LOVELAND, Colo. — After the loss to the Texas Stars on Friday night, the Colorado Eagles had something to prove on Saturday afternoon. The Eagles fizzled out after the first period on Friday, so it was time to see if they could correct what they learned and play the full 60 minutes. Saturday would be the first time all season that Arvid Holm would see action in back-to-back nights. This was going to be a genuine test for the new goaltender. Matthew Stienburg and Ryan Sandelin both were healthy scratches, bringing defenseman Wyatt Aamodt up as a winger.
“It’s something that we’ve done a couple of times this year,” coach Aaron Schneekloth said about Aamodt. “”The depth we have on our back end is probably, I would say up there with anyone else in the league. And we don’t want those guys sitting around too much. We want to keep them all involved and engaged because we know at some point, whether it’s Avs or we have injuries, we want to keep guys engaged and keep their game going. So we felt today it was a wonderful opportunity to get Nate (Clurman) back in the lineup and put ammo on presents. He does an outstanding job.”
Quick hits
- The Eagles kept up the offensive pressure the entire game rather than just the first period. The fourth line dominated their shifts (Aamodt, Ondrej Pavel and Dalton Smith), by being physical the entire shift and forcing the play into the crease and then the puck up to the blue line for a shot. Pavel was rewarded with his first official pro goal because of the hard work.
Ondrej Pavel gets the pass from Dalton Smith after the steal to bury his first pro goal and immediately flings the monkey off his back. #Avs #GoAvsGo #EaglesCountry @TheRinkColorado pic.twitter.com/ZsgSOHOwZn
— Brennan Vogt (@brennan_vogt) November 26, 2023
- The penalty kill suffered by allowing two goals in three chances for the Stars. Matthew Stienburg being a scratch may have played a part. He is a tremendous asset to the penalty kill for the Eagles. The Stars’ power play on the road is highly successful at 26.9%.
- The power play for the Eagles continued to struggle in their two chances on Saturday. They connected right after the power play expired, scoring an even strength goal. Colorado sits at a measly 16.7% success rate for the season so far.
- Sam Malinski was on fire on Saturday, providing three assists to help in the victory. It was a career high for one game for Malinski, surpassing his multiple games where he had two points.
Captain Brad Hunt takes the lead just after the PP expires and Malinski gets his 3rd point of the of the day with the assist 👏 #Avs #GoAvsGo #EaglesCountry @TheRinkColorado pic.twitter.com/5bYi0I9uR0
— Brennan Vogt (@brennan_vogt) November 26, 2023
The Eagles will try to bring the momentum into next weekend with the 6-3 win on Saturday over the Stars when they will meet the Iowa Wild at home. The Wild are 6–8–1–1 and have one of the best goalies in the AHL in Jesper Wallstedt. Justus Annunen’s availability is uncertain because of a lower body injury.