CC 3, Alaska-Anchorage 2 (OT–final)

Colorado College right wing Mike Testwuide charged up the left half-wall, beat Anchorage left wing Josh Lunden, slid the puck through defenseman Luka Vidmar’s feet, sliced into the slot, and as he left his feet, slung a wrist shot into the upper right corner to give the Tigers a 3-2 overtime victory over Anchorage. CC advances to the Western Collegiate Hockey Association Final Five for the first time in three seasons and will take on the winner of the play-in game on Friday at 6:07 p.m.

“I’m still a little shaky,” Testwuide said, all smiles and sweat-drenched after the game. “The guy dove. I think. I don’t really know what happened after that. I’m just so excited right now.”

This is how left wing Bill Sweatt described the final sequence: “We just went back into the d-zone and (Jack Hillen) threw it up the wall to me. It hit my skate and deflected out of the zone. Wuider (Mike Testwuide) just took it. He came across the ice with speed and he just bulldozed those guys and he took his big body to the net and just buried it. That’s all I can say. …All of a sudden, he beats the guy and he’s falling down but he gets the shot off. Then I see it just going into the empty net and I just jump in the air.”

Testwuide also scored the game-tying goal in the third period.

When asked about it, Testwuide needed a little reminder.

“Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah,” he said, nodding with faint recognition. “I got the puck and I waited and waited. The guy went down on his knees–waited. I knew I was going to bury it five-hole. I let it go as hard as I could and it went in the net.”

All around, the Tigers admitted it was a shaky start to their playoff run.

Said coach Scott Owens: “It’s nice not to have to play a third game this time of the year. Even if you’re fortunate enough to win that third game, it takes a toll on your team when you’re playing so many meaninigful games right now. I’m proud of our guys. They didn’t get panicked. We’re 2-1 going into the third period and found a way to win the game.”

CC is in a three-way tie for second in the PairWise rankings (USCHO.com, College Hockey News), which are used to simulate the NCAA tournament selection process.

The Tigers will return to the World Arena — where they have an 18-2 record — for the NCAA West Regional on March 28.

CC 1, UAA 2 (end of 2nd)

The Tigers have an uphill battle on their hands after giving up a goal with 3:23 left in the period.
Defensemen Jake Gannon and Kris Fredheim and the top line of Chad Rau, Mike Testwuide and Bill Sweatt all froze in their tracks as Anchorage left wing Josh Lunden walked into the slot from the right half-wall and slung a wrist shot on net, which beat goaltender Richard Bachman gloveside. It was the type of goal that leaves one wondering if the CC players thought they heard a whistle.
No. 9-seed Michigan Tech forced overtime with No. 2-seed North Dakota in Grand Forks, so it could be an interesting Sunday in the WCHA.

CC 1, UAA 1 (10:00, 2nd period)

After getting outhit and outworked for much of the first period, the Tigers came out with a furious effort in the second. CC couldn’t score on a four-on-three opportunity, despite quality scoring opportunities by on shots by center Chad Rau, defenseman Jack Hillen and center Andreas Vlassopoulos. At 4:22, just as all of the players were released from the penalty box, left wing Bill Sweatt knocked in right wing Mike Testwuide‘s backhanded centering pass.

Anchorage took the lead just 6:05 into the first when defenseman Kane LaFranchise rocketed a shot from the top of the left circle through traffic and past goaltender Richard Bachman.

CC 1, Anchorage 0 (:37 of first period)

Anchorage picked a poor time for a line change. Thinking they’d put the puck deep in CC’s zone, the Seawolves went for a change, but defenseman Nate Prosser had batted the puck down and put it ahead into the neutral zone for teammate Jack Hillen, who promptly carried it up the ice. Hillen put the puck into the offensive zone and left wing Bill Sweatt got it behind the net. Sweatt’s pass from behind the net was one-timed backdoor by right wing Mike Testwuide. Not the start Anchorage was looking for against top-seeded CC. Exactly the start the Tigers wanted coming off of an emotional weekend against Denver.

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 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 6, No. 10 Clarkson 1 (final)

I believe CC played its best back-to-back games of the season, minus two goofy plays by a couple of defensemen — but hey, those happen, according to my commenters (thank you!). When I look back at my notes from Saturday, I kept scribbling over and over again how well the Tigers did pinning Clarkson in its defensive zone. CC did a nice job thwarting the Golden Knights’ attempts to clear the puck and kept it cycling. I also thought the Tigers showed an opportunistic side this weekend that I haven’t seen in a while. On Saturday, the Tigers scored on two of their first four shots and five of 14.

