A couple of observations about the Pioneers’ sweep of Colorado College this weekend.

The Late Show: Allowing goals early and late in periods has been a season-long problem for DU. With two last-minute goals Friday and Dylan Gambrell‘s strike with just more than 2 minutes left Saturday, the Pioneers took a big step toward solving that. “(Gambrell) is a smart player who understands time and space well,” Coach Jim Montgomery told Jay Stickney after the game. “He plays a strong two-way game.”

Net Gains: Mr. Saturday Night In Net, Tanner Jaillet, had a strong bounce-back game vs. the Tigers with 22 saves after he was pulled last Saturday at Boston University. “He made several saves in the second before we went ahead 1-0 and a couple more when it was 1-1,” Montgomery said. “Both goalies were outstanding for us and won games for us this weekend.”

Powerful: Junior center Matt Marcinew scored a power play goal, his fifth goal of the season, to end DU’s weekend man-advantage drought at seven. The five goals tie his career high, set during his freshman year. “Matt Marcinew is an incredibly diligent worker, he’s a big strong, kid,” Montgomery said. “I wasn’t happy with our power play so I just put three guys together.”

Injury updates: Defenseman Matt VanVoorhis sat out Saturday because of concussion-symptoms. He took a big hit from behind Friday that resulted in a five-minute major on CC’s Alex Roos. … Forward Brad Hawkinson had a setback in his recovery from an upper-body injury and did not play over the weekend.

The Last Word: We’ll let the coach sum it up. “I thought (Saturday’s game) was the best defensive game we’ve played. … It’s such a hard thing to do, to play on a big ice surface when you haven’t played on it before (referring to the five freshmen in the lineup). … It’s hard to get sweeps in the NCHC. It was our first road win of the year.”

@MagnessMayhem