After shutting out the San Diego Gulls (ANA) on Wednesday night, the Colorado Eagles looked to wrap the series up with a victory at home. If the Eagles win, they will sweep and eliminate the Gulls from the playoffs. So it was simple: win and move on to the Division Semifinals, or lose and play for your lives in an elimination game. Colorado chose the simple route and walked away with a 6–1 victory on Friday night.

First period

Colorado hit the ground running in the opening period against the Gulls. For five minutes, the Eagles constantly rushed the Gulls’ zone, maintaining possession. Less than five minutes in, Ivan Ivan’s shot deflected airborne; Ronnie Attard struck it mid-flight, scoring the game’s initial goal.

The game went back and forth for the next six minutes as the Gulls tried to gain some momentum. Halfway through the first, Colorado was outshooting San Diego 8–4 when the Gulls dumped the puck. Their forecheck forced a turnover, and Noah Warren rocketed a shot from the point for Sasha Pastujov to redirect past Trent Miner.

It took only a minute for the Eagles to respond as Tye Felhaber carried it behind the net. Jayson Megna pinched down the slot and Felhaber nailed a pass right on his stick for the one-timer and the 2–1 lead.

Second period

The middle frame was a completely different type of game than the first period. It was all special teams, with four penalties being called, two for each team. Miner and Damian Clara stood strong in each of their creases, neither of them allowing a goal. Miner took the most shots in a single period (12) in the playoffs to this point, but looked absolutely fantastic.

Third period

Colorado did not go away in the last period. They only pushed harder against the Gulls, and it paid off. They would add four additional goals in the third period. Colorado played a dominate period with one goal coming on the power play, going 1-for-3 in the game. The goals came from Alex Gagne , Matt DiMarsico, Sean Behrens, and Ivan Ivan (empty-net) to make the final 6–1.

Takeaways

Friday night’s game was more like the Eagles team we saw at the start of the season. They were dominant in the offensive zone, often holding onto the puck for two shifts in a row and changing on the fly. They shut down the power play for the Gulls, and they also converted on one of their own chances. After January, this was something that we rarely saw in the same game. The team also distributed the scoring; eleven players had a point, and three of them had multi-point nights. With a healthy Eagles squad at hand, they will play much better against their potential opponent, the Henderson Silver Knights. Colorado was 6–2–0–0 against them this season, but struggled at the end of the season series because of injuries.

Up next

The Eagles move on to the Pacific Division Semifinals and will take on the Henderson Silver Knights (VGK). The series will start on May 1st in Henderson for Game One and Game Two will be on May 4th. The series then moves to Loveland for games 3-5 with the dates being May 6th, 9th*, and 10th*.

*if necessary