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ECHL Colorado Eagles

Colorado Moves to Second Round with 5-3 Win at Wichita

April 23, 2018 - ECHL (ECHL)
Colorado Eagles News Release


WICHITA, KS. - Eagles forward Joey Ratelle buried the game-winning goal with 3:37 remaining in regulation, as Colorado defeated the Wichita Thunder, 5-3 in Game Six on Monday. The victory also gives the Eagles a 4-2 series victory, as Colorado went a perfect 3-0 on the road in the series. The Eagles will now face the winner of the best-of-seven series between the Allen Americans and Idaho Steelheads.

For the fifth time in the series Wichita netted the game's first goal. This time it came on the power play when forward Mark MacMillan skated from the blueline through the left circle before firing a shot past Eagles goalie Lukas Hafner to give the Thunder a 1-0 lead just 6:50 into the contest.

It would not take long for Colorado to strike back, as just 1:02 later forward J.C. Beaudin grabbed a drop pass in the left circle and snapped a wrister past Starrett to tie the game at 1-1 with 12:08 remaining in the first period.

With the game still tied at 1-1 heading into the second period and Joe Cannata taking over for an injured Hafner in net, Colorado would grab its first lead of the night on the power play when defenseman Jake Marto flew down the left wing before burying a shot from the circle that would light the lamp and give the Eagles a 2-1 edge 6:58 mark of the period.

The lead would prove to be short-lived, as less than two minutes later Wichita forward Chad Butcher would field a cross-slot pass on the rush and tip the puck past Cannata to square the score at 2-2.

As time ticked down in the middle frame, Eagles forward Michael Joly would dive through the bottom of the right circle before wrapping behind the net and stuffed the puck home to put Colorado back on top, 3-2 with 1:55 remaining in the period.

Wichita would generate an answer 12:24 into the third period when forward Evan Polei capitalized on a net-mouth scramble to pop the puck into the net to tie the contest at 3-3.

With the game starting to appear to be destined for overtime, Joly would drive the net with a shot that would pop into the crease and be blasted home by Ratelle to give the Eagles a 4-3 edge with 3:37 left in regulation. Forward Matt Garbowsky would add an empty-netter with 43 seconds remaining to solidify Colorado's 5-3 victory.

Colorado finished the night going 1-for-2 on the power play, while the Thunder finished 1-for-4 on the man-advantage. Cannata claimed the win in net, making 16 saves on 18 shots in 40 minutes of action.

The Eagles return to action when they face the winner of the series between the Allen Americans and Idaho Steelheads on Saturday, April 28th at 7:05pm MT at the Budweiser Events Center. Tickets for all Eagles home playoff games are on sale now and can be purchased online at ColoradoEagles.com.

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