In the record books, No. 3 Denver left Baxter Arena with a 5-2 win over Omaha on Saturday.

The Mavericks, however, felt like their NCHC series finale with the Pioneers was there to be taken.

Omaha (20-14) held a 2-1 lead until Carter Savoie scored on a power play with 9:03 left to pull the Pioneers (23-8-1) even. Consecutive penalties on the Mavericks, the second of which was a five-minute major, set the stage for the final result. Denver scored twice on the ensuing power play to pull in front.

Coach Mike Gabinet called it "a disappointing loss" for his squad. Prior to the Savoie goal, Omaha had held the top scoring team in the nation (at 4.53 goals per game) to only two goals through the first 109 minutes of the weekend series. The 5-on-3 advantage, with a major mixed in, ultimately did it in.

"All in all, a great weekend of hockey by our group, except for the last 10 minutes," he said. "Obviously, we're shorthanded there. And they capitalized on their power play and, ultimately, won the game."

For the second consecutive night, the Mavericks jumped on the Pioneers early. Forward Joey Abate opened the scoring just 2:55 in, giving Omaha an advantage it would keep through two periods.

Taylor Ward made it 2-0 with his nation-leading 12th power-play goal of the season in the second. Denver, however, cut Omaha's lead back to one shortly after when Brett Stapley scored while at even strength.

Savoie's goal tied it up. The Mavericks were then penalized for having too many men on the ice just before Jimmy Glynn was tagged for the major and a game misconduct for hitting from behind.

The Pioneers got goals from Mike Benning and Cameron Wright during the ensuing power play to take the lead. Benning added an empty-netter in the final minute as Denver salvaged a series split on Saturday.

"We had them for the entire game," Abate said. "I thought, all weekend, we had five really good periods. Just the last one there kind of got away from us – a couple of penalties. They're a good team. They score goals."

Omaha remained in sixth place in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference coming out of the weekend. It has one series remaining in the regular season – a home tilt next week against North Dakota.

The No. 7 Fighting Hawks will be trying to clinch the league title when they come to Omaha. The Mavericks, meanwhile, will attempt to build off a weekend in which it went toe-to-toe with Denver.

"If you ask a lot of people, they're probably a [No.] 1, 2 or 3 team in the country," Gabinet said. "And just to play the way we did, it's impressive. It's impressive just how far our group continues to build and get better.

"Again, I give the guys a lot of credit in that locker room. They're committed to working and getting better, and learning and growing, and accepting responsibility to improve. When you have a group like that, and a program committed to that, that's what happens. Weekends like this happen."