Boston University denied spot in NCAA men’s hockey championship game by Denver in OT

Broz went on a solo rush up the wing, with traffic filling the middle, and zipped a shot under the pads of BU netminder Mathieu Caron (27 saves).

As Denver dogpiled, the heartbroken goalie sat split-legged on the ice as his forlorn teammates consoled him. Caron, a junior transfer from Brown, lifted BU to overtime with some of his best work of the season.

“I’m just very thankful for the chance to have played with [his teammates],” said Caron, who played in all 40 games this season. “I think everyone had an amazing year. Every single guy grew, not only as a hockey player but as a person.”

Caron swelled to Bunyanesque proportions as the game wore on. Prior to the winner, he stopped Broz and Jack Devine, Denver’s leading goal scorer. His pair of diving glove saves in regulation kept it tied.

“Probably be on ‘SportsCenter’ a couple times tomorrow morning,” Terriers captain Case McCarthy said of Caron.

While BU had to kill four penalties, their third-ranked power play was mothballed. The Terriers started overtime with 47 seconds left on a Dylan Peterson boarding minor.

BU coach Jay Pandolfo may have been sending a message at night’s end. After a video review following Broz’s winner, referee Andrew Bruggeman said words that will ring on Commonwealth Ave. for years:

“At the end of the game, Boston University challenged for a missed major penalty,’ Bruggeman said. “There was no missed major penalty.”

Pandolfo said afterward he was looking for an uncalled cross-check.

“I don’t know, you guys watched the game,” Pandolfo said, when asked about the imbalance. “I don’t know if there were any penalties out there or not.

“That’s not the reason we lost the game. We had to find a way to put teams away five on five. We didn’t do that.”

BU, which lost to Minnesota in a national semifinal last year in Tampa, got point-blank chances early in overtime from Lane Hutson and Nick Zabaneh. Macklin Celebrini hammered a give-and-go one-timer wide at 12:56, causing Denver coach David Carle to take a timeout.

Less than two minutes later: a rush, a shot, and a second straight BU loss in the Frozen Four.

“Just a great hockey game,” said Carle, whose team has a chance to win its 10th national crown Saturday.

BU (28-9-3), the second overall seed in the tournament, dominated for most of the first half of the game, opening the scoring on a shorthanded breakaway strike from senior Luke Tuch. Third-seeded Denver (31-9-3), though, pulled even thanks to a rare turnover by Hutson, whose gaffe let Denver’s Tristan Lemyre tie it in the second.

The Terriers, still looking for their first NCAA title since 2009, were in command for much of the night, stifling Denver’s offense and jumping on the attack. But Peterson, a senior winger, was forechecking too hard when he nailed Denver defenseman Sean Behrens into the boards from behind with 1:13 left. The play was reviewed for a possible major penalty, but remained a minor.

Grad student Sam Stevens sold out to block a slapper on the power play, and Caron made a save on Denver sniper Massimo Rizzo in the final seconds of regulation.

“The penalty kill was excellent from the goalie on out,” Pandolfo said. “They were sacrificing. We were pretty confident they were going to get the job done.”

After Tuch opened the scoring at 7:45 of the first, the Terriers held the Pioneers without a shot the rest of the period. Caron also went nearly 10 minutes in the second without making a save. But Caron was busy in the five minutes before intermission, Denver stretching out the BU defense and tying the game.

Lemyre, a little-used sophomore forward, was skating his second shift of the night, Carle said, when he tied it on a stuff-in with 4:39 left in the second.

After BU defenseman Tom Willander was hobbled by a Miko Matikka shot, Hutson tried to reverse the puck behind the net to his partner. Matikka picked it off and found Lemyre in front for the tying goal, his second of the season.

Caron made his best save of the opening 40 in the final minute of the second. Aidan Thompson had Caron swimming with a shifty move, but the netminder dove back toward the net to snag the puck. He made a similar save at the end of a third-period penalty kill, leading with his trapper to keep it tied.

BU — which outshot Denver, 20-11, in the opening 40 minutes — had its first chance 45 seconds in. Celebrini one-timed a give-and-go into the chest of Denver goalie Matt Davis (33 saves), who was under siege in the first half. His team was outshot, 10-3, in the first.

“Any time we put the puck behind them, we had success,” Pandolfo said. “We didn’t create enough of that tonight after the way we played in the first half of the game.”

The Terriers went ahead when Tuch collected a turnover out high and raced past Devine, zipping his 10th of the season top-shelf at 7:45. After Tuch’s shorthanded goal, Denver didn’t put a shot on goal the remaining 12:15 of the period.

Celebrini — who quickly rose after Behrens dropped him with an open-ice shoulder hit late in the first — had a game-high seven shots and was 15 of 22 on faceoffs. The likely No. 1 overall pick in the NHL draft was dangerous and creative. As were many of his teammates.

Until they lost their grip.

“The margin of error in these one-and-dones, it’s very slim,” Pandolfo said. “We made some mistakes that cost us, and there’s no tomorrow for us.”

Matt Porter can be reached at matthew.porter@globe.com. Follow him @mattyports.