No. 10 Colorado College rallied from a 3-0 deficit to score five unanswered goals and defeat No. 4 Denver, 5-4, Friday night to take game one of the Gold Pan series in front of a record crowd of 3,952 at Ed Robson Arena.
 
Denver (13-4-0, 3-4-0) jumped on the board with a pair of shorthanded goals late in the first period to take a 2-0 lead at the first intermission by Samu Salminen. It was the first time since Dec. 9, 2020, that CC allowed two shorthanded goals in a game.
 
Salminen opened the scoring at the 16:37 mark of the opening frame. Salminen stole the puck from CC's Ryan Beck in the Tiger zone and was all alone against goalie Kaidan Mbereko (25 saves). Salminen put a shot between Mbereko's legs for a 1-0 lead.
 
Salminen doubled the lead with his second shorty of the first period with 47.7 seconds remaining. DU goaltender Matt Davis (34 saves) sent the puck to Salminen, who led a 3-on-1 charge. Salminen's first shot from the right circle was saved by Mbereko, but Salminen sent the puck towards the crease from behind the net and it went in off Mbereko's stick.
 
Carter King made it 3-0 at the 11:49 mark of the second period. Jack Devine found King all alone in front and King beat Mbereko with a backhander.
 
The Tigers (10-4-1, 4-2-1) roared back with a pair of goals later in the middle frame. Gavin Lindberg scored from the left circle after Davis saved a shot from the right point by Stanley Cooley at the 15:38 mark, then Ryan Koering scored his first career goal at 17:46. Gleb Veremyev and Noah Laba were on the doorstep trying to control a loose puck, which slid out to Koering at the left circle and he put it in an open net.
 
Owen Beckner made it three straight goals for Tiger freshmen with a power-play goal at the 4:13 mark of the third period. He took a pass from Beck and fired a one-timer past Davis for his third goal of the season.
 
Chase McLane scored his third of the season to give CC its first lead at 9:33 of the final frame. Burkholder sent a cross-ice pass to McLane, who beat Davis from the left side of the net. Drew Montgomery then scored what turned out to be the game winner at the 14:51 mark. Bret Link made an outstanding individual move at the red line to create a 2-on-1 and he found Montgomery free in front of the net.
 
Devine scored at the 16:03 mark with Davis on the bench in favor of an extra attacker for the final goal of the game as CC held on for the final 3:57 with Davis on the bench.
 
The Tigers, who scored five goals against DU for the first time since Feb. 9, 2013, a 6-5 overtime win, outshot the Pioneers, 39-29, including a 17-8 margin in the second period. CC was 1-for-4 on the power play, while Denver was 0-for-4. CC has killed off all 12 of its penalties the last four games.
 
The teams will battle again on Saturday, Dec. 14, at Magness Arena, beginning at 7 p.m.