Aaron Rodgers can have the Chicago Bears. Denver’s Magnus Chrona owns the Colorado College Tigers.

The senior backstopped the No. 5 Pioneers to a 2-0 victory on Friday night at Ball Arena, and shut out the Tigers for the fifth consecutive time, a run dating to Feb. 25, 2021, and covering 306 minutes, 7 seconds.

Chrona’s 23-save gem, his fourth shutout of the season – and first against a team other than Miami, was the 13th of his career, and it was part of Friday night’s goaltending clinic, otherwise known as the first installment of the 2023 Gold Pan. The milestone occurred in front of an announced attendance of 17,952, making it the largest gathering for an indoor NCAA hockey game this season.

Freshman Kaidan Mbereko made 39 saves, many of the highlight variety, to keep the Tigers (10-14-1. 6-8-1 NCHC) in a hard-fought game Denver (20-7-0, 11-4-0 NCHC) dominated in stretches.

Freshman Jared Wright scored in the first period – his seventh goal, and junior Connor Caponi buried his first of the season off a nice pass from classmate McKade Webster. Denver had its chances to extend the lead late in the second period when it enjoyed a five-minute power play, but Mbereko came up with big saves time and again.

The victory, the Pioneers’ seventh in a row against the Tigers, got DU back on track after it was swept at St. Cloud State last weekend. The Pioneers need only to win next Saturday night’s game at Ed Robson Arena at Colorado Springs to retain the Gold Pan for a fourth consecutive season.

©First Line Editorial 2023