Game day: No. 2 Colorado College vs. No. 4 North Dakota (Final Five third-place game)

Colorado College, which was held to a single goal in Friday’s overtime loss to Minnesota, has a lot riding on today’s game against North Dakota. CC is ranked fourth in the PairWise rankings, while the Fighting Sioux are ranked fifth. The winner of today’s game is projected to be the top seed in the NCAA West Regional at World Arena, while the other is expected to be the second seed.

Coach Scott Owens said after Friday’s game that he and his staff would have a lengthy discussion about whether to play starting goaltender Richard Bachman. It seems the CC coaches decided playing for that top seed was worth it because Bachman is listed as the starter.

As I mentioned above, CC was held to a single goal Friday–that’s the first time the Tigers haven’t scored at least two goals in a game. Owens made the first significant change to the top three lines since January, moving left wing Scott McCulloch to the fourth line and shifting Derek Patrosso, who typically plays right wing, to the second-line left wing spot. This is similar to the lineup CC went with in November’s split with North Dakota (here).

A few comments:
–Minnesota goaltender Alex Kangas was as good as advertised. The 20-year-old freshman (a couple months older than Richard Bachman) is on a hot streak. How will CC do against North Dakota’s Jean-Philippe Lamoureux, who took his second loss in three games after leading the Sioux to an 18-game unbeaten streak? Should be another goaltending battle.
–Minnesota’s defense was much improved over October. The Gophers kept CC’s shots to the outside and did not allow the Tigers to get rebounds. To get prime scoring opportunities against North Dakota, CC has no choice but to be gritty.

Lines:
Colorado College
21 Bill Sweatt — 14 Chad Rau — 25 Mike Testwuide
16 Derek Patrosso — 19 Andreas Vlassopoulos — 23 Jimmy Kilpatrick
10 Scott Thauwald — 17 Tyler Johnson — 22 Eric Walsky
26 Scott McCulloch — 9 Brian McMilllin — 5 Addison DeBoer

8 Jack Hillen — 15 Nate Prosser
7 Kris Fredheim — 4 Jake Gannon
11 Brian Connelly –24 Ryan Lowery

30 Richard Bachman
31 Drew O’Connell
1 Tyler O’Brien

North Dakota
16 Ryan Duncan — 7 T.J. Oshie — 14 Brad Miller
20 Matt Watkins — 29 Chris VandeVelde — 17 Rylan Kaip
10 Andrew Kozek — 8 Ryan Martens — 22 Brad Malone
26 Kyle Radke — 11 Darcy Zajac — 21 Matt Frattin

4 Taylor Chorney — 28 Robbie Bina
2 Joe Finley — 5 Chay Genoway
6 Zach Jones — 25 Jake Marto

1 Jean-Philippe Lamoureux
30 Aaron Walski

No. 5 CC 3, No. 7 Denver 0 (14:17 of the 2nd)

Well, a scuffle just broke out in CC’s defensive zone after Denver’s J.P. Testwuide rushed a puck barely covered by goaltender Drew O’Connell, so I’ll take a little time to brief you.

DU’s Tom May and CC’s Scott McCulloch were each given roughing and 10-minute misconduct penalties.

CC’s Brian Connelly, who pointed to the scoreboard when Denver players began hassling him, was sent to the box for instigating-roughing as was Pioneers left wing Stephen Cunningham.

Earlier in the period, CC took a 3-0 lead when referee Derek Shepherd upheld a goal by left wing Bill Sweatt. Goaltender Peter Mannino, who was pulled with 37:23 left in regulation, argued the call, pleading his case to Shepherd and the Denver coaches. The replay showed that CC right wing Mike Testwuide bumped Mannino before the goal, but it was not ruled interference.

No. 4 CC 5, No. 10 Minnesota State-Mankato 2 (final)

