Generating chances wasn’t a problem, but finishing was more difficult for No. 1 Denver in its season opener at No. 4 Notre Dame on Friday night.

Ultimately the opponents, whose previous meeting was the Pioneers’ 6-1 victory in the Frozen Four in April, played to a 2-2 draw.

DU (0-0-1) got shootout goals from Henrik Borgstrom and freshman Kohen Olischefski to take a 3-2 “win” that won’t count for NCAA purposes. Borgstrom did the real damage for the Pioneers in regulation, scoring both of their goals – the second on a power play with 5:22 left in the third period.

But Notre Dame junior Andrew Oglevie tied it less than 2 minutes later to force a 5-minute overtime and the shootout, when he also scored.

There was plenty to like about the Pioneers’ debut, coach Jim Montgomery told the school’s official website.

” I was really happy. I thought that was by far the best first game, in my five years here, that this Denver team has played,” Montgomery said. “I thought we played fast and possessed pucks.

“They came back and they got into the game and then it was a really … for the first game of the year..that was a great hockey game. The exciting part is that hopefully we can grow from this and get better. There’s a couple areas we weren’t great at, but overall I was really happy with our effort and our execution.

Senior Tanner Jaillet held serve in net, stopping 27 shots, while Irish freshman Dylan St. Cyr stopped 46 – no doubt giving the Pioneers flashbacks of Cal Petersen circa New Year’s 2016.

On this night, the Pioneers outshot their Irish hosts, 48-29, and Borgstrom linemate Liam Finlay led the charge with seven. They were joined by freshman Ryan Barrow in a new contest DU is hosting called “Who wants to play with Nicky and Fins?”

DU’s defense, led by the tandems of Adam Plant and Michael Davies and Blake Hillman and fellow Chicago Blackhawks draft pick Ian Mitchell, was active all night. Plant, a senior assistant captain, and Mitchell, a freshman, each had an assist on separate Borgstrom goals. Mitchell in particular jumped into plays with a calculated efficiency that was uncommon for a freshman.

Getting to know you

While the Pioneers’ line of juniors Dylan Gambrell, Jared Lukosevicius and Troy Terry is well acquainted (they accounted for all three goals in the national championship game), the others were a mix of old and new.

Sophomore Tyson McLellan centered former San Jose Jr. Sharks teammate Jake Durflinger and junior Logan O’Connor, while Olischefski centered fellow newcomer Jaako Heikkinen and junior Colin Staub.

The Pioneers’ third D pair was twin towers Erich Fear (a 6-foot-4 sophomore) and freshman Griffin Mendel (6-3).

DU’s three stars

1. Henrik Borgstrom. Regulation, shootout, it doesn’t matter. He’ll score.
2. Tanner Jaillet. Good when he needed to be
3. Adam Plant. Very active and involved all night while anchoring the blue line.

Next up

The teams play again Saturday at 4:05 p.m. MDT. The game again will be televised on NBCSN.

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