Denver, North Dakota Skate To 1-1 Tie

GRAND FORKS, N.D. (AP) — North Dakota lost another third-period lead as Denver rallied to tie the Fighting Hawks 1-1 Friday in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference.

After a scoreless 5-on-5 overtime, Dakota's Shane Gersich scored with 1:32 left in 3-on-3 to give the Hawks the extra point.

Gersich broke in on net, did a 360-degree spin and backhanded a shot over the shoulder of Denver goalie Tanner Jaillet to earn the extra point in the standings.

"He made a heck of a shot to score that goal and we needed that desperately," North Dakota coach Brad Berry said.

Sixth-ranked UND needed the lift as it is 0-3-2 in its last five games after starting the year 5-0-0 and holding the No. 1 ranking.

The Hawks (5-3-2, 0-2-1-1 NCHC) took a 1-0 lead on Cole Smith's goal at 1:05 of the third period. But like they did four times at Minnesota last Friday, they gave up the lead.

But Henrik Borgstrom scored for second-ranked Denver (6-2-1, 2-0-1-0) on the power play at 14:47 to tie the game and force overtime. It was the only power-play goal of the evening.

"Whether the penalties were warranted or not, we've got to remain disciplined," Berry said. "That took us out of our game a little bit in the first period and overtime."

UND had to kill off a two-minute power play in the first five-minute overtime.

It was scoreless after two periods when North Dakota gritted out a goal.

Austin Poganski took the puck at his own blue line and broke up the right side. He chipped the puck around a Denver defender, reacquired the puck and centered it to Cole Smith. Smith then redirected it past Jaillet at 1:05 of the third period.

It stayed that way until just 5:13 remained when Borgstrom scored on the power play. Rhett Gardner was in the box for interference.

Jaillet made 29 saves, while Cam Johnson stopped 24 for North Dakota. Jaillet is the leading goalie in the NCHC in goals against average (1.73).

Last season, the teams split four games during regular matchups and tied 1-1 in the NCHC Frozen Faceoff third-place game.

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