luck ended, and the Pioneers would go on to outshoot them 14-5 in the first period and 45-23 overall.
Denver was able to bounce back in the second period, with 3 unanswered goals from three different Pioneers. Sophomore forward Emilio Pettersen (Manglerud, Norway) was first up, scoring off a pass from Mitchell on a one-timer at 3:29. Senior defensemen Michael Davies (St. Louis, Mo.) scored his first goal of the season halfway through the period to make it 2-1. Four minutes later, junior forward Ryan Barrow (Banff, Alberta) scored on a shorthanded breakaway to give Denver a 3-1 lead to close the second period.
In the third period, Denver added two more goals to add cushion to their two-point lead, with the first coming from sophomore forward Hank Crone (Dallas, Texas) and the second from sophomore forward Cole Guttman (Los Angeles, Calif.) on a power play off a backdoor tap-in on Pettersen’s pass at 10:15 to secure the 5-1 victory for the Pioneers.
With the win on Saturday, Denver landed a matchup with sixth-seeded University of Nebraska-Omaha for a best-of-three series at Magness Arena from March 13-15 for the NCHC quarterfinals. The games will be played at 7 p.m MST on Fri. and Sat., and 6 p.m. MST on Sun. if necessary.