At the start, Colorado College just wasn’t clicking against Minnesota State-Mankato.
Heck, 90 seconds into the game, already trailing 1-0, center Andreas Vlassopoulos found right wing Jimmy Kilpatrick at the top of the crease with goaltender Mike Zacharias down and out of position, but Kilpatrick’s shot on the open net was inexplicably wide right.
Then, something happened not too long after Mankato took a 2-0 lead at 13:42.
Defenseman Jack Hillen began breaking the puck out of CC’s zone with aplomb, taking it deep into Mankato’s zone to start the cycle and open up space. The Tigers began to finish checks and connect passes.
And then came the comeback:
–CC drew within a goal before the period was out when it clicked on its go-to power-play set with Hillen sending a pass from the high slot to center Chad Rau in the left circle. Against Minnesota-Duluth, Rau had one-time slap shots. Friday, Rau collected the puck and rocketed a wrist shot past Zacharias. It was the third power-play goal in a row to be scored in that fashion.
–Just 25 seconds into the second period, Hillen’s slap shot from the top of the right circle tied the score.
–A series of saves by goaltender Richard Bachman while the Tigers killed a 5-on-3 situation–including a windmill denial of right wing Kael Mouillierat destined for a gazillion hits if it ever makes YouTube — would preserve the tie long enough. Bachman won the praise of the crowd through the 20-save period about 90 seconds later when he spent about 10 seconds trying to figure out where in his pads the puck was hiding.
–A minute or so later, defenseman Kris Fredheim put the puck into a Mankato player’s feet as CC’s Bill Sweatt emerged from the box. Fredheim recollected the puck and fed left wing Scott Thauwald for a breakaway during which he was hooked by Mankato’s Mick Berge.
CC again went on the power play after 43 seconds of 4-on-4. Hillen slid a pass across the top to defenseman Brian Connelly whose wrist shot was tipped by left wing Scott McCulloch past Zacharias to put CC ahead 3-2.
Hillen scored with less than seven minutes left in the third when he crashed the net and the puck passed by Eric Walsky slid down the shaft of his stick, over Zacharias’ left shoulder and into the goal.

By the numbers:
–20: Shots in the second period for Mankato. Surprisingly, that exorbitant number has been topped by another CC opponent this season. Minnesota launched 21 shots on goal in the third period of CC’s 2-1 overtime win on Oct. 20.
–33: Faceoffs were dead even at 33 apiece. Rau won 14 of 23. Vlassopoulos won 8 of 15.
–If you’re counting: Bachman gets better as the game goes on. And as the Tigers allow more shots.
In 28 games this season:
195 first-period saves–17 goals allowed = .919 save percentage
260 second-period saves–18 goals allowed = .935 save percentage
234 third-period saves–13 goals allowed = .947 save percentage
5 overtime saves–0 goals allowed = 1.000 save percentage

No. 4 CC 2, No. 13 Minnesota-Duluth 0 (end of 2nd period)

Colorado College centers Andreas Vlassopoulos and Chad Rau scored two goals within 25 seconds to give the Tigers a 2-0 lead heading into the final 20 minutes.
CC managed to kill three penalties in the final 10 minutes of the period, thanks to nine saves by goaltender Richard Bachman, who had 15 saves in the frame. Bachman’s best sequence came when he made three consecutive saves on shots by Duluth’s Michael Gergen and two from Drew Akins.
After left wing Scott McCulloch missed his third breakaway of the game, Bachman preserved the 0-0 tie with a chest save on right wing Justin Fontaine.
A minute later, CC’s Jimmy Kilpatrick dug the puck out of the right corner and passed to Vlassopoulos in the right circle. Vlassopoulos’ shot beat goaltender Alex Stalock five-hole to give CC the 1-0 lead.
Just 25 seconds later, right wing Mike Testwuide caused Duluth’s Josh Meyers to turn over the puck at the blue line. Testwuide skated hard into the offensive zone and made a cross-slot pass to Rau, who finished gloveside on Stalock.

**Addison DeBoer has not returned to the bench after leaving the ice midway through the first period with an unknown injury.

No. 6 CC 5, No. 10 Clarkson 2 (final)

CC’s commanding 5-2 win over Clarkson was big for three reasons:

1. PairWise. Yes, I know it’s only February 1. But the Tigers had slipped out of the top four in the PairWise rankings after the loss and tie at Michigan Tech last weekend, meaning they lost a No. 1 seed for the West Regional. With the win over Clarkson — which brings CC’s non-conference record to 4-3 — the Tigers zoomed back up to a tie for third with Denver, which lost 5-1 at Minnesota State-Mankato. See the updated PairWise here.

For those who don’t know: the PairWise rankings mimic the NCAA Tournament selection process, taking into account strength of schedule and performance against teams under consideration for the tournament. Clarkson has been ranked in the top 10 all season long and leads the Eastern College Athletic Conference standings.

2. Offense. The Tigers had 35 shots against Michigan Tech last Saturday and only two goals to show for it. In the two games before that, they had 30 and 31 shots, respectively. Still, just two goals per night. Not only did CC generate 42 shots, but it scored five goals — the most it has had since Jan. 18 against Bemidji State.

