COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – After facing a second period surge from Colorado College,
Casey Gilling struck 2:17 into overtime to lift the No. 20 Miami hockey team to a 3-2 victory on Saturday night.
The RedHawks improve to 9-5 on the season and 3-3 in National Collegiate Hockey Conference play with the win.
Both teams played things close to the vest defensively in the early going and each side had an early power play that did not connect. Although the Tigers (5-6-1, 1-5 NCHC) began with a 5-2 shot advantage,
Ryan Larkin was sharp when called upon, including making a point blank save on Westin Michaud after CC kept play alive in the offensive zone.
The scoreless tie wore on into the later stages of the frame until
River Rymsha blasted a point shot by Alex Leclerc for his third goal of the season with 5:25 to go in the opening stanza.
Monte Graham and
Noah Jordan each dished out helpers on the tally.
Colorado College ended up with a slim 9-8 shot advantage, but Miami added another goal before with just over a minute left until intermission.
Josh Melnick brought the puck beneath the goal line and the puck got poked to
Scott Corbett for a shot that Leclerc stopped.
Derek Daschke was up from the point in support and whacked home the rebound for his third goal of the year as the Red & White took a 2-0 lead into the dressing room.
Miami's power play struggles turned the tide in the second period as a shorthanded goal by Mason Bergh put Colorado College on the board with 4:02 gone by. Another MU power play was later cut short when six skaters got caught on the ice, though Miami killed off the abbreviated Colorado College power play afterwards.
A slew of RedHawk penalties down the stretch proved costly with the Tigers going on a 5-on-3 power play with 4:47 left until the break. Bergh netted his second with 3:49 showing on the clock during the two-man advantage and Miami finished out killing off the second penalty and another CC power play shortly thereafter as it got outshot 20-6 and entered the third period deadlocked in a 2-2 tie.
Neither side wanted to expose itself defensively by taking a chance on the attack in a tie game in the third period as the Miami ended up with an 8-6 shots on goal advantage. The RedHawks had a couple opportunities as the period wore on with
Rourke Russell getting free in the middle past the midway point of the frame, but Leclerc turned it away.
Colorado College got an opportunity to take its first lead of the night when Miami was called for interference on an offensive zone faceoff with 1:50 to go. The RedHawks' penalty kill blocked a couple shot attempts from the Tigers, however, and Larkin steered aside the only one that came through as the game wore into overtime.
The Red & White salted away the final 10 seconds of the carry over penalty in overtime and then their power play got a shot at redemption 37 seconds into the extra session. After an initial surge in front of the net didn't end it, the puck was worked around the wall back to the point. Gilling eventually took a pass in the middle and flung a shot that got blocked, but the rebound came right back to him and he wristed it through traffic and in for his second goal of the season. Daschke and Melnick both drew helpers on the overtime winner.
While CC outshot MU 36-26 on the night, most of the damage was done in a 20-6 spread in the second period. Miami went 1-for-4 on the power play while Colorado College finished 1-for-6 with the man advantage. Larkin turned aside 34 shots in allowing two goals or fewer for the 10th time in 12 starts this year while Leclerc stopped 23 of 26 shots at the other end. Both Daschke (1g, 1a) and Melnick (2a) finished with multi-point nights.
Miami continues its road stretch next weekend when it heads to New Hampshire for a non-conference series that starts on Friday. Opening faceoff is at 7 p.m.
