There was a lot to love for Colorado College hockey fans on Friday but it was the disappointment that lingered. 

The Tigers played well on the power play, earning a two-goal advantage at the beginning of the second period, and freshman goaltender Jackson Unger was magnificent in his second-consecutive start. But in the end, No. 8 Denver left Ed Robson Arena with the Gold Pan trophy and an extra point toward conference standings following a 2-2 tie and shootout win. 

“Unfortunately, we just didn’t manage a lead very well. You look at the second period and a lot of our detail without (the puck), a lot of our structure without it just disappeared,” CC coach Kris Mayotte said. “They’re a really good transition team, they’re a good offensive team and I thought we just gave them too much free ice.”   

The power play hasn’t been a strength for CC (11-12-4-, 5-8-4) all season, but it was on Friday. The Tigers’ first two scores came on the man advantage with both coming courtesy of junior center Klavs Veinbergs. 

It’s been a roller coaster season for the center from Jelgava, Latvia who went seven games without a point earlier this season but has since earned seven in his last five. 

The Tampa Bay Lightning draft pick beat Denver’s freshman netminder Johnny Hicks at the crease at 19:03 off a Pioneers’ penalty for holding. Moments later, the visitors were called for interference. The ensuing power play carried over into the second period when Veinbergs doubled the Tigers’ advantage. He scored off an offensive zone faceoff 26 seconds in. 

“I thought we did a good job, obviously created chances, created opportunities,” Mayotte said of the power-play unit. “In regulation, I thought we did a really good job of winning pucks back, finding the open guy, making the next pass and then having urgency at the net.”.

Denver responded with a power-play goal of its own. The Pioneers’ top-line left wing Rieger Lorenz beat CC freshman Jackson Unger at 3:37 of the period.  

The Pioneers gained momentum off the Lorenz score and began to tilt the ice as the second period wore on. 

Denver earned an equalizer in wild fashion near the end of the middle frame. 

Pioneers center Jake Fisher skated into the offensive zone and attempted a shot but whiffed on it. However, Unger still reacted to the motion, causing him to move out of position. Fisher regathered the puck and put it through the legs of CC blueliner Fisher Scott and in the net at the 18:01 mark.

After a scoreless third period and overtime, Denver right wing Kristian Epperson scored the lone goal of the shootout to give the Pioneers a second point toward National Collegiate Hockey Conference standings. 

Unger finished with 29 saves for the Tigers as CC outshot Denver 32-31. The freshman netminder made several big stops for CC, including a few breakaways, at one point stonewalling Denver blueliner Eric Jamieson in the waning moments of overtime. 

“He was phenomenal and makes it look easy at times. He’s calm there. He does a good job finding pucks and obviously made a ton of line rush and breakaway saves for us too,” Mayotte said. “We gotta clean that up. We can’t rely on our goalie like that but I thought he was incredible.”

The Tigers and Pioneers will conclude the series on Saturday at Denver’s Magness Arena. Game time is 7 p.m.