Mavs Shut Down Eagles in 3-1 Win
December 17, 2010 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Colorado Eagles News Release
LOVELAND, Colo. - The Missouri Mavericks picked up their first win at the Budweiser Events Center with a 3-1 victory in the first game of a weekend set. Nick Sirota netted two tallies and Rob Nolan stopped 29 of 30 shots in the win. Colorado's only score came on a late 5-on-3 after Nolan nearly single-handedly shut them out in a separate two-man advantage midway through the final period.
The teams played a pretty even first period, each getting eight shots on net in the first period of play. The only one of those shots to reach the back of the net came at 4:17 -- Missouri's first shot of the game -- when Jared Lavender's shot from the right point was deflected in the low slot by Simon Watson, beating Andrew Penner up high.
The second period played out similar to the first, with the Mavericks out-shooting the Eagles 10-9, but Colorado actually controlled much of the play with extended periods of possession in Missouri's zone. Both netminders were sharp in the frame.
The strong goaltending continued into the third period as Penner made some magical saves early on. But the game was essentially stolen by Nolan midway into the frame when he stonewalled Kevin Ulanski twice at the left post on an Eagles 5-on-3 advantage. The Eagles spent the entire two minutes of their two-man advantage in the offensive zone, but couldn't get any of their nine shots into the net.
Sirota picked up the eventual game-winner at 15:58 when Bill Vandermeer sent him on a breakaway in which he deked Penner down from in close before snapping a sharp-angle shot into the open net. Colorado was awarded 17 seconds of another 5-on-3 chance later in the frame, and it took just 13 of them for the Eagles to finally get on the scoreboard.
Kyle Peto took a shot from high in the left circle, and Riley Nelson was able to put a second rebound into the net from the right side of the low slot at 17:54. But in the final minute, Sirota was credited with a second goal when he converted a 2-on-1, shorthanded break. The goal light never came on -- the puck struck metal and bounced immediately back into the crease -- but referee Tom Chmielewski adamantly ruled it a goal.
The teams will meet again Saturday night in the second of their eight total match-ups this season.
Central Hockey League Stories from December 17, 2010
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