Packman carries Men's D1 to series split against No. 20 Arizona
One thing is certain: the Colorado Buffaloes men’s Division I team knows how to bounce back.
The Buffs (5-4-1-1, 3-3 WCHL) split their weekend series against the No. 20 Arizona Wildcats (2-3-0-1, 2-2).
On paper, the Wildcats were the heavy favorite and set the tone with a 9-1 Game 1 win on Friday, but the scrappy Buffs came out on top 2-1 in overtime on Saturday.
This isn’t the first time Colorado has recovered after a big loss. In their first Division I matchup of the season, the Oregon Ducks blew out the Buffs 7-0, but Colorado stormed back the next night for a gritty 5-4 overtime victory.
Saturday's win wouldn’t have been possible without an unbelievable performance from CU’s goaltender Jared Packman.
He played 94:34 this weekend after coming in for Ethan Laughlin in Game 1 after Laughlin’s seventh goal allowed. Packman did not look tired in Game 2, stopping 37 of 38 shots faced and shutting out Arizona through two periods.
Colorado had a low-scoring weekend, but its goals came from three different scorers. Forward Jeremy Nash scored the weekend’s biggest goal, becoming the overtime hero in Saturday’s game with his first of the season. Rookie forward Quentin O’Connor also scored his first of the season as the lone Buff goal scorer on Friday.
It was also a low-penalty weekend for Colorado, with four penalties. Discipline was the highlight on Saturday, as the Buffs sent Arizona to the man-advantage only once.
Game 1
Arizona entered the weekend a mystery to the Buffs. The Wildcats were ranked No. 20 in the country, but had only one win on the season.
Colorado came out skating with the Wildcats’ pace, but the Buffs quickly learned why Arizona is ranked.
U-of-A forward Riley Ruh opened scoring with a tip-in perfectly placed to the top-right corner, stunning Laughlin.
The Buffs made it past the half-way point of the period down by one, keeping up with Arizona. But they struggled to get clean looks at the net, even though they held it down in their offensive zone for a period.
Then things began to slip away.
Wildcat forward Max Bennett started the avalanche of goals with less than seven minutes left. He tucked home a loose puck in the crease to make it 2-0.
Four more goals quickly followed as Colorado collapsed in the defensive zone, leaving the slot open for shooters. Bennett netted another with 27 seconds left in the period, leaving the Buffs trailing 6-0 at first intermission.
Up by 6, the Wildcats stepped off the gas.
A breakout with numbers for the Buffs led to a give-and-go chance for O’Connor and Dougie Wood, and O’Connor put it home to pull the Buffs within five.
Arizona quickly went up by 6 again on a goal off a faceoff by Wyatt Stefan.
CU head coach Peter Cardasis pulled Laughlin after he allowed his seventh goal.
Packman and the Buffs held the deficit at 7 towards the end of the period. With 30 seconds left, CU defenseman Grant Robinson delivered a late and high hit on Shae Barry. The refs had none of it and gave Robinson a misconduct, putting the Buffs on a five-minute kill.
On the power play to start the third, Arizona scored their 8th goal on a bar-down point shot by Riley Fast.
Up by seven, the game slowed to a halt. Arizona added one more with six minutes to go to seal the 9-1 victory.
Game 2
After the Wildcats blew out the Buffs on Friday, Colorado looked to upset them.
In stark contrast to Friday’s 6-goal first period, CU held U of A to only 6 shots on goal in the first. The defense cleaned up the slot and fewer passes allowed for the Buffs to escape their zone quickly.
With less time in their zone, the Buffs spent the majority of the first in the offensive zone. CU pressured Arizona’s goaltender, Tj Demeulenaere, in his first start of the season.
Kevin Maisells followed through, poking one through the five-hole to give CU its first lead of the weekend.
Up by one, the Buffs fought hard to keep their lead. The defense kept it tight in their zone, keeping Arizona from getting high-danger chances. Packman continued to stone the Wildcats, shutting them out for nearly 50 minutes.
Colorado struggled to extend its lead, failing to capitalize on two power play chances as Demeulenaere fought to keep his team in it.
Arizona began to turn up its offense, putting 15 shots on Packman in the second. Their attempts fell short as Colorado went into the third still up 1-0.
Arizona dominated the third, out-shooting Colorado 15-4. CU focused on holding its lead, which allowed Arizona to sit in the offensive zone.
The Wildcats finally beat Packman after knocking on the door the entire third. Alex Helgeson wired a wrist shot from the top of the circles past Packman’s glove to tie it with 8:55 to go.
An untimely Mathison Hole tripping penalty sent Arizona to the power play late to jeopardize the push for overtime. Colorado dug deep and locked down their defensive zone, and the Wildcats struggled to get set up.
The Buffs’ tight defense allowed them to limp to overtime.
Overtime was end-to-end action, with both teams getting high-danger chances.
A two-on-one for Arizona saw a shot go wide, setting up the Buffs for an odd-man rush of their own. Nash and Hole sprinted down the ice, and Nash took the shot himself, picking the lower left corner and giving the Buffs the upset win.
Men’s Division I takes a bye-week over hallo-weekend before facing off against the No. 14 Grand Canyon Antelopes in Arizona on Nov. 6 and 7.
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