OXFORD, Ohio — No. 19 Colorado College entered this weekend having played in 10 straight games decided by two goals or fewer.
Sticking with that theme, Miami and the Tigers skated to a 4-4 tie in a see-saw of a game at Cady Arena on Friday.
The RedHawks earned the extra point by winning the shootout, with Matteo Drobac stopping all three shots he faced and Ilia Morozov walking it off with an NHL-caliber move in the final round.
The teams wrap up their weekend series at 6:05 p.m. on Saturday.
RECAP: Miami (10-6-1) opened the scoring with 8:58 left in the first period, as Max Helgeson outmuscled a defender in the neutral zone, carried the puck across the blue line and rifled a wrist shot from the high slot past Colorado College goalie Kaidan Mbereko on the stick side.
The RedHawks extended their lead to two with 3:10 left in the second period when David Deputy cashed in a rebound off a point-blank shot by Morozov, grabbing the loose rebound at the top of the crease, carrying it to the right side of the cage and tucking it inside the post.
Colorado College (8-7-2) cut its deficit to one with 21.0 seconds left in the middle frame on a one-time rip by Wilson Bjorck from the right faceoff dot on the power play.
The Tigers tied the score at two on a shot by Riley Stuart from the right point that pinballed off the stick of Justin Stupka and ricocheted off the body of Shaun McEwen past Miami goalie Matteo Drobac 2:19 into the third period.
Miami regained the lead, 3-2 on the power play four minutes later, as Matteo Giampa slid a blind backhanded pass to a surging Deputy at the top of the crease from the left side of the net for a slam-dunk one-timer high to the glove side.
But Colorado College again tied it with 5:30 remaining, as Brayden Schuurman whipped a point-blank shot on net that Drobac initially stopped, but Schuurman was somehow able to poke the rebound under Drobac.
Bjorck wired a loose puck past Drobac from the inside edge of the right faceoff circle, glove side to give the Tigers their only lead of the game 59 seconds later.
Once again Miami answered with 10.1 seconds left in regulation, forcing overtime. Helgeson flipped a pass through the slot from the right half wall that both Ethan Hay and Ryan Smith backhanded toward the net. The deflections appeared to surprise Mbereko, who kicked the puck out to the left side of the net, where Casper Nassen was all alone and shoveled it over Mbereko’s pads, tying the score at four.
The RedHawks appeared to have won it in overtime on a wrist shot from the slot by Smith, but the call was overturned on a Colorado College challenge, as it was ruled that Kyle Aucoin had backed into Mbereko seconds earlier, causing him to lose his stick.
In the shootout, Drobac was perfect on three chances, and after a pair of Miami misses, Morozov lifted a wicked backhander past Mbereko glove side, giving the RedHawks the extra league point.
STATS: It was Deputy’s first career two-goal game, giving him four markers in his last six contests. Despite being held off the scoresheet the previous three games, Deputy still has eight points in his last eight games.
Giampa also finished with two points, both on assists. Amazingly, he had not had an assist since Halloween vs. Arizona State — a span of 10 games — but he has scored six times since. He leads the team with nine goals and 18 points.
Helgeson’s goal was his eighth of the season and his second in as many games. He is second on the team only to Giampa with eight tallies.
Nassen found the net for the third time in seven contests and has seven points in his last eight.
Hay’s assist gives him four points in seven games, and Morozov earned a helper as well, giving him three points in his last five.
Denied the overtime winner, Smith’s assist on the tying goal snapped a five-game points drought and puts him in double figures with 10 points on the season.
— It wasn’t a win, so Miami’s winless streak against Colorado College was extended to 15 games (0-13-2), but at least the RedHawks snapped a seven-game losing streak vs. the Tigers that dated back to Nov. 11, 2022.
— MU had lost their last six shootouts that counted for league points. The RedHawks had not won an extra point on penalty shots since Jan. 15, 2022.
— Miami finally notched a power play goal after being held without one the previous two games. The RedHawks finished 1-for-5 on the man-advantage.
ANALYSIS: Drobac was forced to stop a breakaway and an ensuing rebound within the first 20 seconds, but otherwise the first period was rather methodical and defensive-oriented (the shots were 3-2 CC midway through the frame).
Miami was the better team late in that frame and the entire second period, then the game seemed to open up in the final stanza, with the teams combining for five of the eight goals.
The second Colorado College goal was a complete fluke, and Drobac probably would have liked one of the next two goals back, but again he denied a breakaway in the first minute that could have altered the course of the game, and he was lights-out in the shootout.
That said, the Tigers are a solid team, well-coached with excellent speed and a quality goalie in Mbereko, so they deserve credit for rallying and earning the league point.
— Deputy seemed to have the puck the entire time he was on the ice and continues to improve every game. He led the team with five shots and nearly scored on a third one.
— On a related note, Giampa has proven deadly once again when he gets the puck at the left side of the net. The righty can either pull to the forehand and score (or at least create chaos with a point-blank shot), or — in this case — send a blind backhand pass to Deputy for a tally.
— Really liked the play of Vladislav Lukashevich, who seems to be upping his defensive game. Like Deputy, it seemed like the puck found him all night.
Also loved the effort of Aucoin defensively, especially on several critical clears on the penalty kill, and Michael Phelan, who sprawled out to block a 2-on-1 pass that would have almost certainly resulted in a goal.
— What else can be said about Morozov? The 17-year-old’s all-world hands created the rebound that resulted in Deputy’s first goal, and the shootout winner has to have NHL scouts salivating.
— One more note: As mentioned on Thursday, goalie Shika Gadzhiev has left Miami after he was unable to gain NCAA eligibility, but he found a team that was able to play for less than an hour down the road in the ECHL Cyclones.
Cincinnati signed Gadzhiev to an amateur tryout, and he was that team’s emergency backup this game was being played.
Gadzhiev joins recently-traded Spencer Cox (who scored his first pro goal for the Cyclones on Friday) and Miami graduate and captain Justin Vaive.
— On a related note: Recently signed G Mathis Langevin will be eligible to play for Miami for the second semester. It sounds like he’ll be available for the Great Lakes Invitational in two weeks.
LINEUP CHANGES: None. This was the fifth straight game Coach Anthony Noreen has gone with the same 19 skaters and goaltending tandem.
STANDINGS: Now with seven points, Miami pulled to within one point of both Colorado College and St. Cloud State. The RedHawks are also within striking distance of Omaha (nine points) and Arizona State (10).
MU slipped to No. 23 in the NPI, which replaced the PairWise this season.
FINAL THOUGHTS: As we saw in this game, Miami still has work to do in closing out wins, but unlike the previous few seasons when the RedHawks had the reverse King Midas touch where they magically turned wins into late losses, they battled back and salvaged two points.
This rejuvenated fusion of confidence, fitness and superlative effort has finally become the standard every night, breaking a cycle of suck that has permeated this program for nearly a decade.
Yes, Miami is still in the NCHC cellar, a point behind Colorado College and St. Cloud State, but the RedHawks have proven to opponents they are no longer conference roadkill.
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