Going into Friday’s matchup with No. 3 Denver, Colorado College coach Kris Mayotte was steadfast in preaching to his team that the DU and CC squads who played in January, weren’t the same teams taking the ice on March 4.

That may be so, but the outcome was the same.

DU topped CC 5-0 at Ed Robson Arena, spoiling senior night for the Tigers. DU shutout CC in all three meetings this season.

”We came out with an energy, a little bit, but right from the very first shift they won all the loose puck battles, all the 50-50 battles,” Mayotte said. “And when you don’t win the 50-50s, you don’t touch the puck much.”

PHOTOS: Colorado College vs. Denver

DU opened the contest with a pair of goals in the first period.

The first came off the stick of Bobby Brink, who entered the game as the nation’s points leader with 50. It was his 14th goal of the season.

Then, Cameron Wright netted his 20th of the season. Massimo Rizzo passed to the senior, who was able to slide the puck into a small window. CC goalie Dominic Basse had his back to Wright, and couldn’t turn his head in time.

As the first period came to a close, CC was awarded a five-minute power play after Reid Irwin was called for kneeing. The play wasn’t initially called, and the officials took to the monitor at the behest of the Tiger coaching staff before issuing the major.

The power play, which bled into the second period by 31 seconds didn’t amount to much for the Tigers, who were unable to score.

”We got one shot on seven minutes of power play in the first period,” Mayotte said. “You deflate your own bench. You get your guys you want to have the puck, they get frustrated. It’s a ripple effect. But, it has happened to us enough this year, that we have to get over it. We can’t let it effect the rest of our game.”

DU ended up adding two more goals in the second frame, one from Kyle Mayhew, and the second from Connor Caponi. The Pioneers scored their final goal with three seconds left in the game, coming off the stick of Carter Mazur.

The Tigers, who gave up three power-play goals in the last series with Denver, were able to limit the Pioneers to even-strength goals.

DU had two power-play opportunities in the second period and two more in the third.

”(Our penalty kill) was a little bit better,” Mayotte said. “Basse had some big saves. They still got a lot of the looks that they wanted to get, and they still got a lot of looks at the net. We were fortunate that our goalie got some saves.”

In the third frame, CC nearly scored its first goal against DU this season.

Tommy Middleton fired a shot that was blocked by DU goalie Magnus Chorna. The rebound ended up on the stick of Connor Mayer, who quickly hit the puck. Chorna was able to make a diving save to keep CC scoreless.

The Pioneers outshot the Tigers 37-19 and held a 37-24 advantage in faceoff wins.

After the contest, CC honored its seniors — Brian Hawkinson, Bryan Yoon, Hugo Blixt and Jackson Ross — with a video presentation.

DU will celebrate its senior class on Saturday as the teams close the season at Magness Arena at 7 p.m.