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CHL Colorado Eagles

Third Period Eruption Not Enough As Eagles Lose To RiverKings

March 7, 2008 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Colorado Eagles News Release


LOVELAND, Colo. - The Mississippi RiverKings out-played the Colorado Eagles for about 50 minutes of their 3-2 victory as Ian Keserich (released to make room for Bryan Bridges earlier this season) held the Eagles scoreless through two periods. Colorado stormed back in the third, matching their shot total from the first two periods combined (17) and scoring two goals in the final 10:45, but it wasn't enough to extend their second-longest home winning streak to 14 games.

Colorado and Mississippi took part in a back-and-forth first period, with the first whistle not coming until four minutes had ticked off the clock. The RiverKings struck first after a faceoff in the right circle of the Eagles zone led to a rebound goal by Ryan Held. Jon Hedberg's shot from the right point never made it through, getting stopped by bodies in the circle, where Held unleashed a turning shot past Sebastien Laplante at 6:29. The Eagles generated multiple chances at even strength, but struggled mightily against Mississippi's aggressive penalty kill (ranked third in the league at 85.8 percent), registering zero shots on two chances in the first.

The RiverKings stretched their lead to 3-0 in the second with another goal by Held and a power play marker from Chad Woollard. It could have been worse for the Eagles, but Laplante kept them in the game with 16 saves, many of them on good Mississippi chances. Laplante's best save came midway through on the penalty kill when he snared a shot with his glove while lying on his stomach. Held's second goal of the game came at 13:21 when the RiverKings took advantage of a Colorado turnover at the offensive blue line to cash in on a two-on-one rush the other way. Rick Kozak skated the puck down the right-wing boards before Brad Williamson slid to take away the pass. Kozak held onto the puck and made a nice move to skate around the sliding defenseman and send a pass back across the grain to Held. The ‘Kings struck on the power play at 17:28 when Woollard beat Laplante from in front on a feed from Aaron Davis behind the net.

The Eagles finally solved Keserich at 9:15 of the third after a turnover behind the net led to Steve Haddon's 13th goal of the year. Keserich failed to corral the puck rimming behind the goal and slipped slightly to boot before Dave Iannazzo collected the disc and back-handed a pass from below the goal line to Haddon who swept his own back-hander into the wide open net from the low slot. Momentum surged onto Colorado's side as just over a minute later Ryan Tobler jammed a shot home from right in front to make it a one goal game. And with just under six minutes remaining, the comeback looked complete when Tobler jammed the puck over the goal line after a scrum in the crease, but referee Peter Friesema waived it off; Friesema blew the whistle when he lost sight of the puck from far in the left circle on the opposite side of the net. The Eagles never quit, however, coming within inches of getting a third goal right up to the final buzzer despite playing short-handed most of the way.

Luckily for the Eagles, they remained in a tie for first place in the division as the Youngstown SteelHounds defeated the Rocky Mountain Rage 6-3. The SteelHounds visit the Budweiser Events Center Saturday night as the RiverKings travel to Broomfield.

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