CHL Colorado Eagles

Eagles Power Past Bucks on Schneekloth's Hat Trick

January 22, 2010 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Colorado Eagles News Release


LOVELAND, Colo. - The Colorado Eagles used a 4-for-10 night on the power play and a hat trick from defenseman Aaron Schneekloth in winning 6-4 over the Laredo Bucks. With the win, Colorado trails Rapid City by just two points in the Northern Conference with a game in hand.

The first period saw plenty of back-and-forth action, big hits and big saves as the two teams skated to a 1-1 tie. Curtis Billsten got the Bucks on the board first at 7:53 when he carried the puck down the right wing and cut across the doorstep before putting his own rebound past Mike Mole.

But with Billsten in the penalty box about six minutes later, Brett Lutes found Steve Haddon for a tying power-play tally. Lutes sent a pass from below the goal line from the right side of the net to Haddon low in the left faceoff circle for the forward's third goal against Laredo this season.

Colorado took a 2-1 lead at 5:26 of the second period when Ryan McLeod carried the puck down the left wing and left a drop pass for Lutes at the outside hash marks. The biscuit eventually ended up on Schneekloth's stick in the low slot and the All-Star defenseman beat Piere-Olivier Pelletier for his first of the night.

The hard hits and fisticuffs continued in the second frame as well, as the teams combined for a total of 122 penalty minutes and 12 fighting majors after 40 minutes of play -- 82 and six of them coming in the middle period alone.

The teams traded late goals to send the game into the third period with Colorado up 3-2. Schneekloth made it 3-1 with a 4-on-3 power-play goal at 19:28 when his blast from the point made it through a Ryan Tobler screen in front. But Jeff Bes got it right back 14 seconds later when he was able to deflect a Jarred Mohr shot while standing all alone in front of Mole.

Darryl Smith got his third goal in two games with a shot top shelf from the left circle on a rush 8:44 into the third period to tie the game at 3. But Colorado struck back with a pair of power-play goals within the next six minutes.

The first power-play tally came on a 5-on-3 advantage when Tobler sent a tap-pass from the doorstep to Ed McGrane at the left side of the paint. The Eagles then took advantage of a four-minute high-sticking double-minor when Schneekloth sent a blast from the left circle top shelf for his third hat trick as an Eagle (he's the only defenseman in team history to record one) -- the 25th in the franchise's six and a half seasons.

The Bucks kept coming and cut Colorado's lead to 1 once more with a power-play goal of their own at 18:02. The goal came with Laredo on a two-man advantage with an extra attacker when Smith picked up his second score of the game. But just 62 seconds later, Tobler put the game on ice by tossing the puck into Laredo's empty net.

The Eagles now head to Amarillo for a game Saturday night and another Sunday afternoon before returning to the Budweiser Events Center on Wednesday, Jan. 27 for their third game in a row against the Gorillas.

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Central Hockey League Stories from January 22, 2010


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