The injury-depleted Rampart Rams mounted two comebacks but could not manage a third as Cheyenne Mountain pulled away for a 9-4 victory Monday in the Peak Conference opener for both high school hockey teams at Sertich Ice Center.

Standing in the way of Rampart’s final comeback was Indians junior Brian Suslow, who scored twice about three minutes apart in the third period to stop the winless Rams.

His two scores, which gave him a hat trick on the night, made it 7-4 after Rampart (0-3, 0-1 Peak) cut the lead to one on Kyle Martinaitis’ second goal only 88 seconds into the third.

For Suslow, it was simply a matter of elevating their compete level.

“We outworked them, especially late in the third period,” Suslow said.

That response could make the Indians a league contender this winter. The balanced Cheyenne Mountain attack featured strong puck possession, which generated three Rampart penalties. The Indians converted all three power plays.

“We may not be the most talented group, but we could end up being a pretty good team,” coach Erik Austin said. “Suslow’s performance is a testament to how hard he has worked to transform his body. He shoots like a man.”

The game had a wild beginning with five goals in the first 10:16 of the first period. Cheyenne Mountain (2-0, 1-0) scored two goals only 48 seconds apart, including Suslow’s first tally. That was followed up with a power-play strike by Matthew White 79 seconds later for a 3-0 lead.

Veteran Rampart coach Josh McIntosh called timeout after that 127-second-long onslaught and the Rams soon mounted their first comeback with Martinaitis and Wesley Moore scoring to make it 3-2 with 6:44 left in the first period.

The defenses settled down before the Indians pulled away again with a goal for Trevor Taylor midway through the second period and the eventual game-winner by Shawn Herlihy for a 5-2 lead with 3:42 remaining. But the Rams, who are now missing five players due to injury, had one more comeback attempt in them.

Chad Watkins scored with 1:15 left in the second and Martinaitis scored 88 seconds into the third to make it 5-4 before Suslow and the Indians elevated their play to clinch the victory in a game they never trailed.

Martinaitis said the Rams must dig deep to succeed in a season already rife with injuries. That now includes sophomore defenseman Patrick McCann, who suffered a broken arm Monday.

“We didn’t give up when we were down 3-0 or down 5-2,” Martinaitis said. “We know if we keeping working hard we will get wins.”