A new streak has started, but it’s not one top-ranked Denver is particularly excited about.

For the second night in a row the Pioneers and NCHC rival Colorado College played to a tie, this time 1-1. There were two differences, however, on Saturday at World Arena.

One was DU (9-3-4, 5-3-2-1 NCHC) got the extra NCHC point when Liam Finlay channeled his inner Denis Savard with a sweet spin-o-rama move and finished over the shoulder of CC goaltender Alex Leclerc 1:35 into the 3-on-3 overtime.

“It was kind of a last-minute move,” Finlay said. “I was kind of lucky it worked out.”

The other was the Pioneers played what coach Jim Montgomery called their most complete game since a 6-1 victory at Boston College on Oct. 28.

“That’s what Denver hockey looks like,” the coach said. “We possess pucks, we wear teams down.

“There is not a player I’m not happy with in that locker room.”

The strike in the second overtime was Finlay’s second of the game. He evened the score 17 seconds into the third period when he tallied off a feed from Henrik Borgstrom after Jake Durflinger put the Tigers on their heels by advancing the puck.

“Actually Borgstrom called the draw. We were supposed to do something else,” Finlay said. “He was pretty fired up he got the call there. We wanted to chip pucks up walls and beat their D to pucks. On that goal Durflinger did a great job chipping the puck and Nicky (Borgstrom) made a great play to me. It was an easy tap-in.”

Added Montgomery, “13 (Finlay) was incredible. We were relentless tonight against a much improved CC team.”

The plot line was the play of Leclerc. The sophomore’s 37 saves included several point-blank stops, and he alone probably prevented a Pioneers blowout.

“He was terrific,” Montgomery said. “He had three, four stuffs in the first period alone. He was square to rebounds. There were a couple of shots Borgstrom let go with a deceptive release that would be goals any other time, and he stopped them.”

For the second night in a row, the Pioneers chased the scoreboard despite enjoying healthy edges in shots attempted and shots on goal early on.

Trevor Gooch gave the Tigers (7-7-2, 3-5-2-1 NCHC) a 1-0 lead when he recovered his own rebound in front of Tanner Jaillet (23 saves), moved from left to right and tucked the puck around the DU netminder on the glove side.

Leclerc was particularly sharp on a handful of Pioneers chances from point-blank range, including stopping Ian Mitchell on a 2-on-1 7 minutes into the game and making a huge point-blank save in the closing seconds.

But the Pioneers didn’t let that phase them.

The century club

Captain Tariq Hammond played in his 100th career game for the Pioneers. To celebrate, he and assistants Troy Terry and Dylan Gambrell made a point of letting their teammates know what was at stake in no uncertain terms, Finlay said.

“We got challenged pretty hard by our coach, by our captains,” Finlay said. “I think everyone played to their best. It’s too bad we didn’t get the full result we wanted, but I think we’re really happy with how we played.

“Today we were more mentally focused than most days. We’ve just got to keep that mentality that we’ve got to be the more committed team to step on the ice.”

Added Montgomery, “I give (Hammond) and the leadership a lot of credit. There was something said to the team, and it’s got to come from them, not the coaches.”

Making their point

Terry and Borgstrom overcame, for them, long points droughts. Borgstrom assisted on Finlay’s first goal, and Terry got the primary one on the goal in the second overtime. So after three games, they’re back in business.

Both started the season with lengthy point streaks. Terry scored in the first two games, then after being held off the scoresheet for a game, got points in the next nine. Borgstrom scored in his first 11 games before his scoreless skid.

“Troy did much better, how he skated, how he moved the puck and moved off it, which gave him more space,” Montgomery said. “He’s a great teammate and competitor. When things aren’t going well, he wants to put on his back.”

Notable

Denver made a couple of changes to its lineup. Sophomore Erich Fear returned to the lineup and was paired with freshman Griffin Mendel. Sophomore defenseman Michael Davies missed the game due to an undisclosed injury. … Freshman Jack Doremus also returned to the lineup, while senior Rudy Junda sat out. … Center Tyson McLellan (shoulder) won’t return to the lineup until mid-February at the earliest. … In addition to Davies, senior defenseman Adam Plant (upper body) remained out and freshman goaltender Devin Cooley has a lower-body injury.

Denver’s three stars

1. Liam Finlay. The sophomore scored both DU goals and had jump all game.
2. Henrik Borgstrom. His energy and effort level also rose, and the result was stretches of dominance and a great pass to set up Finlay’s tying goal.
3. Tanner Jaillet. He had a workmanlike 23 saves and made some big stops when he needed to.

Up next

The Pioneers play host to Dartmouth of the ECAC next Friday and Saturday at Magness Arena at 7:05 p.m. both nights.