Box Score | Highlights from NCHC.tv | Saturday Game Notes

Colorado College rallied from an early four-goal deficit to tie No. 2 North Dakota, 5-5, Friday night at Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks, N.D.
 
After giving up four goals in the first 15 minutes, the Tigers (5-17-1, 3-9-1 NCHC) fought back to score the next five and held a one-goal lead for nearly 13 minutes until Rhett Gardner scored with 31.9 seconds left with an extra attacker to even the game.
 
Neither team scored during five minutes of 5x5 and five minutes of 3x3, then UND capitalized in the first round of the shootout to gain the extra point in the standings. In the process, CC scnapped a nine-game losing streak to North Dakota.
 
"Every guy gave in our locker room gave his heart and soul tonight," head coach Mike Haviland said. "We got a tie in a tough building and every point counts."  
 
Luke Johnson scored twice in the opening frame as the Fighting Hawks (19-3-3, 10-2-1-1 NCHC), playing without their top two scorers, chased CC goalie Jacob Nehama before the halfway point of the period.
 
Gardner opened the scoring just 3:36 into the game by deflecting a wrister from Gage Ausmus past Nehama. Johnson scored a power-play goal at the 8:29 mark, going top shelf, and Coltyn Sanderson scored from the slot at 9:10, sending Nehama to the bench.
 
Johnson scored his second of the night at the 14:30 mark, finishing a 2-on-1 with Austin Poganski against backup netminder Tyler Marble to make it 4-0.
 
"North Dakota came out extremely hard and we hadn't played for 10 days," Haviland said. "They get out 4-0 and we said 'hey there's 50 minutes left.' There was not a lot of yelling, everyone was calm."
 
The Tigers, who were outshot 16-4 in the first 20 minutes, cut the lead to 4-1 with 3:59 left in the first with a shorthanded breakaway goal by Christian Heil. Heil created a turnover at his own blue line, skated in all alone and beat Cam Johnson top shelf for his first goal of the year and CC's first shorthanded tally of the season.
 
Luc Gerdes and Hunter Fejes scored in the second period to cut it to 4-3 after 40 minutes. Gerdes scored his fifth of the season just 3:18 into the second period, placing a shot over Johnson's right shoulder to make it 4-2. Fejes and Jake Emilio were credited with assists on the play. Fejes then scored at the 10:57 mark when he collected a loose puck just inside the blue line and fired a shot towards the net that clanged just under the crossbar and in behind Johnson. At that point, Johnson was pulled in favor of Matt Hrinkiw.
 
The Tigers carried the momentum into the third period and Trey Bradley, playing in his first game in five weeks, took a beautiful pass from Fejes and evened the game at the 5:41 mark. Fejes scored his second of the game and gave CC a 5-4 lead at the 6:34 mark. Fejes had the first four-point game of his career and the first since Cody Bradley did it vs. Western Michigan on Feb. 28, 2015.
 
It looked like the Tigers were going to complete the miraculous comeback, but after a scrum in front of the CC net, the puck found itself on the stick of Gardner, who flipped a backhander over Marble with 31.9 seconds remaining in regulation to make it 5-5.
 
After a pair of scoreless overtime periods, Brock Boeser scored on the first shootout attempt against Marble, while Trey Bradley's attempt was saved by Hrinkiw. Despite giving up the shootout goal, Marble was exceptional in relief, making 25 saves and allowing the Tigers to rally.
 
"Marbs really shut the door and gave us the opportunity to win the game," Haviland said.
 
North Dakota outshot CC 36-23 and each team scored a power-play goal. North Dakota had four power-play opportunities, while CC had two.
 
The two teams battle again on Saturday night at 7:07 p.m. (CT).