Eagles Double-Up Rage, End Skid
February 21, 2009 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Colorado Eagles News Release
LOVELAND, Colo. - The Colorado Eagles defeated the Rocky Mountain Rage, 4-2, to end their four-game losing streak in a split of the Northwest Division rivals' weekend series. Nine different Eagles registered a point and Andrew Penner stopped 26 of 28 Rage shots in the win.
Things got heated early between the Division foes with three fights within the first 14:10; Jay Birnie was involved in two of them for the Eagles, including the first just 1:15 in. Both clubs went 0-2 on the man advantage, but it was the Rage who struck first while shorthanded. At 16:24, Nathan Gillies' shot from the left hashes banked off the end boards behind the net and took a lucky bounce right out to the right side of the goal where Daymen Rycroft tapped it in.
Rocky Mountain made it 2-0 just over two minutes later when Colt King found Mark Smith on the doorstep with a pass from behind the net. The Eagles cut the Rage lead in half with a score in the period's final minute when Brett Hammond was able to nudge a shot just over the goal line from the right side of the net.
Colorado came out strong in the second and started clicking on the power play as well, scoring two unanswered goals on the man-advantage to take a 3-2 lead into the third. Marty Magers made a great save just 30 seconds into the frame when he slid across an open net from his right to left and stacked the pads to deny a sure goal from Aaron Schneekloth. The Eagles kept pressuring and nearly scored again about four minutes in when the "Triple-H" line's hard work appeared to result in a goal, but Steve Haddon had kicked the puck past Magers.
But Haddon would get a legitimate score at 5:16 -- on the power play -- after Kevin Ulanski broke into the offensive zone along the left wing and found Haddon alone in the right circle for a shot into the top right corner of the goal. Ed McGrane would add another power-play goal at 8:56 with a rifle of a shot from the left circle to give Colorado its first lead of the game.
The scored remained 3-2 through a tightly-played third period until Riley Nelson added an empty net goal in the final minute to secure the win and snap the Eagles' four-game losing streak.
Colorado now heads to the road for a five-game road trip, starting Tuesday night in Tulsa, Okla. Their next home game will be March 6 against the same Rage team.
Central Hockey League Stories from February 21, 2009
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