Not to get everyone too riled up, but I have to write this little tidbit down. On the night the Tigers sported throwback jerseys, which are replicas of the 1957 NCAA champions’ jerseys, they extended their record at home to 13-0. (According to Mike Testwuide, those jerseys were “snazzy.”) The last time CC went 13-0 at home was in the 1956-57 season. In that year, the Tigers went undefeated against NCAA schools at Broadmoor Ice Palace (16-0). Their only setback at home came to the Flin Flon Bombers, a team based in Manitoba, Canada. CC’s record that season — the last time the Tigers won a national title — was 25-5-0 overall and 14-4 in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association.

Notes:
–Defenseman Jack Hillen has six assists in the past four games and reached the 20-assist mark with two assists Saturday.
–Testwuide had just two goals entering the weekend but added two in each game and five points overall.
–Center Chad Rau snapped a four-game pointless streak with an assist on Testwuide’s second-period goal.
–Goaltender Richard Bachman has held opponents to two or fewer goals in 18 of 23 games this season.
–Back-up goaltender Tyler O’Brien made his season debut, playing the final 5:35 and making four saves.

No. 3 CC 2, Michigan Tech 2 (OT, final)

Huskies’ captain Jimmy Kerr scored at 4:01 of the third period, but CC tied it up with less than eight minutes to go in regulation when right wing Mike Testwuide knocked in a pass from the right half-wall by Andreas Vlassopoulos.

Three thoughts:
1. CC showed great urgency to get back into the game, but once the Tigers tied the score, it was all Huskies. You can hear that sentiment in audio clips from CC’s Mike Testwuide and Michigan Tech’s Jimmy Kerr on Tiger Den Saturday.
2. Again, goaltender Richard Bachman showed remarkable poise in net for CC. The freshman, who is now 15-3-1 in 19 games played, has allowed two or fewer goals in 15 of those outings. That’s simply amazing. He said after the game that the second period, in which he had 16 saves, really helped him get in his rhythm. Coach Scott Owens said he thought he saw more and more confidence in Bachman as the game went on.
3. Right wing Stephen Schultz has scored in each of the past two games while CC’s top line has been held scoreless.

Stats breakdown:
Shots: CC 30, MTU 33
Shot leaders: CC Jimmy Kilpatrick, 6; MTU Jimmy Kerr, 7
Power plays: CC 1-4 (8 shots), MTU 0-3 (7)
Faceoffs won: CC 38, MTU 30
CC faceoffs: Chad Rau 12/21; Andreas Vlassopoulos 8/16; Eric Walsky 5/8; Bill Sweatt 2/3; Brian McMillin 1/4; Scott Thauwald 0/1; Tyler Johnson 0/5
MTU faceoffs: Ryan Angelow13/24; Peter Rouleau 9/19; Alex Gagne 4/9; Bennett Royer 3/5; Jimmy Kerr 1/1.

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

Wednesday Practice Notes

• After a day’s rest (Tuesday’s practice was optional), the Tigers resumed practice today and turned in a good 1-hour, 35-minute effort with lots of five-on-five offensive-zone drills.
• Mike Testwuide (high ankle sprain) was on the ice before practice, skating for trainer Jason Bushie and begging to be allowed to join the rest of the team for practice. Testwuide’s pleas paid off and he was able to skate in a noncontact jersey for 35 minutes.
• Cody Lampl (hip bruise) was also back in practice in a noncontact jersey and was able to skate in most drills. Whenever he was not allowed to participate, he stayed involved by cheering on his teammates in typical Cody fashion. Lampl in a noncontact jersey is a little ironic, don’t you think? A couple of times, Lampl’s instincts got the best of him.
• The Tigers started working on their penalty kill for this weekend’s series against Wisconsin, whose power play is clicking at 30.2 percent (13-for-43). The Badgers’ power play accounts for 39.4 percent of their scoring.
• Another fun fact on this year’s Wisconsin team: in just eight games, it has scored 33 goals — that’s 35.5 percent of last year’s goal-scoring total. In the first eight games last season, the Badgers had only scored 17 goals.