That increased offensive output came from…

3. Team defense (and some line changes, too, which I will discuss Saturday. But first, team defense). Both coach Scott Owens and left wing Scott McCulloch, who had two goals on three shots in his first game back from a concussion, attributed this offensive resurgence to the forwards’ commitment to the forecheck.

“Coach had kind of put the onus on us forwards to take control of the game,” McCulloch said. “That’s important for us to keep pressure off of (goalie) Richard (Bachman) and our defense. I think we did a great job to night with moving our feet, cutbacks and getting to the net.”

Whereas the Tigers had continually been trapped in their defensive zone against Michigan Tech, they were able to confine Clarkson within its zone.

“It was nice to score five goals,” Owens said. “It was even nicer to have the puck in their end most of the time. That was something we had stressed, trying to get our forwards to win the territorial battles and keep them bottled up a little bit. The last few weeks, it seems like we’ve been in our zone a lot and having to defend, so I thought they did a nice job.”

Friday Night Links
–North Dakota, which has played 21 WCHA games to the Tigers’ 20 games, pulled to within three points of first-place CC with an incredible overtime goal by Evan Trupp. See it here. If you ask me, that should be on ESPN’s top 10.

–The Nanaimo Daily News profiled CC’s newest recruit, Russell Goodman, a 19-year-old forward from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, who tore his MCL in early December. Read it here.

Game day: No. 3 CC 2, Air Force 1 (final)

A rivalry? You decide.

• CC improved to 56-6-2 in 64 meetings against Air Force
• CC won its 25th game in a row against the Falcons and extended its unbeaten streak to 29-0-1 in last 30 games
• However, in the last two outings, the score has been CC 2, Air Force 1.

Keys to the game:

1. CC went 2 of 5 on the power play.
2. Air Force’s Josh Schaffer was whistled for a high-sticking, contact to the head during a face-off about eight minutes into the second period, putting the Falcons down two men. The Tigers scored with three seconds left in the five-on-three to go up 2-0.
3. CC right wing Mike Testwuide iced the puck after a face-off with 50.0 seconds left, but the clock only ticked off 1.7 seconds. Referee Brad Albers went to review the video and reset the clock to 37.5 seconds left. With the flurry the Falcons were creating before the buzzer went off–they got four shots in that final bit–that call ensured CC the win.

You may have missed new features on www2.gazette.com/tigerden:

• Post-game interviews
• Zoom-in quizzes on Jimmy Kilpatrick and Scott McCulloch

Game day: No. 4 CC vs. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Pregame notes:
1. Junior Eric Walsky will play tonight, despite injuring his right wrist Wednesday. Walsky skated briefly in a noncontact jersey toward the end of Thursday’s practice with heavy tape on his wrist. Walsky will center the fourth line, so he’ll only play about 12 minutes at most. But Walsky’s presence means the Tigers will have a full lineup. I would have to guess that with center Chad Rau available Sunday against either UMass or No. 6 Notre Dame – UMass knocked off the Fighting Irish 4-3 in the first game – coach Scott Owens will give Walsky a rest.

2. Who is going to replace Cody Lampl? Owens liked to say that Lampl never had to score a point or dish an assist to make a contribution to the Tigers. Lampl’s high-energy, big-hitting style of play reminded his teammates to finish their checks. But with Lampl suspended until January 2009 unless his appeal is successful, CC will have to find another way (or ways) to generate that same spark. Most are looking to left wing Scott McCulloch, but right wing Jimmy Kilpatrick said Thursday that it will have to be a collective effort.

3. Goalies tend to be a superstitious bunch, but goaltender Richard Bachman is excited to debut a new set of pads tonight. Instead of a metallic gold, these leg pads have a yellow gold that matches more closely that of the Tigers’ uniform. Bachman said the equipment company rep delivered his pads to his house in Highlands Ranch just before Christmas and he started breaking them in during his week off. He prefers stiffer pads, so he said he’s happy to have a new set midseason. As for the glove, Bachman has been working extra hard to break that in. “It’s still a little stiff,” he said.

