On Friday night, Trent Miner had his second career playoff shutout in a row, securing a 1–0 series lead for the Eagles against the Henderson Silver Knights. Prior to that game, Henderson had averaged over four goals per game. Colorado outshot Henderson 33–18 in that game and won 1–0. Tonight, the Eagles will look to take a two-game lead before heading home to finish the best-of-five series in Loveland.

This series is a battle of Captain Megnas. Eagles’ captain Jayson Megna’s brother Jaycob is the captain for the Silver Knights. Henderson is a much bigger team overall than Colorado. They’re bound to come out desperate tonight and will likely play a very physical game. The Silver Knights finished the regular season with the top power play in the league, so continuing to stay out of the box will be critical for the Eagles. Colorado only committed one penalty against Henderson in game one.

Jack Ahcan didn’t play tonight. He’s now missed two of the last three games. He must be nursing a nagging injury. If healthy, he’s far too important to this team to be scratched.

Recap

A turnover by Taylor Makar near the boards resulted in Braeden Bowman giving Henderson an early 1–0 lead at 7:12 of the first period. At 13:17 of the first, it appeared that Henderson scored again. However after some discussion, the refs waved it off. On review, Ben Hemmerling elbowed Miner in the head on his way past.

The Eagles were granted a power play due to goaltender interference, but failed to capitalize. They went to first intermission down 1–0.

The Eagles came out firing in the second. They had multiple high-risk chances but couldn’t solve Carl Lindbom Intil Makar caused a turnover near the blue line, allowing T.J. Hughes to tie the game.

Approximately six minutes later, Alex Barré-Boulet scored off the faceoff to give the Eagles their first lead of the night.

Unfortunately, Lukas Cormier scored three and a half minutes later, tying the game at two.

A series of penalties resulted in the Eagles being on the kill for the first five minutes of the third. At 6:49, Tristen Nielsen had a mini-breakaway. Rather than shooting, he passed the puck to Barré-Boulet, who passed it to T.J. Tynan, who put it home.

But once again, the lead was short-lived. Henderson’s Mitch McLain scored only 28 seconds later, tying the game at three. Both teams had some great chances and both goalies had some amazing saves, but nobody could score again in the third and the game went to overtime.

It looked bad when the Eagles took a penalty just 1:26 into overtime, but their penalty kill held strong. The Eagles also had a power play late in overtime, but once again, they couldn’t score. A little over a minute into double overtime, Gavin Brindley went to the box for holding. Henderson scored on the ensuing power play, tying the series at one apiece.

Takeaways

Much like Colorado, Henderson plays a fast game. One quirk: anytime they gain control of the puck, their forwards immediately turn and rush down the ice. This gives them a lot of scary odd-man rushes, but it also leaves their defensemen high and dry in the event of a turnover. This is exactly how Makar and Hughes scored the Eagles’ first goal.

T.J. Tynan, who only had three goals all season (along with 47 assists!), already has two goals in the playoffs.

The Eagles had some truly ugly games late in the regular season, which caused me to doubt them heading into the playoffs. I’m happy to report that my doubt seems to have been unwarranted. The Eagles have mostly played well so far in the postseason. They’ve been disciplined and maintained focus even when things got chippy. Tonight, Colorado only had two penalties in regulation. Unfortunately, they also had two in overtime. They survived the first one but couldn’t survive the second. Even more annoying: the Eagles had three power plays of their own — one in overtime — and couldn’t convert on any of them, even though Henderson’s penalty kill is one of the worst in the league.

Outside of their anemic power play, my biggest complaint about Colorado’s game is that they sometimes needlessly chip the puck down the ice and lose possession rather than controlling play. A prime example: the Eagles won the face-off to start overtime, but rather than maintaining control, Keaton Middleton immediately tossed it across the red line, right to the Knights. There were multiple other instances (especially in overtime) where they opted to chip and chase despite having other options. Sometimes it’s to get a line change, but too often it’s for no good reason whatsoever. It nearly cost them more than once in the extra frame.

Up Next

The Eagles head back to Colorado for the remainder of the series. Game three will be Wednesday, May 6 at 7:05 Mountain Time. If needed, games four and five will be played on Saturday and Sunday. AHLTV on FloHockey.com will stream the game.