LOVELAND, Colo. — The Colorado Eagles were coming home after winning three of four games on the road. Winning on the road has been a challenge, but doing it at home has not been. So the expectation coming into Blue Arena on Friday night would be that the home crowd would help. The battle was against the Texas Stars, one of the best teams in the American Hockey League last season. Three players left the program and joined the Eagles, making it a game to prove superiority for Colorado. Unfortunately, that was not the case.
Quick hits
- Colorado kept throwing the puck up the middle in their own zone, and Texas took advantage of it. After three attempts, the Stars charged and tried to steal the puck. This led to offensive zone chances for the Stars and even their third goal.
“I really liked her first period,” head coach Aaron Schneekloth said. “I thought we did a great job. We had them on their heels. I thought we could capitalize on some chances. It didn’t go, and it didn’t bother us. The second period was fine. And then the third period and we fought hard to tie the game up. Next shift, we take a penalty. So now we’re on the kill. And then just a couple of plays where we didn’t execute and execute and that’s an opportunistic team with some dangerous goalscorers and they capitalize on a couple of our own turnovers. There are two goals and the third came right off our stick. Gotta be ready to execute and compete for 60 minutes.”
- The Eagles failed to clear the puck out of their own zone when they had the chances. The third goal by the Stars was a failed breakout by the Eagles and Texas walked in to shoot the puck unopposed.
An unbelievable pass from Mav and Tank with the finish 👏 pic.twitter.com/iSDbw5axig
— Texas Stars (@TexasStars) November 25, 2023
- The Eagles’ pressure in the Texas zone let up later in the game. Colorado put a ton of pressure on the Stars early in the game and plenty of opportunities in the first. As the game progressed, those opportunities became less and less.
Cedric Pare finally breaks through for the Eagles with the handoff from Alex Beaucage. Tie game. #Avs #GoAvsGo #EaglesCountry @TheRinkColorado pic.twitter.com/581NfamEGs
— Brennan Vogt (@brennan_vogt) November 25, 2023
Texas has had a similar performance this year as they did last season. They are dominating the Central Division and continue to do so this year. The Eagles are still trying to find their wings under coach Schneekloth, but now only stand two points behind them in the conference standings. The Saturday matinee game in Loveland will determine if the Stars could grasp a lead on the Eagles, but they will make adjustments.