The Colorado Springs Gazette final

Tigers aim for offensive spark before 2nd Gold Pan game

BY CARSON FIELD carson.field@gazette.com

Colorado College is taking rest at the right time.

After falling 2-0 to Denver in the first game of the Battle for the Gold Pan at Ball Arena, the teams will battle again at Ed Robson Arena on Saturday.

The Tigers have scored just twice in their last four games, all of which were losses. They were shut out twice and scored one goal in each of the losses to Western Michigan.

Before the offensive lull, CC scored 12 goals in a three-game span. Tigers coach Kristofer Mayotte is hoping eight days between the games brings a return to form offensively.

“It gives you an opportunity to get better,” Mayotte said. “There are a lot of ways to improve scoring, a lot of different tactics.”

One particular area that has made scoring difficult? The power play.

The Tigers have gone scoreless with a man advantage in their last four games. Their last power-play goal came in CC’S 4-2 win over No. 3 St. Cloud State on Jan. 13, when the Tigers scored two.

Prior to this stretch, CC’S power play had been good.

The Tigers entered last week’s DU game as the nation’s 21st best power-play team (22.1%).

And junior Hunter Mckown has 10 power-play goals, tied for the most in the NCAA.

While Mayotte admitted teams have recently focused on halting Mckown’s production, he believes his team’s lackluster power-play performance is the result of many other things.

“If you don’t win faceoffs, you put yourself in a bad spot,” Mayotte said. “It’s also our execution early on in it: Entries haven’t been great.”

And obviously with the Tigers being held to two goals in four games, their offense at full strength hasn’t been great either. DU outshot them 41-23 on Friday.

“I think the biggest thing is that we need to score goals,” senior defenseman Connor Mayer said. “Getting to the net, scoring goals, not caring how they go in, just having someone in front of the net to put in rebounds and get us on the board.”

To beat a team like DU — college hockey’s defending national champion and the NCAA’S No. 4 squad in the latest USCHO poll — CC’S offense must wake up.

And after ample time to recover from last week’s hard-fought battle, the Tigers feel like they’re up for the task.

“Is it confidence? Is it an individual thing? Is it a team thing? There are a lot of different things, and it gives us time to evaluate all of it,” Mayotte said. “We really couldn’t tell you which one it is, so we’ll attack it all so we can be better prepared to score.”

COLLEGE HOCKEY

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2023-02-03T08:00:00.0000000Z

2023-02-03T08:00:00.0000000Z

https://daily.gazette.com/article/282273849513053

The Gazette, Colorado Springs