4. CC practiced this morning at the Ice Sports Forum in Brandon, Fla., about 15 minutes from the team hotel.

Lines:
Colorado College
10 Thauwald–17 Johnson–23 Kilpatrick
26 McCulloch–19 Vlassopoulos–5 DeBoer
28 Schultz–9 McMillin–25 Testwuide
12 Quilico–22 Walsky–18 Overman

8 Hillen–15 Prosser
27 Wysopal–4 Gannon
11 Connelly–24 Lowery

30 Bachman
31 O’Connell
1 O’Brien

RPI
23 Colling–17 Lord–16 Klerer
15 Helfrich–8 Morissette–26 Contini
27 Uryadov–11 Kerins–21 Polacek
9 Ornelas–22 Angers-Goulet–10 Halpern

6 Merth–7 Foss
4 Brutlag–3 Jensen
12 Vassel–2 Burgdoerfer

31 Lange
1 Alford
25 Neubert

Gameday: No. 3 CC 3, St. Cloud State 1 (final)

Final thoughts:

1. If you didn’t catch Friday’s article on CC’s penalty kill, it might be worth a read (“Treads realign CC’s play”). The Tigers’ penalty kill was phenomenal tonight, holding St. Cloud State to just one goal on 10 shots in eight power plays. The Huskies entered the game clicking at 22.8 percent (21 of 92), but that dropped to 22 percent (22 of 100) after Friday.Of course, goaltender Richard Bachman deserves a lot of credit, but the forwards — especially Scott Thauwald, Chad Rau and Scott McCulloch — did a stand-out job possessing the puck when they took it away from the Huskies’ power play. All of the defensemen kept St. Cloud State off of Bachman’s pads and combined for several takeaways in the slot. Impressive.

2. Speaking of McCulloch, it was good to see him score for the first time since Nov. 3 against North Dakota. The senior left wing and alternate captain has been doing so many positive things while playing on the third line, but scoring hasn’t been one of them. Coach Scott Owens has repeatedly praised McCulloch’s defensive efforts and leadership this season. In three of the Tigers’ four losses — all of which came on the road — that third goal proved elusive. It was a big goal.

“I’ve been focusing on getting chances,” McCulloch said. “When the chances stop coming, that’s when you have to start worrying. I think just focusing on that and helping the team win in other ways is what has kept me going and just kept me in a positive mind-frame. I don’t think being negative around the guys would help me any or help us win.”

3. As I said below after the first period, the defensemen really established themselves early. St. Cloud State only scored once and did not score on even strength for a reason.

“They have a few high-end skill guys that we had in mind,” defenseman Ryan Lowery said. “Our goal was to knock them around and knock them in. Collectively, as a D-corps, I think we did that pretty well. I would say it was a goal coming into the weekend.”

When asked if the defensemen contributing two of the Tigers’ three goals was a result of aggression or luck, Lowery grinned as he threw out some fighting words: “Actually, this week in practice, the D-corps was winning all of the small games, so it carried over into tonight.”

Lowery is referring to competitions throughout practice that pit the defensemen against the forwards. And, yes, the defensemen were cleaning up this week.

After a period:
1. Defensemen making the difference. Nate Prosser and Ryan Lowery each had first-period goals. In their defensive zone, the Tigers are forcing St. Cloud State to take outside shots and the defensemen established a physical presence early.
2. So much for least penalized team. St. Cloud State took three first-period penalties. Perhaps coach Bob Motzko thought the Huskies weren’t playing aggressive enough during their five-game losing streak.
3. Strong start. Any worries of rust after the bye week looked misplaced during the first-period effort from CC. The Tigers outshot St. Cloud State 13-6, converted on one of their three power plays and generated plenty of short-handed offense out of their penalty kill.

Three thoughts:
1. Crash the net. Last season, the Huskies had proven goaltender Bobby Goepfert in net. Tonight, St. Cloud State has freshman B.J. O’Brien, who has played in just one game this season. Because St. Cloud State is the least penalized team in the nation, averaging just 9.4 penalty minutes per game, the Tigers can’t expect to get many power-play opportunities and will need to do their damage in even-strength situations.
2. Stop the Viennese twins. One is from Vienna, Austria, the other is from Vienna, Va., but sophomore Andreas Nodl and freshman Garrett Roe both have the offensive skill to change a game. Look for the Vlassopoulos line to be given the task of neutralizing Roe’s line.
3. Rusty? CC players and coaches alike felt good about their preparation for tonight’s game during the past two weeks. Will the Tigers pick up where they left off after Alaska-Anchorage? Or will they take a period or more to get back into the rhythm of WCHA play?

Ice chips:
**CC alum and former radio color commentator Jim Paradise will be joining Ken Landau on the call tonight on 103.9 FM.
**Scouts from Calgary Flames, Ottawa Senators, Boston Bruins, Toronto Maple Leafs and New Jersey Devils are in attendance.

