No. 6 Denver brought the Gold Pan with it to World Arena on Saturday night. Unfortunately for the Pioneers, the trophy stayed in Colorado Springs for the first time in five years.

Colorado College scored 1:45 into the game, and goaltender Alex Leclerc made that hold up for a 1-0 NCHC victory. The series sweep was CC’s first in the series since Feb. 21-22, 2014.

The loss also means DU (19-10-5, 11-10-3-3 NCHC) will play host to North Dakota in next weekend’s conference quarterfinal series at Magness Arena. The Pioneers are 2-1-1 vs. the Fighting Hawks this season.

Deja vu all over again

For the second night in a row the Tigers (15-17-4, 9-12-3-0 NCHC) scored less than 2 minutes into the game. Grant Cruikshank buried a rebound from just outside the left post after Trevor Gooch‘s wraparound from the right post was turned aside from Cooley right to the uncovered Cruikshank 1:45 into the game.

“(We had) better (intensity) tonight than last night but it still took us a while to get going fully,” Denver coach David Carle said. “I didn’t think we were playing fully Denver hockey until the third period, and that’s what we need to learn from and grow from.”

And for the second consecutive night, the Pioneers had a potential tying goal disallowed. At 5:53 of the second, a shot hit Leclerc, bounced in the air to Colin Staub and eventually found its way into the net. However, it appeared to hit Staub’s hand. The play was called no goal, and a review confirmed the call.

Denver picked up the pace in the third period, when it held a 12-8 shots on goal edge, but it wasn’t enough.

“(The Tigers) were really desperate defensively all night, but they did create a lot in transition, too,” Carle said. “Even into the third period when our foot was on the gas, they had some quick break chances.

“We struggled to generate second and third chances, especially in the first and second. In the third we got them hemmed in their own end, get them turning, get multiple attempts to the net within the same possession. Unfortunately for us, Alex Leclerc was incredible all weekend, and he was even better tonight than he was last night.”

The end result was Denver left Colorado Springs having scored just two goals in its past three games vs. the Tigers.

“We’ve got to have more desperation,” assistant captain Tyson McLellan said. “CC had more than us all weekend. (Next weekend) North Dakota’s season’s on the line, our season’s on the line.

“(Leclerc) is a really good player. He stood on his head all weekend. They feed off of turnovers, they feed off of the rush. We kind of played into their hands all weekend.

“I though we did some good things offensively all weekend, but you’ve got to tip your hat to their goalie. We’ve got to get to the net harder in certain situations, maybe hit the net more.

Meanwhile, in the other net

Leclerc (30 saves) wasn’t the only goalie in the building who was on his game. Time and again DU’s Devin Cooley made crucial saves to keep the margin at one.

Cooley (21 saves) was especially sharp in the third period, when Denver brought its best pressure of the night but also gave up a handful of turnovers that turned into breakaways or outnumbered attacks.

With 12:37 left, he stoned Erik Middendorf on a breakaway after a neutral-zone turnover. Then with 7:03 to go, he stopped Mason Bergh on another breakaway when DU turned the puck over while on a change.

That led to a CC power player, and Cooley made two terrific saves in tight then.

Even with an extra attacker for the final two minutes, the Pioneers couldn’t dent Leclerc, and the Tigers ended the game with a spirited celebration and a piece of gold.

“It’s a clean slate now,” McLellan said. “We’ve had a pretty successful season, I’d say, but that’s behind us now. This weekend’s behind us, everything’s behind us now.”

Re-centering

Carle shuffled his centers late in Friday’s 2-1 loss, and many of those changes held for the start of Saturday’s game. Cole Guttman was back with Jarid Lukosevicius and Emilio Pettersen – a line that found considerable success at the start of the season. Kohen Olischefski moved between Staub and Ryan Barrow; Olischefski and Barrow frequently played together last season. McLellan was between Liam Finlay and Tyler Ward, which was where Olischefski played in the second half of Friday’s game. And Jaakko Heikkinen was with various combinations of Jack Doremus, Jake Durflinger and Kyle Mayhew.

Denver’s three stars

1. Devin Cooley. The sophomore was excellent in making 21 saves.
2. Jaakko Heikkinen. The center won 5 of 7 face-offs and generated three shots.
3. Colin Staub. The captain was strong again, generating four shots and trying to block Leclerc’s looks at DU’s perimeter shots.

Up next

The Pioneers will play host to North Dakota in a best-of-3 NCHC quarterfinal series beginning Friday at Magness Arena. DU was 2-1-1 vs. the Fighting Hawks this season but scored just six goals in the four games. “It’s going to be a really hard fought series, North Dakota is coming in with a lot on the line,” Carle said.

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