DENVER — Colorado College’s defense bent and bent and bent again, but it did not break against potent Denver. As a result, the Tigers secured their second-straight shutout win over their Front Range rivals to prevail in their league playoff opener Friday night.
The Tigers scored twice in the third period to upset the fourth-ranked Pioneers 2-0 before an announced crowd of 4,289 at Magness Arena, about 300 of whom were joyous CC fans who had plenty to cheer about throughout the night in Denver.
CC was the only road team to win in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference quarterfinals. It was the program’s first playoff win since March 15, 2014 at North Dakota in an eventual 2-1 NCHC series loss.
“They are a dangerous team but we did a good job of bending but not breaking which is what you have to do against them,” said CC coach Mike Haviland, who recorded his first NCHC postseason win. “Our special teams were good and we got the saves we needed. We had to weather some storms which we expected. I am really proud of how they played and battled for 60 minutes.”
CC’s defense was up to the task because the Tigers were willing to hit the ice to block shots, 25 in all, including five in the final 2:44.
“They had some zone time but we contained them to the outside,” CC co-captain Mason Bergh said. “We played to our identity which is what we need to do against them.”
Sophomore goalie Alex Leclerc (37 saves recorded his second shutout in a row against Denver and his fourth this season (six career). His shutout streak versus the Pioneers is now at 128 minutes, 28 seconds dating back to December.
Leclerc was sharp all game long, especially in the first 40 minutes when he made 26 saves to make it the first scoreless game this season for CC (15-15-5) entering the third period.
“When you give yourself a chance to win on the road in the third, you’ve done a good job,” Haviland said. “We knew (Leclerc) would bounce back from last Saturday (8-2 home loss to Western Michigan). He has been very good against them this year and he was tonight. He made some big saves tonight, especially in the second.”
The Tigers went ahead 1-0 with 14:53 left in the third when a rebound off a hard shot by defenseman Kristian Blumenschein was backhanded in around DU goalie Tanner Jaillet (21 saves) by forward Westin Michaud. Michaud won the face off and went to the net, where he was in position when Blumenschein’s shot from the point thudded off Jaillet’s leg pad.
CC got an important insurance goal when junior Trey Bradley found Bergh open. His shot on net found its way through traffic and past Jaillet for a 2-0 edge with 10:33 left.
“We know they can score in bunches so we felt we needed to not sit back and keep going at them,” Haviland said. “That was a huge goal we got there. You see guys selling out blocking shots and taking hits. That is something you have to do at playoff time, especially against a team like Denver.”
Even then, CC had to hold on over the final 10 minutes to keep Denver off the scoreboard.
“We did a good job getting into the lane and if they were going to shoot it, we were going to block it,” Michaud said. “We killed off a lot of time at the end there with them just passing the puck around up top with no shooting lanes. When they did shoot, it went off someone or went wide. We did a good job getting to the puck and chipping it out of the zone and living for another day.”
Tigers defenseman Cole McCaskill was injured in the third and did not return to the ice.
CC knows they will have to match their Friday effort against a desperate Denver team trying to advance to the NCHC Frozen Faceoff in St. Paul, Minn. next weekend.
“Colorado College was better than us on special teams and they were better than us in desperation areas,” Denver coach Jim Montgomery said. “I’m excited to see how we’re going to be with our backs against the wall. We haven’t had a sense of urgency all year and if we don’t have it (Saturday) night we’ll really have some worries.”
