Box Score Colorado College shook off a shaky second period on Friday, got a big goal from Archie Skalbeck midway through the third, and picked up a hard-earned point on the road.
 
Skalbeck's tally with 10:55 left in regulation salvaged a 2-2 tie for the Tigers in the opener of their two-game National Collegiate Hockey Conference series with the University of Minnesota Duluth at AMSOIL Arena.
 
No. 17-ranked UMD won a post-overtime shootout, 1-0, to grab the extra point in the league standings.
 
Senior netminder Josh Thorimbert made a career-high 50 saves, including 20 in the middle frame when the Bulldogs scored both of their goals and out-shot visiting CC by a 22-2 margin.
 
With the draw, Colorado College climbed into a tie with Miami University for seventh place in the NCHC. The Tigers, 3-17-5 overall and 3-8-4-1 in conference play, meet Minnesota Duluth in a rematch at 7:07 p.m. CT Saturday.
 
Senior left wing Alexander Krushelnyski staked CC to a 1-0 lead at 11:55 of the first stanza. Krushelnyski, who has scored a goal in his last five games, cut in from the left side to convert a perfect feed from freshman linemate Alex Roos and record his team-leading 20^th point of the season. Rookie center Sam Rothstein also assisted on the play.
 
Junior winger Caleb Herbert helped set up defenseman Andy Welinski's power-play tally to pull UMD even at 4:16 of the second period before putting the Bulldogs ahead a little less than nine minutes later, at 13:01.
 
They protected the 2-1 lead until Skalbeck got the puck from freshman defenseman Jaccob Slavin near the boards in the Duluth zone, skated into the slot and shelved a wrist shot over the shoulder of goaltender Aaron Crandall to knot the contest. Crandall finished with 20 saves.
 
Herbert was the only player from either team to score in the shootout.
 
Minnesota Duluth, 12-9-4 overall, takes a 7-6-2-2 NCHC record into Saturday's rematch.