Colorado Eagles Fall Short in Third Straight Game

On Wednesday night, the Colorado Eagles took on the Coachella Valley Firebirds for the third time this season. Their previous two meetings in Loveland, Colorado ended in overtime victories for the Eagles in November. This is the first time that the Eagles will ever play in Acrisure Arena in Palm Desert, California. It is a new facility that was built just this year and tonight was only the fifth game in the new arena. Dropping their last two games, the Eagles had a must win in front of them. 

First Period 

The period started off a bit lopsided as the Firebirds took control early in the game. The Firebirds showed they have been a team that has stuck together all year, unlike the Eagles. As the first period got going, it was obvious the Firebirds were going to dominate the game with their puck possession in the Eagles’ zone and throw as many shots on Colorado goaltender Justus Annunen as they could.

There was a lot of play down low in the period as the Firebirds pushed the puck on net. Then, with 9:05 left in the first, the Coachella Valley took charge with the first goal of the game. Jimmy Schuldt threw the puck down the nearside boards behind the net for Austin Poganski. He then passed it to Andrew Poturalski for a shot in front of the net over Annunen’s back. The best chance for the Eagles came on Charles Hudon‘s shot with 1:14 left. Overall, it was a disappointing period.

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Second Period

Annunen was the star of the show in the second period as he held the Eagles in the game. Despite being peppered with 12 shots on net, He held the Firebirds to no goals in the period. The Eagles were even able to survive a penalty after Ryan Wagner was put in the box for holding. Jean-Luc  Foudy put the Eagles on the board late in the period with a breakaway and a shot over Joey Daccord’s shoulder. Wyatt Aamodt threw a long stretch pass from the far side corner to lead Foudy right into the offensive zone in stride. The defense kept up their stellar play as they continued to block shots and kill the clock in their own zone.

Third Period

The Eagles appeared to come out of the gate for third with a little more energy as they skated harder.  Unfortunately, the Eagles could not hold on as the Firebirds just kept throwing rubber on net. Poganski scored for the Firebirds, gaining his second point of the night, give Coachella Valley the 2-1 lead. Luke Henman started what appeared to be a cycle in the corner but saw Poganski driving hard for the slot. Henman passed to Poganski, who threw the puck over Annunen’s glove.

Hudon was able to tie the game up for the Eagles, 2-2, during a power play with a pass from Alex Galchenyuk and a hard slap shot into the back of the net. John Hayden of the Firebirds took advantage of a Foudy penalty by scoring five seconds into it. Hayden crashed the net looking for a rebound off a Max McCormick shot and tapped it over Annunen’s leg. 

The Eagles ended up falling to the Firebirds, 4-2, after McCormick scored the final blow on Colorado’s empty net.

Conclusion

The Eagles were struggling to get the puck out of the defensive zone the whole game. It had a snowball effect making it so the Eagles could not transition very well into their offensive game, or lack thereof. The Eagles only finished the game with 19 shots on goal and allowed 34 by the Firebirds. The only reason the score wasn’t as bad as it could have been was because of Annunen. Considering the circumstances, he played a fantastic game. It was the team in front of him that failed.

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