CC loses, needs to beat Denver to clinch home ice
GRAND FORKS, N.D. - Almost.
Colorado College's Tigers nearly overcame a late deficit, nearly skated away from Ralph Engelstad Arena with a victory and nearly grabbed the points needed to secure home ice in the upcoming Western Collegiate Hockey Association playoffs.
That's what they nearly did.
Instead, the Tigers suffered a 4-3 overtime defeat to North Dakota and head Saturday to the den of their arch-rival, Denver, needing a victory.
The Tigers remain stuck with 30 points in the WCHA with only Saturday's game at DU left.
Wisconsin, with 29 points, is poised to pass the Tigers, and Minnesota, Minnesota-Duluth and St. Cloud State (all with 27 points) have a chance to finish ahead of CC.
Each team has two games remaining, which means CC's home-ice hopes are teetering. The Tigers only own the tie-breaker against Minnesota.
This grim scenario is the result of a close, tough loss.
"I'm proud of our guys," CC coach Scott Owens said. "We deserved a little bit more tonight. We deserved a point. ... I liked the way we played."
CC quickly fell behind 2-0 after first-period goals by Andrew Kozek and Ryan Duncan, but fought back to tie the game with second-period scores by Scott McCulloch and Cody Lampl.
Brett Hextall pushed UND to a 3-2 lead less than a minute after Lampl's score.
With 4:30 left in regulation, Chad Rau weaved through the UND defense. He was in such a big crowd, he couldn't see the net.
That was good news.
"I couldn't see the goalie," Rau said, "so I figured he couldn't see me."
Rau was right. His shot zipped past UND goaltender Brad Eidsness, silencing the crowd, tying the game and inspiring the Tigers to dominate the rest of regulation.
In the final seconds, the Tigers almost delivered a stunning, game-winning goal. McCulloch gained control of the puck directly in front of the net and slapped a shot to Eidsness' left side.
The UND goalie made a sprawling save. The puck bounced directly to CC's Eric Walsky, who had a good look at the net.
"But the buzzer sounded," Walsky said.
UND roared into this series playing as flawlessly as any team in the country. North Dakota hasn't lost in 16 games.
UND took advantage of its reprieve. With 90 seconds left in OT, Brad Malone slapped a hard shot toward CC's Richard Bachman, and the puck skipped off Bachman's pad straight to the stick of Darcy Zajac.
That was it. Bachman - and CC -had not a chance. Zajac's shot zoomed over Bachman's left shoulder, and soon there was a big party on the ice.
"I'm kind of kicking myself right now," Bachman said. "I should have hit it out to the corner.
