DENVER, Colo. – It took a Herculean 40-save effort by goaltender Alex Leclerc, but the Colorado College Tigers defeated the No. 2 Denver Pioneers, 1-0, at Magness Arena Saturday night. It was CC’s first win against Denver since Feb. 22, 2014, a streak that spanned 17 games without a win entering the game. It was the first time Denver has been held without a goal this season, and the first time they had been held scoreless in the regular season since losing to Western Michigan on Jan. 13, 2017.
“It’s obviously huge; some of the junior class here, we’ve kind of been through a lot,” said CC junior captain Mason Bergh. “Obviously the freshmen haven’t really experienced what we’ve experienced, but it’s been a long time coming, and we’re just happy to get that first win and hopefully we can build off that momentum for the rest of the year.”
Despite outplaying CC for much of the first period, the Pioneers trailed after one thanks to an untimely penalty in the final minute on Jake Durflinger. Off a faceoff on the left circle, Nick Halloran picked up the puck along the boards and skated hard toward the middle of the slot, letting go a wrist shot that beat a screened Tanner Jaillet at 19:31.
“I thought we battled way harder tonight,” said CC coach Mike Haviland. “Obviously Alex was outstanding. I thought we blocked shots, and it wasn’t just our normal guys that blocked shots, it was everybody tonight. That’s what it has to take against a team like that. … I like that we bent but didn’t break.”
It was the second period that hurt Denver the most, as the Pioneers were unable to capitalize on three power-play opportunities, despite firing 18 shots on net total in the period.
As for Denver, coach Jim Montgomery didn’t like his team’s offensive effort, and thought the power play didn’t execute the way it needed to.
“If you look at their goal, Halloran gets the puck off the wall, he drives middle and he snaps it, there’s traffic at the net,” said Montgomery. “How many times did you see someone on our team drive middle and snap the puck tonight? It’s a mindset. I think we’re thinking we’re going to set it up and we’re going to do this instead of putting them on their heels.”
“I think that just came down to a will thing,” said Bergh. “We knew coming into the weekend that we had to be better on special teams, especially with the caliber of players that they have. I mean, they can make you look silly if you’re not on your game. I thought we did a pretty good job on the penalty kill, and it was nice to get a power-play goal after we struggled last night.”
After getting somewhat embarrassed on home ice last night in a 5-1 loss, and having not beaten Denver in so long, the Tigers refocused overnight to bring their best effort and get the big win.
“I wasn’t a happy man; I don’t think they were very happy,” said Haviland. “I don’t think we really showed them last night after the first two times we played them maybe, but give them credit, I thought they played very well last night. They played good again tonight. I mean, they’re a good hockey team, it’s as simple as that. I didn’t like our effort last night, and that was my big message this morning, was to compete, and I thought our guys did that.”
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