Eagles Rock Rockford In 6-2 Win

As of last night, the Colorado Eagles were in fourth place in the Pacific Division. The Eagles were trying to narrow the gap with Abbotsford as they played the Rockford IceHogs on Friday. Colorado had not played since Sunday, giving the team a little bit of a chance to rest and recover. The Eagles would come into the game and rocked Rockford in game one of the two game set.

First Period 

What started as a really loose game with neither team having real control, Rockford was able to strike first. About four minutes into the period, Luke Martin tried to clear the puck down the far side boards but it was cut off by David Gust. He sent a pass to Luke Philp just behind the goal line. Gust centered the puck for Michal Teply to slam it past goaltender Keith Kinkaid for the early 1-0 lead.

The Eagles would hit back later in the period. On what looked like a turnover by Colorado, Alex Beaucage went hard behind the Rockford net on the forecheck to steal the puck. He centered it over to Charles Hudon on the other side of the slot for a wicked wrister past goaltender Jaxson Stauber, tying the game at 1-1. With four minutes left, Wyatt Aamodt sent a zone exit pass up to the wall to Spencer Smallman. He tipped it over to Gustav Rydahl, busting through three defenders, and Rydahl swung the shot in for a 2-1 lead.

Second Period

The second period went back and forth for a couple of minutes with Colorado killing off too many men penalty in the process. It all went wrong when Keaton Middleton got hit with a interference penalty and sent Rockford on the power play. The IceHogs got set up in the zone and started to cycle the puck. David Gust sent it up to Jakub Galvas at the top of the slot. Galvas passed over to Brett Seney for a one-timer goal and to tie it up at two.

It did not take long for the Eagles to strike back as they scored just 39 seconds later. Sampo Ranta picked up a rebound in the right circle and immediately got to Ryan Merkley at the point. Merkley flung a shot in and it deflected off of Mikhail Maltsev right into the net for a 3-2 lead.

Around The AHL

• Wranglers End Season in Series Loss to Firebirds
• Wranglers Advance, Set To Play Coachella Valley This Week
• Eagles Lose Game 5, Eliminated From Playoffs
• Expanded AHL Playoffs Don’t Quite Pay Off
• Firebirds Tie Series on True’s Shorthanded Stunner

Third Period 

About one minute into the period, Colorado continued to roll. Ben Meyers carried the puck in on the right side and rocketed a pass across the slot to Beaucage. He shot it and it bounced on the top of the net and rolled down Stauber’s back into the cage for a 4-2 lead. Halfway through the third, Rocco Grimaldi headed down the wall. He turned it over to Oskar Olausson, who skated past the Rockford goal, turned, and tossed it to Smallman in the slot for a 5-2 lead.

The Eagles wrapped the game up with seven and a half minutes left as Rydahl went down the far side and took a shot but managed his own rebound. As Rydahl wrapped around the goal and up to the point, he left the puck for Smallman. He nailed in his second goal of the night to make it 6-2, Eagles.

Conclusion

Surprisingly, the Eagles played a heavy forechecking game last night and it paid off. They kept the pressure on the IceHogs all night and created turnovers, one that led directly to a goal. It may have been the breath of fresh air that Colorado got from not playing the same two teams, or an improvement in the defensive structure. Either way, it paid off and Colorado walked away with the victory in game one of the weekend.