WCHA rivals Colorado College and Michigan Tech tie

HOUGHTON, Mich. -- Twice, the puck pulled a disappearing act Friday in Colorado College’s 2-2 tie with Michigan Tech.

CC right wing Mike Testwuide evened the score on a third-period power play when he tipped in a pass from center Andreas Vlassopoulos.

Never saw the puck.

In overtime, Michigan Tech captain Jimmy Kerr’s power-play shot trickled between goaltender Richard Bachman’s legs. The freshman whipped around and clamped his glove on the goal line.

“I was faking that I knew where it was and just hoping for a whistle,” said Bachman, whose 31 saves helped No.3 CC extend its unbeaten streak to seven games.

Michigan Tech, which ousted the Tigers from the Western Collegiate Hockey Association playoffs last March, has a 3-1-2 record against CC in the past six outings. The three CC losses have been one-goal affairs and neither team has scored more than two goals in the six meetings.

Part of Michigan Tech’s recent success against CC is a result of its hard-hitting, gritty approach.

“You have to do that against Colorado College because they’re so good in transition,” Huskies coach Jamie Russell said.

The Huskies also pack into the defensive zone, creating a thicket in front of their net.

“They’re so solid, in tight around the net,” right wing Jimmy Kilpatrick said. “We got plenty of rebound chances, but we didn’t get enough sticks on pucks. That’s the biggest thing, is trying to get through and reach and get to the puck.”

In front of 2,107 at John MacInnes Student Ice Arena, CC took its first tie of the season and moved to 18-6-1 and 15-3-1 in the WCHA. The Huskies are 9-12-3 and 5-8-2.

With Michigan Tech playing its first game in two weeks and goaltender Michael-Lee Teslak in his first game since Dec. 14 because of a knee injury, CC tried to establish the tempo early.

Right wing Stephen Schultz’s top-shelf score at 6:27 of the first was answered less than three minutes later by Michigan Tech’s Ryan Angelow.

In a scoreless second period, Teslak and Bachman had 12 and 16 saves, respectively.

The Huskies took a 2-1 lead at 4:01 of the third when Kerr wheeled unfettered into the slot on a play Kilpatrick termed a “miscue.”

A series of urgent line rushes by CC culminated in an interference call on Michigan Tech’s Peter Rouleau at 11:41.

“They seemed like they were trying to make good things happen instead of waiting for things to happen,” coach Scott Owens said of the Tigers.

Just 21 seconds later, Testwuide tied the score when his stick made contact with the puck — or did it?

“I really couldn’t tell you, but I felt something,” he said. “It went in the net, and that’s all that mattered.”