DENVER In a contest worthwhile of representing the storied rivalry between the two schools, the No. 4 University of Denver Pioneers (4-1-1, 2-0-1 WCHA) battled to a 2-2 tie with the No. 1 Colorado College Tigers (4-0-3, 2-0-1 WCHA) in a wide-open, end-to-end game tonight in front of 5,857 rowdy fans at Magness Arena. Luke Salazar (Thornton, Colo.) and Rhett Rakhshani (Huntington Beach, Calif.) each recorded a goal for the Pioneers, while netminder Marc Cheverie (Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia) made 27 stops.
“Richard Bachman was excellent for them tonight, but at times I couldn’t figure out how we didn’t score. If we can continue to generate those chances, it’s not often that we’ll be held to two goals,” Denver head coach George Gwozdecky said. “Normally I’m pretty well-focused on what’s happening on the ice and not a lot can distract me, but our student section and pep band were phenomenal tonight. When I start feeling the effects on the bench, you know it’s something pretty special.”
Colorado College’s Brian Connelly recorded the only goal of the opening frame, as he snuck a point shot past Cheverie at 5:34 on the power play.
The Pioneers played with a 5-on-3 advantage for nearly a minute during the first period, but weren’t able to get a puck past CC netminder Richard Bachman (44 saves) despite a handful of quality scoring chances.
The Tigers jumped out to a 2-0 lead at the 5:05 mark of the middle frame on an Addison DeBoer backhand attempt from the slot, but Rakhshani made it a one-goal game just over three minutes later. Tyler Bozak (Regina, Saskatchewan) drove hard to the net on the play and couldn’t convert, but Rakhshani was able to knock the puck past Bachman from just outside the crease at 8:18.
The Pioneers scored the game-tying goal only 28 seconds into the final frame when Bachman misplayed a puck behind his net. Bozak swooped in, corralled the puck and sent it to Salazar in front before the CC netminder could get back into his crease.
Both goaltenders controlled the play for the remainder of the game, keeping the opposition off the scoreboard.
Bachman made a trio of stellar saves just over eight minutes into the stanza. After first stopping a Patrick Wiercioch (Maple Ridge, British Columbia) shot from the point, the netminder also got in front of point-blank rebound attempts from both Bozak and Rakhshani.
Cheverie did his part as well, turning aside 10 shots in the third period and overtime. Included in that stretch was a big stop that came during a 4-on-2 Colorado College rush with six minutes remaining in regulation.
It looked as though DU might end the game in regulation, as Bozak nearly capitalized on a Salazar rebound with only seconds left on the clock. However, CC defenseman Jake Gannon got his stick in the way of Bozak’s attempt on a wide open net.
“I think it was definitely not the thing that we wanted, to come out with a tie, but we’ll take it, work from it and try to pull out a win on Sunday,” said Salazar. “It’s exciting to get a goal against our biggest rival, for sure.”
The teams will meet up Sunday in Colorado Springs for the second game of their weekend set, with puck drop scheduled for 5:07 p.m. at World Arena.
Notes: Salazar extended his season-opening point streak to six games with his second period goal...The freshman now has eight points (4g/4a) in six collegiate games...Tonight’s contest was the 268th all-time meeting between Denver and Colorado College...The Pioneers hold a 152-105-11 advantage in the all-time series... Colorado College has held possession of the Gold Pan Trophy for two consecutive seasons and holds a 9-6 advantage in the 15 years of Gold Pan competition...Tonight’s game marked the first time this season the Pioneers failed to score at least three goals.
