Calgary, Colorado Combine for 11 Goals on Pot of Gold Night

LOVELAND, Colo. – On Saturday evening, the Colorado Eagles hosted their Pot of Gold Night, an annual event & auction to help individuals in need. The previous evening, the Eagles had defeated the Pacific Division and league leading Calgary Wranglers by a score of 3-1. Could Colorado make it a weekend sweep with a little luck?

FIRST PERIOD

The Eagles began the evening with a harbinger of things to come. After defenseman Ryan Merkley received the puck at the center blue line, he passed to forward Oskar Olausson on the left wing. Just inside the left faceoff circle, Olausson wristed a shot past Calgary netminder Dustin Wolf to give Colorado a power play goal at 3:59 of the first.

Olausson had last scored on February 4 against Henderson, so getting back on the scoresheet was a breakthrough for the Swede. “(Feels) really good, actually,” Olausson commented post-game with Full Press Hockey. “Ten games is a long time without a goal scored. It feels good.”

Colorado struck again when forward Alex Beaucage deflected the puck off a Calgary defender into the Wranglers’ zone. Centerman Alex Galchenyuk corralled the puck, firing a wrist shot past Wolf to give the Eagles a 2-0 lead midway through the first. Calgary answered back at 12:52 of period one after forward Ben Jones jammed the puck past Colorado goaltender Justus Annunen during a power play scramble in front.

SECOND PERIOD

Both teams played a much more balanced style in the second period, yielding only a single goal between the two. Even with three Eagles minor penalties to the Wranglers’ one, the lone goal of the frame was scored at even strength. Calgary defenseman Jeremie Poirier grabbed the puck in front after a Adam Klapka shot bounced off Annunen’s pads. Poirier switched to his backhand and smoothly scored to make it 2-2 at 15:48 in the second segment of play.

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THIRD PERIOD

The third period was a showcase of special teams for Colorado. Calgary took the lead after NHL Trade Deadline addition Dryden Hunt was left all alone on Annunen’s doorstep. Hunt deked and tucked the puck into the back of the net to make it 3-2 Wranglers at 3:43 of the third. After that, the Eagles scored not one, not two, but THREE power play goals in a row (two from forward Charles Hudon and one from Galchenyuk) to make it 5-3 with just 3:47 remaining in regulation.

Then, the Wranglers mounted a comeback. Calgary pulled Wolf for an extra attacker with around 3:20 left. Just ten seconds later, forward Emilio Pettersen banked a shot off the side of Annunen’s mask up high and in. After another goalie pull for an extra attacker, forward Matthew Phillips grabbed a rebound off to the side of Annunen after an initial shot and scramble in front. The Wranglers tied it up 5-5 on Phillips’ strike – two Calgary goals in the span of 49 seconds. The push was enough for the Wranglers to force overtime.

OVERTIME AND SHOOTOUT

In the extra frame of play, the Eagles started out as the aggressor. Two proper shots on goal from Merkley and Galchenyuk gave way to Calgary maintaining possession for the rest of the five-minute OT. Only centerman Ben Jones put a shot on Annunen for the Wranglers in the dying moments of the overtime period.

In the shootout, it was Calgary’s second shooter, Jerimie Poirier, whose slow and steady progression towards the net and snap shot beat Annunen blocker side. Poirier proved to be all that Calgary needed to defeat Colorado, as none of the three Eagles shooters could get one by Dustin Wolf in the shootout.

The Wranglers snatched a victory from the Eagles by a score of 6-5.

COACH CRONIN’S CORNER

In spite of the crushing defeat, Colorado head coach Greg Cronin was not dismayed by the effort given by his team.

“I’m proud of the way we played,” said Cronin. “We were down bodies – we’d been down bodies coming into the game, and then we lose a few more during the game. We just keep battling. We get three power play goals and score five goals on the best goalie in the league – we deserved the better fate.”

Returning from injury this weekend was forward Alex Galchenyuk, who hadn’t played since February 4 against Henderson. In the two games against Calgary, he scored three goals and had two secondary assists from the Hudon power play goals. Cronin mentioned that his presence was sorely missed.

“It’s great,” a relieved Cronin admitted. “I won’t go through the players we’ve lost – Megna, Maltsev, Foudy, keep going on down the list. To have somebody of this caliber come back and just fill that one hole was awesome. It obviously reflected on the power play. I thought he and Hudon – two of our offensive guys – played a terrific weekend.”

Lastly, forward Gustav Rydahl made his Colorado Eagles debut tonight after being acquired by the Avalanche at the NHL Trade Deadline. Rydahl registered two shots on goal and was utilized on the power play. While that may not scream impressive from the statsheet, Coach Cronin begs to differ on the Eagles’ latest edition.

“He’s good; he’s a smart player,” Cronin praised. “You can see he’s got good pace. He came in last night at 1:30 in the morning. High altitude game; he played well. So I think he’s going to continue to get better for us.”

The Eagles now head out on a six-game road trip, starting with another two games against the Wranglers in Calgary on Tuesday, March 7 and Wednesday, March 8 (both games at 7:00pm MST).

Colorado will then face Abbotsford on Saturday, March 11 (7:00pm PST) and Sunday, March 12 (4:00pm MST) before heading to Rockford to play the IceHogs on Friday, March 17 and Saturday, March 18 (both games 7:00pm CST).

The Eagles’ next home game will be against San Jose on Tuesday, March 21 (7:05pm MST).