The University of Denver put its foot on the gas and kept it there all game Friday night, launching 57 shots at Notre Dame goaltender Cal Petersen. Problem was Petersen stopped 56 of them in what will go down officially as a 1-1 tie.

The Irish won the game in the second round of a shootout on Thomas DiPauli’s goal, but that was beside the point.

Taking a 39-10 shot edge into the third period, the Pioneers (7-7-3) not only weathered a Notre Dame onslaught but managed to finally crack Peterson when Trevor Moore‘s ricochet shot made it 1-1 6:54 into the period.

From there the Pioneers generated several more chances in the third and both overtimes (five minutes of 5-on-5 and five more of 3-on-3). And they needed Tanner Jaillet to make some big stops. Remarkably, the net minder stayed sharp despite a dearth of action in the first two periods. His look-behind save in the first overtime kept it knotted, and he came up huge twice more in the end-to-end second overtime.

“Tanner was excellent,” DU coach Jim Montgomery said. “Those two saves he had early when we were on the power play as well as the one in the third and several in the overtimes were outstanding.

“And when the goalie on the other end is standing on his head and you’re not seeing much rubber it’s harder.”

DU’s shot total through two periods exceeded DU’s total – for a game – in 14 of their first 16 games. The exceptions were the 41 the Pioneers had vs. Michigan State on Oct. 17 and the 42 at Wisconsin on Nov. 21. DU won both of those games.

And many of Friday’s shots were scoring chances. Nine minutes of power-play time helped, but the Pioneers were not able to break through on the man advantage.

Still, there were some positives there.

“The power play played with  more purpose,” Montgomery said. “We outworked them on the last three.”

What happened? The lack of goals stood in stark contrast to matchup’s history.

In 48 previous meetings the combined goal total has NEVER been fewer than four, and several times it’s been in the 7-9 range, including the most recent meeting, back in 2008 at Magness. DU’s four-goal outburst in the third period lifted the Pioneers to a 5-2 victory.

It might surprise you to know the teams have played 48 times but from 1971-81 they were members of the WCHA. Going into Friday they had only met four times in this century, with DU holding 3-1 edge. (It was 35-10-3 DU all-time).

The likely DU candidates to light the lamp? Danton Heinen has four goals on Fridays so far, while Quentin Shore has three. Six others have two – Grant Arnold, Will Butcher, Evan Janssen, Jarid Lukosevicius,  Emil Romig and Moore.

Moore – who recorded 10 shots on goal in regulation – and Heinen had several golden opportunities, including a handful of breakaways.

“If Heinen and Moore keep getting breakaways eventually those are going to go in, I’m not worried about that,” Montgomery said.

Butcher was omnipresent in every zone Friday, turning one his best performances.

“Will is a dynamic player when he’s moving his feet, an elite player,” Montgomery said. “Those brains and hands are always there.”

California connection: The series marks an on-ice reunion of sorts for DU Moore and Notre Dame freshman Andrew Oglevie. They were linemates on the powerhouse LA Selects 95s that won two USA Hockey Nationals titles (2008-09) and came within an overtime of winning a third in a row. Oglevie has four goals, including a game-tying one against Boston College in Notre Dame’s most recent victory, while Moore, who was an All-America pick last season after a 44-point, 22-goal eruption, has 11 points in 16 games.

@MagnessMayhem