In an atmosphere that was curiously moribund for a game between two historic rivals, the Denver Pioneers withstood an early Colorado College lead to defeat the Tigers 4-1 on Thursday. It was Denver’s seventh consecutive win over its rival.
“I thought we controlled the game right from the start,” said Denver coach Jim Montgomery. “Our leadership has been very impressive, and as a group, they are very determined. They refuse to be denied. I thought CC played a great defensive game, clogging the middle, and really protecting their net front really well.”
CC struck first on a power play. After cycling the puck, Andrew Farny got it at the right center of the blue line and sent a quick pass to Matt Hansen in the left faceoff circle, who one-timed a slap shot past Tanner Jaillet at 3:17.
“You get the early lead and had some momentum there, and they tie it up,” said CC coach Mike Haviland. “They’re a good hockey team. They have good speed and they transition well.”
Denver regrouped, however, and after several good chances, Quentin Shore cycled the puck to Danton Heinen in the left corner, and he immediately redirected the puck to Dylan Gambrell in front of Jacob Nehama, and Gambrell poked it in at 10:41.
“I think a lot of it is work ethic,” said Trevor Moore of his success on a line with Heinen and Gambrell. “In games, I think we have relied on our skill too much, and I think now it’s more of a gritty style where we out-muscle other lines, our skill takes over.”
To start the second period, Evan Cowley replaced Jaillet in net; the latter left the game due to illness. Denver really came out and took it the Tigers in the second period, generating several strong scoring chances and forcing Nehama to make a lot of saves. Through the first six minutes, CC didn’t get a shot on net.
“I thought we got a little too perimeter in the second,” said Montgomery. “Again, we picked up the pace, and I think we were in their zone for 80 percent of the game.”
“I know the second was them down in our end a lot, but a lot of it was on the outside,” said Haviland. “You are 1-1, you have a chance to win. You never know. They’re a good hockey team, and the best team in the country I think, and at times they certainly showed it.”
CC finally got a bit of luck at 13:59 when Denver’s Matt Marcinew took a bad penalty for tripping in the offensive zone. On the ensuing power play, CC struggled to generate any chances for over a minute, with Denver clearing effectively. With 48 seconds left in the power play, CC got a faceoff and won the draw and had a few good chances, but couldn’t score.
Denver took its first lead of the night with a power-play goal in the third period. Gambrell let fly a shot from the right point that Nehama stopped, but Moore picked up the rebound just outside the crease, took one stride to his right, and lifted a backhand top corner at 6:54.
“I think coming into the third period, Monty was talking about for all of us in the game we aren’t getting to the net front enough, so when I saw him winding up to shoot that, I was thinking, ‘I should probably get to the net front so I don’t get in trouble.'” said Moore.
“The way they are scoring is at a rate that is awesome,” Montgomery said of his top line. “Really, they can separate games quickly.”
“I look at them and I think their compete level has gone up from the beginning of the year,” said Haviland of the Moore, Heinen, Gambrell line. “They’re such skilled guys, they can skate. All of a sudden that compete level goes up if they want to do things, they certainly can do it. They’re pretty dominant, and a tough line to shut down and stop. You have to be aware of them all the time they are on the ice.”
After withstanding a few rushes and not capitalizing on several chances of their own, Denver took a two-goal lead late on a fantastic individual effort from Troy Terry, who got the puck with speed just outside his own blue line and cut to the middle of the ice, breaking past Teemu Kivihalme and finishing with a shot low from the bottom of the right faceoff circle that beat Nehama past his right pad at 17:17.
Denver got another insurance goal barely a minute later when Gambrell got the puck behind the net after Moore had kept it in the zone and sent a pass to Heinen in the slot, who beat Nehama with a quick snap shot at 18:43. The goal sent many of the Tigers faithful streaming for the exits, particularly with the two teams scheduled to play a historic outdoor game at Coors Field on Saturday where 25,000 tickets have been sold.
“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime thing; it may never happen again,” Haviland said of the outdoor game. “We have to embrace it, but we certainly have to go up there and have a better showing than we had tonight. … We have to figure out a way to beat this group, and they’ve kind of had our number the last two years.”
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