Despite a poor showing Wednesday night by the Colorado Eagles, they definitely made up for it on Friday. The Eagles lost a close one where special teams cost them in a 2–1 loss; they found other ways to score. On Friday night, Colorado scored five unanswered goals to walk away with a 7–3 victory and a 3–2 series lead in the Western Conference Finals against the Chicago Wolves (CAR). The Eagles looked revitalized in Game Five and now will have the home-ice advantage as they come home Sunday night.

First period

Chicago dominated the possession game early against the Eagles as they controlled the puck for the first four minutes of the game. At 4:03 into the game, Evan Vierling ran around the back of the Eagles’ net and sent a pass to Skyler Brind’Amour. He nailed a one-timer past Trent Miner to open the scoring with no problem for the Wolves.

Colorado has been good about staying out of the box while playing in Chicago. Five minutes later. Ivan Ivan committed a penalty away from the play, and the Wolves took advantage. Justin Robidas picked up a loose puck in front of Miner and finished the play to give Chicago a 2–0 lead.

It did not take long for the Eagles to respond after that. Just three minutes later,  Tristen Nielsen threw a shot on Cayden Primeau. Nielsen followed his shot and picked up the rebound to toss it off the skates of a defender and into the back of the net.

Colorado got only one chance on the power play, and they made it count. Nielsen nailed the finish for his second of the game and to tie it up shortly before the end of the period.

Second period

Despite giving up a goal to Bradly Nadeau three minutes into the second period, Colorado was much more agressive in the middle frame. The Eagles responded quickly after the Chicago goal, scoring only 32 seconds later. Gavin Brindley fed a pass to Matt DiMarsico, who launched a shot over Primeau’s shoulder to tie it back up.

Once again, the Eagles had to kill off a penalty as Valtteri Puustinen sat in the penalty box. This time was different, though. Colorado was pushing the play. Jason Polin wrangled a loose puck and fed Taylor Makar in the slot to take the Eagles’ first lead of the game on the shorthanded goal.

Just 45 seconds later, as the penalty expired, Chase Bradley ripped a slapper that gave them a 5–3 lead. Chicago survived two more penalties, but Colorado was pushing to the Wolves’ net the entire time.

Third period

The Eagles entered the third with momentum in their favor. They had to get through the next 20 minutes and they would come home with the lead. As the Wolves played musical chairs with their goaltenders, Colorado bombarded their net with rubber. Primeau had just come back into the game after some equipment issues, and the first shot he saw was from Alex Gagne on the blue line. It found its way through traffic and gave the Eagles a 6–3 lead. Seven minutes later, Ivan unselfishly chipped it to Polin for an empty-net goal. Colorado killed off over four more minutes and walked away with the 7–3 victory.

Takeaways

Colorado not only scored on the power play, but they also scored a shorthanded goal as well. They have allowed two shorthanded goals in this series alone. Chase Bradley nearly made a second shorthanded goal but missed it by mere seconds. The Eagles did not fall into the trap of being drawn into penalties the entire game either. Chicago had nine penalties to Colorado’s five. And their penalty kill unit killed all but one of the three power plays for the Wolves. Five players for Colorado had multi-point games, displaying the depth in scoring that the Eagles have this season. That has carried them this far, and they need to continue to spread the scoring out and make it as unpredictable as they can.

Up next

The Eagles will head back home on Sunday, June 7th, to take on the Chicago Wolves in Game Six of the Western Conference Finals at 6 p.m. Mountain Time. AHLTV on FloHockey.com will stream the game.