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ECHL Colorado Eagles

Game Recap --- Specialty Teams Take over in Eagles 5-3 Win

October 9, 2017 - ECHL (ECHL)
Colorado Eagles News Release


Specialty Teams Take Over in Eagles 5-3 Win

RAPID CITY, SD. - Colorado netted three power-play goals and scored a pair of shorthanded markers to give the Eagles a 5-3 victory over the Rapid City Rush in the Colorado's final preseason game on Saturday. Eagles forwards Matt Garbowsky, Drayson Bowman and Michael Joly all registered multi-point efforts in the win.

For the second straight night Colorado opened the game with an early power-play goal, as Joly lit the lamp with a shot from the top of the right circle just 58 seconds into the contest to give the Eagles a 1-0 lead.

Just over a minute later, the Rush would find an answer when forward Marcus Ortiz deflected a shot from the point past Eagles goaltender Joe Cannata to tie the game at 1-1 less than three minutes into the first period.

Colorado would regain the advantage when Garbowsky finished off a beautiful cross-slot feed from linemate Drayson Bowman on the power play to put the Eagles back on top 2-1 at the 11:33 mark of the opening frame.

After a scoreless second period, the game would take a wild turn to start the final frame of regulation. Eagles forward Jesse Mychan was hit with a five-minute major and a game misconduct for a slash during the opening faceoff of the period. The Rush would then seize the opportunity by scoring a pair of power-play goals in the first minute of the period.

Rapid City knotted the score when defenseman Riley Weselowski unfurled a slapshot from the blue line that found the back of the net just 13 seconds into the third, tying the game at 2-2. Just 33 seconds later, Rush forward Ryan Tesink blasted home a rebound on the side of the net to give Rapid City the 3-2 advantage.

Colorado would stem the tide, as Joly raced down the ice and corralled his own rebound to beat Rapid City goalie Christian Frey, squaring the game at 3-3 at the 4:11 mark of the third period. After killing off the balance of Mychan's minor, the Eagles would earn a power play of their own and it would be Bowman who would capitalize with a wrister from the slot that caught the post and rang into the cage to regain the lead for Colorado with 12:03 left to play in regulation.

As time wound down in the third, Rapid City would find itself on the power play and would opt to pull Frey in favor of the extra attacker. The move would prove costly, as Garbowsky intercepted the puck in his own zone and fired it into the empty goal mouth to give the Eagles the 5-3 advantage with only 2:19 left in the game. Rapid City would draw no closer, as the Eagles claimed the 5-3 victory, going a perfect 2-0 in preseason play.

Joe Cannata collected the win in net for Colorado, stopping 19 of the 22 shots he faced in the contest. The Eagles and Rush combined for 153 penalty minutes in the contest.

The 2017-18 regular season home schedule kicks off on Friday, October 13th when the Eagles host the Utah Grizzlies. A complete schedule can be found at www.ColoradoEagles.com.Season tickets for the 2017-18 season are on-sale now and can be reserved with a $100 deposit per seat by calling the Eagles ticket office at 970-686-SHOT (7468).

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