Magnus Chrona saved 22 of the 23 shots he faced to lead fourth-ranked Denver to a 4-1 victory over Colorado College Saturday night in front of a record crowd of 3,892 at Ed Robson Arena.
 
With the victory, Denver (21-7-0, 12-4-0 NCHC) secured its hold on first place in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference and will keep possession of The Gold Pan. The Tigers fell to 10-15-1 overall and 6-9-1 in league play.
 
The Pioneers struck first with a power-play goal at the 8:53 mark of the opening period. Shai Buium sent the puck towards the net and CC goalie Kaidan Mbereko kicked it out to the left side and Casey Dornbach put in the rebound for a 1-0 lead.
 
That lead doubled for the visitors when Justin Lee was all alone and beat Mbereko from the slot at the 15:54 mark. Chrona preserved the 2-0 lead with a spectacular save on Noah Laba at the end of a 2-on-1 rush with Ryan Beck in the final minute of the first frame.
 
"It felt like they were getting on us and creating more turnovers than us, especially early," head coach Kris Mayotte said. "We weren't managing the way we did in the second and third getting out of our zone. I didn't think we were funneling well. We would turn a puck over off their forecheck and they had time and space to find the next play. I thought we were a little nervous, a little tight. We were just throwing pucks away instead of making good plays with them."
 
Both teams combined for just seven shots in a scoreless second period.
 
The Tigers gained some momentum early in the third period when Hunter McKown was hooked by Buium on a partial breakaway and awarded a penalty shot at the 4:04 mark. McKown swooped in from the left side, faked a couple of shots in the slot and placed a backhander past Chrona for his team-leading 15th goal of the season. It was CC's first penalty shot since Matthew Gleason had one in a 5-3 victory over Boston College on Oct. 22, 2021.
 
Nearly four minutes later, the Pioneers regained their two-goal lead with Mike Benning scored a 5-on-3 goal with a blast from the left circle, and Carter King closed the scoring with an empty-netter with 1:52 remaining in the contest.
 
Denver outshot the Tigers, 27-23, led by Carter Mazur with six. Mbereko finished with 23 saves, while Chrona had 22. Denver capitalized on two of its five power-play opportunities and killed off all four CC man-advantage chances.
 
The Tigers travel to the Midwest next weekend for a series against Omaha, Feb. 10-11, at Baxter Arena.