COLORADO SPRINGS — In jeopardy of losing its fourth consecutive game and sixth in its past seven, unranked Colorado College put an end to its ugly skid Saturday night.
In the finale of the Tigers’ two-game series against the University of Denver, CC erased an early deficit and went on to rout the penalty-prone, 13th-ranked Pioneers 9-2.
DU committed 16 penalties, and the Tigers went 6-of-12 on the power play before a sellout crowd of 7,651 at World Arena.
One week earlier, CC was embarrassed at home, losing 9-4 to Minnesota. This time, the Tigers embarrassed their archrival to even the annual Gold Pan series 1-1. DU beat CC 4-1 on Friday night at Magness Arena.
“It feels real good. After getting shelled last week (by) about the same score by Minnesota, it feels good to come back and get a strong win,” CC senior wing Stephen Schultz said. “Anytime you can put (big) numbers up on the board against Denver, it feels even sweeter.”
Before pouring it on with six third-period goals, CC struck three times on the power play to take a 3-1 lead. The Tigers enjoyed seven of the game’s first 10 power plays and capitalized on the final three.
Schultz had a hand in each power-play goal. He scored the second with a wrist shot through traffic and set up ensuing tallies by junior center Nick Dineen and freshman wing Jaden Schwartz.
“It was a matter of time,” Schultz said of the power play.
Schultz (two goals, three assists) and Schwartz (goal, four assists) each had third-period goals to finish with five points apiece.
Freshman goalie Sam Brittain, who was solid in DU’s five previous games, was pulled early in the third period when it was 5-1. He was replaced by sophomore Adam Murray, who gave up four goals on 12 shots in his first game since the 6-2 loss Oct. 15 against Boston College.
“Sam Brittain, again, was our best player. I feel bad for him because he kept us in the game,” DU coach George Gwozdecky said. “We had a lot of guys who weren’t ready to play, and as a result they took a lot of shortcuts, and when you start taking shortcuts, you’re going to take penalties like we did. We’re going to begin to correct that Monday (at practice).”
CC paid homage to injured DU senior center Jesse Martin, who is scheduled to have back surgery Monday in St. Paul, Minn., to stabilize the three C2 fractures he suffered in a game last week at North Dakota.
A picture of Martin was shown on the big screen after both teams were introduced. With the lights dimmed before the national anthem, the public-address announcer encouraged everyone in attendance to show their support for Martin, and a standing ovation developed.
Mike Chambers: 303-954-1357 or mchambers@denverpost.com
DU Recap
The Post’s three stars
1. Stephen Schultz.
CC senior wing had two goals and five points.
2. Jaden Schwartz.
Tigers freshman wing had a goal and four assists.
3. Tyler Johnson.
Two goals for the CC senior wing.
What you might have missed
This was DU’s worst loss in 13 years. On Dec. 7, 1997, the Pioneers absorbed a 9-1 defeat to CC at the Air Force Academy when both teams were playing at borrowed home rinks. The next night, DU beat CC 6-0 at the Denver Coliseum.
Up next
DU vs. Minnesota St., Friday, 7:30 p.m.
