For a 2-2 draw, this one was as sweet as they come.
Colorado College may not have completed the sweep it was hoping for, but there certainly were no complaints to be heard in the home team's locker room on Saturday.
By battling back from an early two-goal deficit to earn a tie with the University of Denver at a jam-packed World Arena, the
Tigers reclaimed possession of the Gold Pan for the first time since the 2008-09 season.
They also remained two points ahead of archrival Denver in the WCHA standings, protecting their hold on third place with a 12-7-1 record in league play while moving to 15-9-2 overall.
Second-period tallies by sophomore wingers
Jaden Schwartz and
Jeff Collett, combined with some sensational relief work in net by junior goaltender
Joe Howe, delighted the standing-room-only crowd of 7,733 in yet another classic in the Interstate 25 series.
Howe, who entered the contest midway through regulation after starter
Josh Thorimbert was injured in a goalmouth collision, stopped all 17 shots he faced through the final 34:09 of play to preserve the deadlock after Collett knotted the score with a tip-in at 10:24 of the middle frame.
“He lives for this stuff,” senior defenseman
Gabe Guentzel said of Howe, whose best of several dazzling saves came in overtime when he stacked his pads to rob a wide-open Daniel Doremus. “We didn't have any doubts that Howie could get the job done.”
Schwartz, who led both teams with five shots on target for the night, electrified the building with a coast-to-coast solo rush that produced CC's first goal at 7:29 of the second period. The St. Louis Blues first-round draft choice of two summers ago stickhandled around and through three Pioneer defenders before making one last move to beat DU goalie Juho Olkinuora from in close.
“I had speed and I caught them flat-footed, I guess,” said Schwartz. “I'll remember that [one] for a while...We definitely battled through adversity tonight especially after losing our captain and Thorny.”
Senior center/team captain
Nick Dineen also left the contest, never to return, with an undisclosed injury at 7:49 of the first period, less than a minute before Drew Shore's power-play goal put Denver up 2-0 at 8:42. Senior left wing Nate Dewhurst scored for the Pioneers just 2:34 into the game.
“I'll be having nightmares about the
Jaden Schwartz goal,” said George Gwozdecky, DU's head coach. “They (the Tigers) had absolutely nothing going for them but that's what great players do.”
The goal was the 10th of the season for Schwartz, who struck for the game winner in Friday's 2-0 victory in the series opener at Denver's Magness Arena.
Olkinuora finished with 33 saves for the fourth-place Pioneers, now 15-9-4 overall and 10-6-4 in WCHA play.
Colorado College, which won the Gold Pan by virtue of a 2-1-1 record against DU this season, now has hoisted the trophy in 11 of its 19 years of existence. “Down 2-0, losing your captain, one of your best players and emotional leader, fighting back to tie and later losing your goalie, Josh, who was one of the hottest in the country, is a lot to overcome,” Tigers coach Scott Owens said. “We earned that point and that trophy.”