Lines:
Colorado College
10 Thauwald–14 Rau–23 Kilpatrick
21 Sweatt–19 Vlassopoulos–5 DeBoer
26 McCulloch–22 Walsky–25 Testwuide
2 Lampl–17 Johnson–28 Schultz

8 Hillen–15 Prosser
7 Fredheim–4 Gannon
11 Connelly–24 Lowery

30 Bachman
31 O’Connell

Healthy scratches: Brett Wysopal and Brian McMillin
Did not travel: Derek Patrosso (ankle), Dan Quilico, Matt Overman, Tyler O’Brien

St. Cloud State
27 Mosey–13 Dey–19 Lasch
12 Nodl–9 Roe–10 Hartman
21 Brocklehurst–17 Marvin–18 Volpei
22 Borgen–8 Olson–15 Oslund

26 Swanson–24 Stephenson
28 Carlisle–7 Raboin
6 Barta–2 Ammerman

30 O’Brien
33 Weslosky
41 Dunn

Referees: Derek Shepherd and Marco Hunt
Linesmen: Jonathon Morrison, Tony Czech

Game day: No. 9 CC 5, No. 15 Minnesota-Duluth 3 (final)

Second period

Goals:
3. Colorado College 2, Minnesota-Duluth 1: Steve Schultz 1 (Jack Hillen 6, Andreas Vlassopoulos 4), 5:28, pp.
After turning over the puck and allowing some shorthanded shots, the Tigers regained possession in their offensive zone. Center Andreas Vlassopoulos passed to Jack Hillen, who was in the high slot, not more than five feet in front of the blue line. In his first stint on the power play this season, freshman Steve Schultz tipped Hillen’s wrist shot past goaltender Alex Stalock for his first career goal. Hillen went to retrieve the puck for Schultz after the play, which was reviewed for a possible high-sticking call on Schultz. The goal was upheld (clearly).

4. Colorado College 3, Minnesota-Duluth 1: Derek Patrosso 1 (Andreas Vlassopoulos 5, Bill Sweatt 5), 8:52.
Vlassopoulos took a pass from Bill Sweatt off the back wall and fed Derek Patrosso, who was trailing in the slot. The trio nearly scored a minute later, but Sweatt’s pass was just behind Patrosso.

5. Colorado College 3, Minnesota-Duluth 2: Jordan Fulton (unassisted), 9:57.
Fulton got an isolated moment with goaltender Richard Bachman who was protecting the left post. Fulton stuffed the puck five-hole just as the announcer listed off CC’s scorers.

6. Colorado College 4, Minnesota-Duluth 2: Chad Rau 3 (Jack Hillen 6, Richard Bachman 2), 10:19.
After Bachman made a save, Hillen retrieved the rebound and sent a long pass up the middle of the ice to Chad Rau, who had snuck behind Duluth’s defense and was idling at center ice. Rau converted the one-on-Stalock by first pulling the puck to his left foot — prompting Stalock to shift — and then with one flick of the stick, finishing inside the right post.

7. Colorado College 5, Minnesota-Duluth 2: Brian McMillin 1 (unassisted), 19:06, sh.
Another great play by center Brian McMillin on the penalty kill… McMillin, who had an assist on Scott Thauwald‘s shorthanded goal against North Dakota last Saturday, created yet another penalty-kill turnover. McMillin’s shot sailed wide of the left post and banged off the boards. Not deterred, McMillin hammered his own rebound past Stalock for the score.

• CC’s highest one-period output of the season
• Responded promptly to a quick goal by Duluth
• Second line has seven points (two goals and five assists) and both goals are even-strength
• Two shorthanded goals in two games…the penalty kill is back

Third period

Goals:
8. Colorado College 5, Minnesota-Duluth 3: Justin Fontaine (Jordan Fulton, Matt McKnight), 2:14.

• Patrosso took a checking from behind/game misconduct five-minute major penalty at 3:35, but the Tigers got quality penalty killing with saves from Bachman and blocked shots by Scott McCulloch. Thanks to a high-sticking penalty by Trent Palm, CC went back to even strength (4v4) with 1:12 to go in the five-minute major.
• With 1:02 left in Palm’s penalty, Duluth’s Josh Meyers picked up a checking from behind/game misconduct five-minute major at 8:21 for checking McCulloch into the boards. But CC had just two quality scoring chances despite the 5-on-3 (1:02) and 5-on-4 (3:58).
• CC killed all four of Duluth’s power plays.

