Eagles Spoil Rocky Mountain's Home Opener, 5-1
October 22, 2008 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Colorado Eagles News Release
BROOMFIELD, Colo. - The Colorado Eagles defeated the Rocky Mountain Rage, 5-1 tonight, riding a strong opening period and Andrew Penner's solid goaltending the rest of the way. Penner - making his second start in net for the Eagles - stopped 39 of 40 shots as the game's No. 1 Star, and Colorado's penalty killers stopped the final six of seven Rage power plays to accent the defensive effort.
Colorado took a commanding lead in the opening period despite the Rage getting the first goal of the game. Scott Wray scored for Rocky Mountain on the power play at 3:02 on a deflected shot from the left point. But it took less than a minute and a half for the Eagles to answer as Aaron Schneekloth and Riley Nelson executed a give-and-go play with the defenseman scoring his first goal of the young season.
The Eagles were just getting started as they began to control the puck in the Rage zone with seemingly endless cycling, working their way to three goals on just five shots by the halfway point of the period. They took the lead at 5:36 when Ed McGrane hit Ryan Tobler at the doorstep with a backhand pass from the right boards. The goal increased McGrane's point-streak to 14 games (dating to last season) - tied for third-longest in franchise history - and continued Tobler's second consecutive hot start to a season.
Colorado made it 3-1 with a power play goal just six seconds into a Rob Chappell hooking minor when Nelson sent a pass across the lip of the crease to Greg Pankewicz at the opposite side. And McGrane added a goal to his point streak when he busted into the Rage zone and beat Marty Magers with a shot from the left faceoff dot at 18:20; Penner picked up the second assist.
The second period saw the Eagles add another power play goal when Pankewicz sent a pass from the left faceoff dot to Kevin Ulanski for a one-timer at the right dot at 6:42 - just five seconds before the man-advantage chance was set to expire. Penner was the star of the period as he heated up midway through and made several big saves on the way to denying all 17 Rage shots in the frame (the most for an opponent in a single period against the Eagles' so far this season).
The game got ugly in the third, starting with a collision at the Rocky Mountain net just under three minutes in. Rage goaltender Marty Magers took exception to the play and then took a two-handed swing at Pankewicz as the Eagles' captain skated up the ice. As Pankewicz confronted the netminder, he was tackled from behind by Nick Harloff. And while the officials settled things down in the Rocky Mountain zone, Magers and Penner dropped the gloves at center ice.
Although tempers cooled considerably after that outburst, the rest of the period involved two more tussles around a penalty shot - giving the fans a little bit of everything on the night. Adam Knight and Chappell went at it with just over six minutes remaining in a lengthy scrap at center, and about a half minute later, Penner stopped John Snowden on a penalty shot. And less than 60 seconds after that, Jason Beatty and Colt King squared off in the Rage zone to end the night's fireworks.
Colorado resumes play on Friday with a President's Cup rematch against the Arizona Sundogs at the Budweiser Events Center.
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