Eagles Down Two Top Six Forwards; Lose to Stars

Photo Credit: Colorado Eagles

Loveland, CO-The Colorado Eagles came home last night to kick off their four-game homestand against the Texas Stars. The Eagles went into the game third in the Pacific Division and only one point ahead of the Abbotsford Canucks. A win was crucial to maintaining their position in the division. Unfortunately, two top-six forwards for the Eagles would miss the game due to upper body injuries. Jean-Luc Foudy and Alex Galchenyuk, both in the top five in scoring on the team, are listed as day-to-day. 

First Period

Fans did not have long to settle into their seats before the scoring got started with the Stars. With the face-off in the Eagles’ end, Texas won the draw and got the puck back to Curtis McKenzie on the right side of the circle. He snapped the puck through the crowd and caught goaltender Justus Annunen for the 1-0 lead for Texas. Colorado struck back seven minutes later as Oskar Olausson carried the puck down the side boards. Josh Jacobs slid down the slot and took the cross ice pass from Olausson. Jacobs flung a wrister past goaltender  Matthew Murray to tie it up. Five minutes later, as Charles Hudon went to the box, Callahan Burke managed to breakaway and snap in a shorthanded goal to give the Eagles the lead, 2-1. On the next possession by the Stars, they were able to tie the game back up with a power play goal.  Oskari Laaksonen entered the zone and took it down low to pass to the point to Riley Barber. He sent it to the opposite side to Mckenzie who scored his second goal of the night. 

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Second Period 

The second wasn’t eventful until about halfway through the period. Ben Gleason and Justin Scott got in a little tussle as they both tried to light a fire for their benches. It would not take long for Texas to feel the flame. Thirty seconds after the fight, a rush up the ice by Riley Barber resulted in a shot that Annuen could not handle. The rebound was immediately snatched up by Mavrik Bourque to have the Stars take the lead. 

Third Period

Just one minute into the period, as the Eagles were killing off a penalty, Colorado struck again. Texas turned over the puck right in front of the Eagles bench and the Stars all went for a line change. Anton Blidh stood there looking for the pass and Ben Meyers sped down the ice on the opposite side of the rink. Blidh threw it hard over to Meyers and he walked in for a goal through the five-hole. This tied the game at three goals apiece. Colorado was unable to battle back with another goal but held firm through overtime to get to the shootout. Tanner Kero and Barber were able to score on the first two shots for the Stars. While, Sampo Ranta and Hudon came up empty handed in the shootout for Colorado allowing Texas to take the 4-3 win. 

Conclusion

The Eagles are doing something that the Avalanche are failing to do right now – play in the third period. Colorado was down only a goal to start the period, but never gave up. Coach Greg Cronin said that part of the issue tonight was that they were missing some of their top players. But, their compete level is what he wanted from the team. Especially since Luke Martin, who normally plays defense, played forward last night. Given that two or Colorado’s top forwards were out, they played a fairly decent game against one of the better teams in the league. They even managed to get a point out of it, but fell to fourth in the division behind Abbotsford. The Eagles and the Stars face off tonight at 7PM in Loveland to wrap up the season series.