Quick Quips:

Coach Scott Owens on the time-out before the five-minute power play:
We were trying to set up what we were going to do on the 5-on-3 and hopefully, (the play) was going to go into the 5-on-4. But we never really got it set up. That was probably one of the things that disappointed me the most tonight was the fact that it was a little bit scrambled in the beginning and we never really settled down and had composure. We were turning the puck over and making behind-the-back blind passes and it was a situation where we could have put the game away and we didn’t. …We’re still waiting on that a little bit.

Asked if the back-and-forth, wide-open game might cause him to juggle lines tomorrow, Owens said:
Part of it was our defensive mindset. It wasn’t just all of the forwards. I would guess that Prosser will play tomorrow and maybe that will help a little bit getting an older guy in there. We tightened it up a little in the third. We didn’t run and gun so much. We’re in a pretty good rhythm with our forward lines, so I think we’ll just make some minimal changes.

Center Andreas Vlassopoulos on his line’s momentum:
We’ve just got to concentrate on keeping it simple and working hard and things will fall for us.

Vlassopoulos on the power play:
We have it, we’re going to create chances, it just seemed like — whether somebody fell or the puck went off somebody’s heel — I think we just need to bear down a little bit more and things will happen for us.

Right wing Derek Patrosso on his line:
I think our line talks pretty well on the ice and that helps us out a lot. We were just having fun. That’s the main thing.

Patrosso on keeping things relaxed, even when the line wasn’t scoring goals (the trio combined for one goal against Minnesota on Oct. 19):
I think when you’re getting those chances, it’s when you shouldn’t be gripping your stick. When you don’t get those chances, that’s when you start gripping your stick a little tight. We’ve been happy with the way we’ve been playing as a whole. I think the last three teams we’ve played have prepared us pretty well and we’re developing chemistry as we go along.

Left wing Bill Sweatt on the line:
We’ve been sticking with our line for almost a month now. I think like Dre said, we’re just feeding off of each other and we have a lot of chemistry going right now. Say if Dre chips the puck, Derek and I know that we’ve got to bust a seam and go get the puck and one of us is going to the net. We just sort of feel each other out there.

Sweatt on developing consistent five-on-five scoring:
It was good that our power play was clicking so we could survive in (the first six) games, but maybe tonight will take momentum into the rest of the season for getting five-on-five goals. We can’t just be a one-sided team, where we just score on the power play. We’ve got to be very diverse and score on the power-play and five-on-five. Hopefully, we took a good step toward that tonight.

Game day: CC 3, North Dakota 1 (end of 2nd period)

Goals:
2. Colorado College 1, North Dakota 1: Matt Watkins (Joe Finley), 5:52.
Joe Finley slung a pass from the Sioux’s left corner all the way to Matt Watkins, who caught it at the blue line. Watkins had CC defenseman Ryan Lowery beat when he got the pass and took goaltender Richard Bachman one-on-one, beating him inside the right post.

3. Colorado College 2, North Dakota 1: Scott McCulloch (Brian Connelly, Cody Lampl), 9:54, pp.
Eight seconds into the Tigers’ second power play of the night, Brian Connelly‘s knee-height slap shot from the blue line was tipped past goaltender Jean-Philippe Lamoureux by Scott McCulloch. It could be McCulloch’s second game-winning power-play goal at Ralph Engelstad Arena in as many seasons (his redirect gave CC a 4-3 win in the last minute on Nov. 24, 2006).

4. Colorado College 3, North Dakota 1: Eric Walsky (Tyler Johnson, Bill Sweatt), 10:43.
For once, CC answered its own goal within a minute. Bill Sweatt made a centering pass out of the right corner, which Tyler Johnson redirected across the crease. Eric Walsky was there and ready to knock it inside the left post, past defenseman Taylor Chorney and Lamoureux.

• Bachman has 23 saves on 24 shots.
• CC outshot North Dakota 10-6 in the second period.
• Checking on the three keys:
• 1. Limit North Dakota to two goals or less. Through two periods, mission accomplished.
• 2. Score two even-strength goals. Halfway there.
• 3. Score first. Done and done.

I would add that the Tigers need to be wary of the precarious two-goal cushion, which has given them a false sense of comfort in the past (New Hampshire). CC needs to show it can put a game away and play a strong third period (New Hampshire, both games). I’m adding a fourth key, which would be score first in the third period.