The Colorado Eagles arrived in Calgary for the first game of a six-game road trip. Colorado maintains a tenuous hold on second place in the Pacific Division, with the Ontario Reign (LAK) three points ahead. The San Jose Barracuda (SJS) are hot on the Eagles’ heels, only two points behind.

On paper, this game looked like an easy win. Calgary is in ninth place in the Pacific with a record of 20–30–10–4. They are 1–8–0–1 in their last ten games. So far this season, the Eagles are 4–0–1–0 against Calgary, but these days, there’s no such thing as an “easy win” for Colorado. They’ve struggled lately, as detailed here and here. They’ve developed a bad habit of giving up leads late in the game and are 4–3–1–2 in their last ten games. The Avalanche sent forward Gavin Brindley to the Eagles, which should provide some much-needed offensive power, but he didn’t arrive in Calgary in time for today’s game.

Former Avalanche and Eagle goalie Ivan Prosvetov started in net for Calgary. Trent Miner was the netminder for the Eagles.

First Period

It was a wild first period. The Eagles scored three goals, including two on the power play. The first goal was Maroš Jedlička, scoring his third of the season exactly nine minutes into the period. Mark Senden and Jack Ahcan assisted him on the play.

Four minutes later, Daniil Miromanov went to the box for cross-checking. Tye Felhaber scored on the ensuing power play, his 15th of the season, assisted by Tristen Nielsen and Jacob MacDonald.

Calgary scored its lone goal of the period one minute later. Clark Bishop got credit for the goal, but Keaton Middleton’s skate actually directed the puck into the net for an own-goal. At 16:04 of the period, Bishop went to the box for a high-sticking double minor. Alex Barré-Boulet scored at 19:04 of the period.

He was assisted on the goal by Danil Gushchin  and Ahcan. It’s Ahcan’s 38th point of the season. The Eagles went to intermission up 3–1 after outshooting the Wranglers 19–4.

Second Period

At 4:32 of the second, Justin Kirkland went to the box for high-sticking, resulting in Colorado’s third power-play goal of the night, this time by Gushchin.

It was Guschin’s 17th goal of the season.

Just over a minute later, Calgary scored its second goal of the game. At 10:43, Turner Ottenbreit added another goal, making the score 4–3. At that point, the Wranglers only had nine shots on goal, but had three goals to show for it. For just a few minutes, it felt like it might turn into another lost-lead situation for the Eagles. However, a flurry of penalties late in the period resulted in a five-on-three power play for the Eagles. Ahcan took the opportunity to put the EagIes up 5–3, a score that would hold through the second intermission.

Third Period

The first half of the period passed with no scoring (although there was one near goal — more about that below). At 9:03 of the period, the Eagles got their sixth power play of the night, allowing Nielsen to score his second goal of the night.


It was Nielsen’s 24th goal of the season, marking a new career high for him. The Eagles didn’t let up, but didn’t score again, walking away with a 6–3 victory.

Takeaways

I mentioned in my last article that Ahcan has quietly become the backbone of this team. He plays on both the power play and the penalty kill. He’s fast and provides extra offensive power, but he’s also incredibly strong on the defensive side of the puck. Today’s game included multiple examples of his two-sided effectiveness. Not only did he have four points (one goal and three assists), he also saved a goal that slipped behind Trent Miner.

Ahcan wasn’t the only player with a multi-point night. Nielsen and T.J. Tynan each earned three points (one goal, two assists for Nielsen and three assists for Tynan). Barré-Boulet and Gushchin each had one goal and one assist. It was an all-around dominant performance by the Eagles.

After struggling on the power play over the last couple of months, the Eagles went five for nine on the power play against Calgary. Granted, Calgary’s penalty kill is bottom of the league, but it’s still a step in the right direction.

Up Next

The Eagles will face Calgary again on Sunday at 1:00 pm Mountain Time. AHLTV on FloHockey.com will stream the game.