The Gold Pan is back. So is a home playoff series.

Beyond that, No. 6 Denver’s 2-2 draw against rival Colorado College on Friday night at Broadmor World Arena created a bit of cause for concern.

Still, the Pioneers gained the extra NCHC point when Brett Stapley scored a patient shootout goal after Magnus Chrona (36 saves) had stopped Tigers captain Grant Cruikshank.

The extra point is huge because it put DU one point ahead of Western Michigan (which defeated Miami, 5-2) for third place in the conference. That’s the difference between playing host to sixth-seeded Omaha and fifth-seeded St. Cloud State.

St. Cloud’s 4-1 loss to Minnesota Duluth earlier Friday ensured the Pioneers would host a playoff quarterfinal series.

The tie gave Denver a 2-0-1 mark vs. Colorado College, good enough to carry the Gold Pan trophy back up I-25 after it’s one-year hiatus in Colorado Springs.

Who was that man?

About that concern, consider this. DU (20-9-6, 10-8-5-4 NCHC) held a 2-0 lead with less than 6 minutes to play, then watched CC’s leading scorer, Chris Wilkie, score not once but twice.

Wilkie beat Chrona from each circle in the Denver zone on extra-man situations.

The first goal, with 5:36 to play in regulation, came off a rebound of Cruikshank’s shot from the right circle. The rebound caromed right to the big senior on the outside of the left circle and he lasered it past Chrona’s stick side as the freshman was trying to slide across into position.

Wilkie’s second goal came with 7 seconds left and CC netminder Matt Vernon pulled for an extra attacker. Wilkie, the NCHC’s leading goal scorer with 23, wired one from the right dot just inside the far post.

The tie seemed fitting as the teams played a spirited and largely even back-and-forth game. The Tigers (11-19-3, 4-16-3-1 NCHC) ended up with a 38-37 shots on goal advantage.

Taking the lead

The game turned in Denver’s favor during a strange second half of the second period.

DU’s Cole Guttman and CC’s Zach Berzolla were sent off with matching roughing minors for a cage match behind the Tigers’ net to create a 4-on-4 with 10:39 to go.

Each team put the extra space to good use to manufacture scoring chances, none better than Nick Halloran‘s breakaway that Chrona stopped.

Seconds later Ian Mitchell entered the CC zone on the right on a 2-on-1 with Kohen Olischefski to his left. Mitchell’s cross-slot pass bounced off a CC defender’s leg past Ryan Ruck, who had played flawlessly for more than 30 minutes.

Then in the period’s final minute, Ruck appeared to injure his left leg and time was called. The senior tested the leg but could not continue with 37 seconds to play. Enter Vernon.

Denver won an ensuing offensive zone draw to Vernon’s left, and after a scramble in the slot, Tyler Ward reached a loose puck first and poked it between the freshman’s pads for a 2-0 lead. Stapley had the primary assist on both goals.

©First Line Editorial 2020