LOVELAND, Colo. — The Colorado Eagles were coming home after a successful road trip out west to battle the Rockford IceHogs (CHI). The two teams had not played each other for two years, but they did not act like it. With their NHL affiliates being division rivals, the blood was boiling before the games started on Friday night. Rockford has three top-ten scorers in the AHL and is second in the Central Division. So everyone knew the games were going to be fast-paced and high- scoring. The two would almost break even for the weekend, playing two completely different games on two nights.

Friday Night: 5–0 victory

The Eagles have been in the same power play slump as the Colorado Avalanche have been. They were getting the looks, but could not convert at all. On opening night, the Eagles converted three of four chances, but have gone zero of fourteen since. On Friday night that changed for the Eagles as they converted all three of their opportunities. Tristen Nielsen sent the puck to the back of the net for the second time in two games, scoring just eight seconds into the chance. Captain Jayson Megna created a screen in front of goaltender Drew Commesso.

“I think you’re going to go through lulls, and at times, I think it’s my job and the staff’s job is not to overreact,” said head coach Mark Letestu. “Maybe the avalanche helped us by taking the Sean and Goose and shake up the lines and the chemistry fixed. They’re a big part of it, too. It’s just a matter of time when guys have a track record of success and again, they care about each other. It’s good to see it do at home ice. We needed to separate from some teams where we’ve been playing one goal games for long periods of time. So to separate from them, power play was key in that.”

Goaltender Kyle Keyser bounced back from a horrible game on Sunday with his first Eagles shutout. In a game that would see six power plays for the IceHogs, Keyser stopped all 25 shots. Rockford players were getting frustrated with him to the point of running him over. Defenseman Sean Behrens had none of it and would immediately start fighting former Avalanche Dominic Toninato for the run. Compared to his game over the weekend, Keyser was more in position and handled the pressure a lot better. Keyser now holds a record of 1-1-0-1 with a .925 save percentage and 1.51 goals allowed average.

Despite Danil Gushchin and Jack Ahcan being recalled earlier in the day on Friday, the offense prevailed. Gushchin led the AHL in goals and had scored 40 percent of the Eagles’ goals. So, it was going to be a sizeable gap to fill for Colorado. Behrens took over the role of quarterbacking the power play for Ahcan, and it finally clicked. Not that Ahcan is bad (he is fantastic), the mix-up is exactly what the Eagles needed to spark the power play.

Coach Letestu interview October 24, 2025

Jayson Megna interview October 24, 2025

Saturday Night: 4–0 loss

The Eagles’ defense, which is normally a great shutdown defense, struggled on Saturday night. Three of the Rockford goals were on the rush. The first goal was a horrible turnover in the neutral zone, leaving Wyatt Aamodt hanging on an odd-man rush.

Former University of Denver Pioneer and Fort Collins native, Aidan Thompson, was on a payback mission from Friday. Thompson saw the penalty box twice, once after fighting with former teammate Sean Behrens. But on Saturday, Thompson’s collegiate skills came through. He earned an assist on the first goal for Rockford and scored his first goal of the season.

The Eagles were getting chances in the offensive zone against the IceHogs. Colorado outshot Rockford 38–23, but Drew Commesso was on fire. Tristen Nielsen and Alex Barré-Boulet had the best chances throughout the game, but saw only a red sweater in their way. It was completely the opposite of the game that was played on Friday, with the IceHogs producing all the offense.

Up Next

The Eagles will take on the Bakersfield Condors (EDM) on Tuesday at Blue Arena in Loveland. AHLTV on FloHockey.com will stream the game.