Ten periods weren’t enough. Neither were 157 shots. After all that, Denver took a 3-2 decision over Notre Dame on Trevor Moore‘s shootout goal and Dylan Gambrell‘s two goals on Saturday night.

In a way it was a fitting conclusion to a series that saw the No. 17 Pioneers and the No. 16 Fighting Irish battle to a 1-1 draw Friday (which the Irish won in a shootout) and a 2-2 deadlock Saturday.

Gambrell scored both goals for DU (7-7-4), including one on the power play, but he also took a penalty in the final minutes that gave Notre Dame (9-4-6) the opportunity to pull goalie Cal Petersen for a 6-on-4 attack. After a strong start to the PK, the Pioneers got caught with three tired skaters and the Irish scored on a redirection to deflate the Magness crowd with 30 seconds left.

Petersen again stole the show, making 46 saves one night after stopping 54 shots. A 100-save weekend for the Irish sophomore.

“You start to hope the puck is going to go in,” DU coach Jim Montgomery said. “He made some (huge) saves, like (Blake) Hillman’s slap shot at the end of the 4 on 3. He was screened and he caught it in his glove. He’s seeing the puck as big as a balloon.”

And DU goalie Tanner Jaillet again was on point, making 23 saves (and 52 with  just three goals against for the weekend).

“Tanner was excellent,” Montgomery said. “That save he made on the breakaway in the second was really important because if you fall behind by two it’s an uphill battle when you’re going against Petersen.”

The NCAA recognizes results at the end of 5-on-5 over times, thus both games will go in the books as ties. The NCHC added a 3-on-3 OT and, if needed, shootout for its games. Since DU hosted NCHC rules for resolving ties were followed.

Special teams: Gambrell’s second strike salvaged a rough night for the Pioneers’ power play, sort of. The man-advantage didn’t do the Pioneers a lot of favors, going 1 for 6, including a chance late in the first overtime that carried over to the second.

“Not good enough. Our power play especially, puck movement, execution and just really the top-end players have to make more plays than they made tonight,” Montgomery said. “Because it wasn’t a lack of offensive zone time tonight. In previous weekends we weren’t breaking the puck in well, and that’s a structural thing, stuff I give them. This weekend, they needed to make plays.

“You also have to take away the goalie’s eyes and crash the net. That goal we did score on the power play wasn’t pretty like you imagine or draw up. Gambrell got to a dirty area and Moore took it to a dirty area.”

Three on what? So much for 3-on-3 hockey – the NCHC’s mandated formula for the second overtime. DU started the second extra session with a power play, meaning a 4-on-3. With no whistles, the next minute plus was played at 4-on-4. Then the Pioneers took a penalty so back to 4-on-3, which they killed off (and allowed just one shot in the process). The next break came with 5 seconds left – and 3-on-3 debuted.

They’re No. 1: The Pioneers’ top line experienced a resurgence this weekend. Moore scored Friday and added two assists Saturday before his shootout tally. Gambrell assisted on Moore’s goal before striking twice. And Danton Heinen hit two crossbars.

“All three of them have elevated their games,” Montgomery said. “Everyone has seen 20 and 8 do it before but it’s nice to see 7 playing at their level.”

Switcheroo: Denver made just one change to its lineup.

Montgomery swapped out a pair of freshmen wings. Colin Staub replaced Jarid Lukosevicius. Staub played on a line with Matt Marcinew and captain Grant Arnold. Evan Janssen started with Quentin Shore and Troy Terry.

Despite Friday’s 1-1 tie (per the standings, the Irish scored in the shootout to win 2-1), the Pioneers played their most complete game of the season.

“I thought the three E’s I talk about with our team – effort, execution and emotion – were all at a high level,” Montgomery said. “You have to give their goaltender credit, he was fantastic. I thought he made really great saves on us all night. But we were happy to be creating those opportunities and we were really hard to play against.”

Notre Dame mixed up its lines, specifically breaking up its top line of Mario Lucia, captain Steven Fogarty and Sam Herr, which was  effective in stretches on Friday.

@MagnessMayhem