The Colorado College Tigers had an impressive showing during Halloween Weekend. In their first game against a team in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC), the then No. 9 ranked Tigers faced off against the No. 7 Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs.
Both the Tigers and Bulldogs have high-level goalies. Each goalie has a save percentage this year above 94%, and both allow just a little over one goal per game.
On Friday night, the Tigers skated onto the ice with confidence from a successful past few weekends. The first period opened with the Tigers and Bulldogs in a heated back-and-forth. Both teams tried to get a shot to the back of the net but failed. As the first period ended, Ryan Koering was called for the only penalty of the game for tripping; the Tigers’ powerful penalty kill prevailed yet again. The game remained scoreless, and the Tigers still had 30 seconds of the penalty to kill off.
The second period was similar to the first. After the last 30 seconds of the penalty were killed off, the teams on the ice both continued their zone coverage with fast transitions from offense to defense on both sides. The Tigers, though, got off more shots during the second period than the Bulldogs, 7-3. This ended 40 minutes of play with the teams tied for shots at 12 each and the score still 0-0.
The third period, again, started similarly to the first and second, with both teams going back and forth, getting in some important shots. With five minutes remaining, the Tigers controlled their offensive zone and had six shot attempts in 52 seconds, though they all remained out of the net after being wide or blocked. As the clock ran down, both teams were pushing to get a goal and soon after, with 2:56 remaining in the third period, Ty Hanson scored the game’s only goal after a rebound shot, getting around the Tigers’ defense and goalie. The Tigers tried to get the goal back, but after many failed shot attempts, the clock ran out and the game was over with the Bulldogs winning 1-0.
After the Friday night loss, Head Coach Kris Mayotte said, “ I assume if you ask anybody in that locker room, they think we played our game tonight, and they would tell you, yes, they’re disappointed that we didn’t get away with a win, but our job is to find opportunities to get more shots on goal and get more men out in front that create more chaos around the net.” Mayotte added. “They don’t give up many goals. Their goalie doesn’t give up many goals … it was hard to find time and space.”
The Tigers came back on Saturday night looking for vengeance, ready to make the weekend series a split. The first period started as uneventful as last night’s game. Both teams had even shots on net and Mats Lindgren ‘29 took the first penalty of the night for tripping, but the Tigers soon killed that off, keeping the first period scoreless.
The second period was much more eventful than the first. During a penalty kill, Bret Link ‘27 received a pass from Owen Beckner ‘28 and carried it from the defensive zone to the offensive zone, then ripped a top-shelf shot to score the first goal of the game. Two minutes later, Link scored his second of the night on a power play, assisted by Connor Hvidston and Max Burkholder, after former Tiger Brady Cleveland was called for cross-checking. After the goal, chants of “F**k you Cleveland” rang out, with the fans showing no remorse for the former Tiger.
Three minutes later, after a puck was taken from Lindgren, the Bulldogs retaliated with a goal of their own from Callum Arnott, bringing the score to 2-1. Seven seconds after the Bulldogs’ first goal of the night, Beckner scored his first goal of the night, assisted by Philippe Blais-Savoie ‘28. With four minutes left in the second period, Carmelo Crandell ‘29 received a pass from Seth Constance ‘28 and Tomas Mrsic ‘29 to make the score 4-1 and end the second period.
The Tigers got a little bit too comfortable with their three-goal lead, and the Bulldogs controlled most of the play for the third period. Five minutes into the third period, the Bulldogs scored their second goal of the night. Most of the game continued in the Tigers’ defensive zone, but they still managed to get into the offensive zone and get a few shot attempts off and one shot on goal. With two minutes left on the clock, a scramble in front of the Tigers’ net ended with the puck in the back of the net and the game now very close. The Bulldogs pulled their goalie for the last couple of minutes left in the game, trying to tie the game up. The empty net left the Tigers with many opportunities to score their last goal, and after many failed attempts, Drew Montgomery ‘27 scored the fifth goal of the game on the empty net with thirty seconds left on the clock. He was assisted by Beckner and Koering.
“I thought we did a phenomenal job with building a three-goal lead, scoring four goals in the second period, and as happy as I was with how we played in the second period, I was equally disappointed with how we played in the third,” Mayotte said regarding the team’s performance.
He followed it up by commenting on the team’s willingness to get better, “Guys come to work every day, and they come to get better every day, and put in that work, believing that they’re building something, and I like how we’ve played in the games. Tonight wasn’t perfect. This weekend wasn’t perfect, but we played good hockey, and I think it just builds your confidence.”
The Tigers will be back home this Friday and Saturday, Nov. 6 and 7, to face off against the Lindenwood Lions.