No. 10 Colorado College rallied from a 3-0 deficit, scoring five unanswered goals and defeating No. 4 Denver 5-4 on Friday night to win Game 1 of the Gold Pan Series in front of a record crowd of 3,952 at Ed Robson Arena.

Denver (13-4-0, 3-4-0) jumped ahead with two shorthanded goals late in the first period and took a 2-0 lead at the first intermission thanks to Samu Salminen. It was the first time since December 9, 2020 that CC allowed two shorthanded goals in a game.

Salminen scored the first goal at 16:37 of the first frame. Salminen stole the puck from CC Ryan Beck in the Tigers zone and was all alone against the goalkeeper Kaidan Mbereko (25 saves). Salminen fired a shot between Mbereko’s legs to give the team a 1-0 lead.

Salminen doubled the lead with his second shorty of the first period with 47.7 seconds left. DU goaltender Matt Davis (34 saves) sent the puck to Salminen, who led a 3-on-1 attack. Salminen’s first shot from the right circle was parried by Mbereko, but Salminen sent the puck behind the net towards the goal crease and it went off Mbereko’s stick and into the goal.

Carter King made it 3-0 at 11:49 of the second period. Jack Devine found King all alone in front and King beat Mbereko with a backhand.

The Tigers (10-4-1, 4-2-1) later struck back with two goals at midfield. Gavin Lindberg scored from the left circle after Davis parried a shot from the right point Stanley Cooley i.e. at 3:38 p.m Ryan Koering scored his first career goal at 17:46. Gleb Veremyev And Noah Laba stood at the door trying to control a loose puck that slipped to Köring on the left circle and he shot it into an open net.

Owen Beckner scored the third straight goal for the Tigers rookies with a power play goal at 4:13 of the third period. He took a pass from Beck and fired a one-timer past Davis for his third goal of the season.

Chase McLane scored his third goal of the season to give CC its first lead at 9:33 of the final frame. Burkholder sent a cross-ice pass to McLane, who beat Davis from the left side of the net. Drew Montgomery He then scored the winning goal at 14:51. Bret Link made an outstanding single move at the red line to create a 2-on-1, and he found Montgomery free in front of the net.

Devine scored at 16:03 with Davis on the bench, setting up the final extra attacker goal of the game, while CC held on until the final 3:57 with Davis on the bench.

The Tigers, who scored five goals against DU in a 6-5 overtime win for the first time since Feb. 9, 2013, outscored the Pioneers 39-29, including a 17-8 advantage in the second period. CC was 1-4 on the power play while Denver was 0-4. CC have converted all twelve penalties in their last four games.

The teams will compete again on Saturday, December 14th at Magness Arena starting at 7 p.m