No. 2 Denver’s 4-3 overtime victory over Air Force nearly followed a familiar script, but Jarid Lukosevicius and fellow first-liners Dylan Gambrell and Henrik Borgstrom ensured it didn’t.

For the third consecutive game the Pioneers (8-2-3, 3-0-3 NCHC) enjoyed a large shot advantage (43-23) but also coughed up leads and appeared in real jeopardy of their third tie in a row, or worse.

The Falcons (6-5-2, 4-2 AHC) killed off a huge 5-on-3 penalty in the second half of the third period and were primed for gain points for the fourth time this season against a ranked team.

However, DU regrouped late in the third and dominated the 2:15 of overtime, with Lukosevicius putting a rebound of Gambrell’s shot over AFA starter Billy Christopoulos, who made 39 saves.

“There was frustration after we didn’t score to go ahead on that 5 on 3,” DU coach Jim Montgomery said. “Your best players are out there, and you expect them to put the game away. That didn’t happen. You could tell our bench was a little bit down. The last 3-4 minutes of the game we started to regain our rhythm and the overtime I don’t know if they crossed the red line other than a dump-in.”

The Falcons took plenty of encouragement from the big penalty kill, too, but it turned out to be short-lived for the hosts.

“Our guys rose to the occasion,” Air Force coach Frank Serratore said. “It’s frustrating to overcome so much adversity and then have them score on us.

“When it got to overtime we thought there was no way we were going to lose. We might not win, but we weren’t going to lose.”

The victory extended the Pioneers’ unbeaten streak to 11 games, and it came after the teams traded the first six goals. The Falcons never led for the third consecutive game.

DU’s Tanner Jaillet made 20 saves but allowed more than two goals for the first time in 10 games. The Pioneers last gave up three goals in a 4-3 win vs. then No. 2 Boston University on Oct. 14.

 You make the call

The Pioneers came in averaging slightly more than four penalties per game – the fewest in Division I – yet they took seven, and it cost them as Air Force twice scored tying goals with the man advantage. The first was Phil Boje‘s blast from the point 6:15 into the game. The second was Erik Baskin‘s tip 5:04 into the third after Kyle Mackey‘s shot near the line between the circles.

“We’re the least penalized team, and we took three unnecessary ones and three that I thought were questionable,” Montgomery said.

Helping hands

DU got more scoring from expected sources – Gambrell scored a power-play goal for the second time in two games on another 5-on-3 midway through the first period and Troy Terry scored a breakaway 52 seconds into the third period.

“That play by Terry was something we thought could work against them,” Montgomery said.” We almost hit Borgstrom to start the game for a breakaway and then the Terry one he just showed his skill and his ability to separate with his speed.”

But the Pioneers also got a lot of help from the third and fourth lines, including from sophomore Colin Staub, who got DU on the board 50 seconds into the game on a wraparound goal that appeared to go off an Air Force defenseman’s skate.

Not only was Staub’s goal his first of the season, but it came against the school he committed to initially but had to leave because he was diagnosed with keratoconus, an eye disease, a day before basic training in 2015. The sophomore also is a Colorado Springs native.

“Last year he didn’t score until after Thanksgiving,” Montgomery said. “(He) be a guy who likes turkey. He started protecting pucks and making plays like we saw in the second half last year.

“He was a horse out there. When’s he playing good hockey and moving his feet, he’s making really good decisions going to the net.”

The fourth line also brought plenty of pressure all game.

“They were great, Evan Ritt, Rudy Junda and Liam Finlay,” Montgomery said. “They got that seven-minute (sequence) going. We were able to get eight changes going.”

Notable

Junda got in his second game of the season, and fifth of his career. Junda replaced injured forward Evan Janssen (upper body) in the lineup. The Pioneers also were without injured forward Emil Romig. The senior has a lower-body injury and is not expected to play until sometime in January. … Denver actually iced a slightly younger lineup than Air Force, dressing five freshmen and six sophomores for 11 underclassmen. The Falcons had just two freshmen in their lineup but eight sophomores. Fifteen of their 20 were sophomores or juniors, while just 10 of DU’s were. … The Pioneers play host to Wisconsin on Saturday night. The Badgers edged Colorado College, 2-1, at World Arena on Friday.