The Colorado Eagles found their stride at just the right time. Despite snapping a winning streak while on the road in San Diego, the team jumped back to their feet and carried the positive trend forward.
The lineup settled into a home stand last night, dropping the Abbotsford Canucks 3–1. Ivan Prosvetov got comfortable in the net for his Eagles debut last night. He found himself in the crease for the second game in the series.
First period
Colorado showed aggression from the start, swarming the Canucks’ net and throwing anything at it.
Jack Ahcan got caught up with an Abbotsford player and headed to the box for tripping at the 4:31 mark. The Eagles sport the sixth most effective penalty kill in the league at 84.3% and had no problem shutting down their opponent.
Tanner Kero put the Eagles on the board just over 10 minutes into the frame by netting his sixth goal in the season. The goal is his second goal in back-to-back games. Ryan Sandelin tallied his third assist of the season, while Cedric Pare contributed with the secondary assist, bringing his total to 15 for the year.
Kero puts us on the board first! pic.twitter.com/9mV4Z8T7p8
— Colorado Eagles (@ColoradoEagles) February 11, 2024
Second period
Even though Colorado had a successful first period, there were costly mistakes in the middle frame.
In the second period alone, the Eagles committed eight penalties, for a grand total of 19 minutes. Three belonged to Chris Wagner and two to Keaton Middleton.
Wags droppin the gloves tonight😤😤 pic.twitter.com/8yMUgQDyNi
— Colorado Eagles (@ColoradoEagles) February 11, 2024
Two of the team’s infractions were within twenty seconds of each other, placing the team on a dangerous 5-on-3 situation.
Canucks player Vasily Podkolzin took advantage of the situation and leveled the score at one. For the first sixteen minutes of the period, it looked like Abbotsford simply outplayed the home team in the second period.
PODZ BOMBS 💣
Jett Woo sets up Vasily Podkolzin for the one-timer to notch his 14th goal of the season, as well as the @Panago_Pizza Delivery of the Game 🍕 pic.twitter.com/EXY0vC12tm
— Abbotsford Canucks (@abbycanucks) February 11, 2024
But the tides would turn in 18 seconds. D.J. Busdeker finds the back of the net for the third time for the season and the first since November. Tanner Kero picked up his second point of the game with the assist.
On the next shot, Ryan Sandelin picks up his own goal. With it comes assists for Riley Tufte and Ivan Ivan.
BUZZY FOR THE LEAD pic.twitter.com/apUQGrlKhN
— Colorado Eagles (@ColoradoEagles) February 11, 2024
Sandelin with his fourth of the year! pic.twitter.com/Hz3gxzviKx
— Colorado Eagles (@ColoradoEagles) February 11, 2024
Faced with a dramatic and aggressive period, Colorado fights off 14 of the 15 shots from the Canucks. The Eagles put up 10 of their own, being rewarded on two.
Third period
On the heels of an unbelievably passionate period, Abbotsford gives the Eagles a power play five minutes into the frame.
Despite more pushing and shoving in the period, the only additional penalty assigned was a call on the Canucks for too many men on the ice.
With a mere one second on the clock, the Canucks add one more goal to their scorecard. Abbotsford collected 14 shots to Colorado’s 11 in the final 20 minutes. The Canucks had 40 total attempts, seven more than the Eagles.
Colorado secures a 3–2 victory, bringing their total points to 53.
The Eagles will continue their home stand against the Bakersfield Condors on Feb. 13 and 14. In their last series against the Condors, Colorado walked away 1–1.
Analysis
— Compared to the way the season started, Colorado has improved significantly. While the team was winning games, the performances were spotty at best and lacking consistency. Their recently broken six game winning streak proves something clicked on the ice.
— While it may not have been apparent in this game, the Eagles have had a serious problem with penalties. Clocking 19 minutes’ worth of penalties in the middle frame could have been disastrous. The strength of Prosvetov in the net may have made the difference.
— Colorado continues to climb in the standings and tonight’s win puts them in the third-place spot. With just about half of the season left, the Eagles have a very good chance of improving even more.