Sixth-ranked Denver evened the NCHC quarterfinal series with a 6-3 victory over Colorado College Saturday night at Magness Arena.
 
With the series tied at 1-1, the teams will battle in the third and deciding game on Sunday, March 16, beginning at 6 p.m.
 
Noah Laba opened the scoring just 2:15 into the contest with a wrist shot from the top of the right circle that DU goaltender Matt Davis got a piece of with his glove, but the puck slipped past him for Laba's 10th goal of the season, tying him for the team lead.
 
With Bret Link in the penalty box for a slashing call, Denver's Zeev Buium evened the score with a wrist shot of his own from the left circle that snuck past Tiger goalie Kaidan Mbereko inside the left post at 5:41 of the opening frame.
 
Tommy Middleton broke the deadlock with his first goal of the season at the 8:58 mark, completing a 3-on-1 rush and putting home a cross-ice pass from Ryan Beck.
 
The Pioneers responded with another power-play goal, this time from Aidan Thompson at the 14:40 mark of the first period and the teams were tied at 2-2 after 20 minutes.
 
Denver took a two-goal lead with a pair of goals within the first seven minutes of the second period. Hagen Burrows was credited for a goal at the 3:08 mark following a scrum in front of the CC net and the puck slid towards the goal line. The officials originally said the puck did not cross the line, but reversed the call after reviewing the play.
 
Buium then pocketed his second power-play goal of the night at the 6:39 mark, sending a shot past Mbereko from the top of the left circle.
 
Bret Link cut the lead back to 4-3 when he redirected a shot from Klavs Veinbergs past Davis at the 12:09 mark, but DU regained a two-goal lead when Connor Caponi collected the puck after a turnover in the CC end and scored from the left circle.
 
Mbereko was helped off the ice early in the third period after making a save and was replaced by Carsen Musser.
 
The Pioneers took a 6-3 lead at the 8:10 mark of the third period when Sam Harris scored on a breakaway.
 
Denver outshot the Tigers, 36-23, with Mbereko making 20 saves before exiting the game and Musser had nine. Davis had 19 before giving way to Freddie Halyk in the final minute.