Special Teams Propel Eagles to 5-0 Start
October 25, 2008 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Colorado Eagles News Release
AMARILLO, Texas - The Colorado Eagles improved to 5-0 on the season with a 6-2 victory over the Amarillo Gorillas tonight. In a game that saw a total of 30 power plays, it was the Eagles' special teams that made the difference, going 5-14 on the power play and 15-16 on the penalty kill. Andrew Penner got his third start in net as part of Colorado's goaltending rotation, stopping 34 of 36 shots, and Ed McGrane led the team offensively with three points (1-2-3) a night after his 14-game point streak was snapped.
The Gorillas opened the scoring with a power-play goal at 6:08 (on another delayed penalty call with an extra attacker on the ice) when Joe Guenther beat Penner from the low slot off a Sam Ftorek rebound. But Kevin Ulanski answered for the Eagles with a power-play marker of their own when he beat Ryan Scott from the right circle after a nice feed from Riley Nelson. Colorado then made it a 2-1 score, just missing another power-play goal by four seconds, as Scott Polaski notched another assist when his shot from the right point got deflected in front and right to McGrane for an easy goal at the empty side of the net.
But just moments later, Jake Morissette notched his first professional goal on a quick rush down the right side with a blast from the top of the circle. The Eagles' league-leading power play struck again, however, at 18:33 when Ryan Tobler got his tenth goal of the season on a nice feed from Konrad Reeder. Reeder came off the left boards and angled toward the net where he dished a pass from the goal line to Tobler in the low slot. Tobler then took a step to his right and shoveled the puck in on his backhand to restore the Colorado lead.
The scoreboard got an even bigger workout in the second period, but it was almost entirely under the penalty columns, as Colorado killed all six Gorilla man-advantage chances - including three consecutive five-on-threes. The period's lone goal came on one of three Eagles power-play opportunities when Erik Adams scored his second goal of the season on an innocent-looking shot from the right faceoff dot with just under two minutes left in the frame. Amarillo then had a goal waived off a minute and a half later when it was determined that Gordon Bell's power-play goal was illegally kicked in.
The third period saw more of the same as the man-advantage chances continued to pile up for both clubs. But it was the Eagles again who took advantage, notching their fourth and fifth power play goals of the night. The first came at 15:17 when Reeder sent a slap-pass from the center point to Nelson in the left circle for a one-time pass back across the ice where Ulanski scored from the right circle. Then, with just over a minute and a half left in the game, Adam Knight got his first professional goal by cleaning up a Jay Birnie point shot from the doorstep.
The Eagles will look to remain unbeaten as they head to Oklahoma City, Okla. on Sunday for the second game of their five-game road trip.
Central Hockey League Stories from October 25, 2008
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- Goups There It is! Goupil Leads Bucks To 3-1 Win - Laredo Bucks
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