Eagles Recap: Comeback achieved in overtime on Megna goal

Eagles keep the pace on homestand with a 3-2 comeback victory.

Loveland, CO — As the Colorado Eagles homestand continues the squad looked to build on their weekend sweep of first place Pacific Division leader Calgary. In comes another division foe in the Bakersfield Condors for a mid-week pair of games. The Condors sit eighth in the division but had won seven of their last ten heading into this contest and the games between these two teams tend to be close. This contest was no exception and the Eagles had to score late in the third period to take a 3-2 overtime victory.

The Game

To open the scoring in the first period Eagles rookie Nikita Prishchepov was involved in the cycle and got an assist on Connor Mayer’s goal for his 13th point in the season.

Prishchepov got a fair amount of time on ice and even regular shifts on the penalty kill. Head Coach Aaron Schneekloth remarked that this is part of the plan with his development. Prishchepov is not a finished product but the NHL experience has done him well and hopefully more investment at the highest level will come with this confidence in play.

“When he came to us playing good five on five hockey, and gets an opportunity to go get some NHL games, comes back to us, it’s about the progression, right?” Said Head Coach Aaron Schneekloth. “So we want to try and play him in the middle as well, work him into the penalty kill. So as you look at the course of his development, like that’s an area where he could potentially see some opportunity down the road in the NHL. So we want to get him comfortable in those situations.”

After a scoreless second period the intensity and drama kicked up when the Condors tied the game and took the lead on a pair of power play goals from Matthew Savoie and James Hamblin.

The game was all but over at that point but Jake Wise got the tying goal with less than two minutes to go and Jason Megna netted the overtime winner with a breakaway goal. It was a comeback 3-2 Eagles win in the books.

Takeaways

One of the biggest storylines of the game is the return of Ivan Ivan from the Avalanche for his AHL season debut after spending 37 games in the NHL. He missed two and a half weeks of action with an upper body injury and is now getting his timing back. Ivan is the 15th player this season that has suited up for both the Avalanche and Eagles.

Ivan talked about feeling rusty in his first game back but the NHL experience showed in the confidence he played with the puck and creating numerous offensive opportunities on the cycle. He was set up multiple times on the late game power play and Condors goalie Olivier Rodrigue made a great glove save.

It remains to be seen how long Ivan will play in the AHL but if things go according to plan he should be an option for the Colorado Avalanche in the near future.

“Plan right now is for him to play tomorrow, unless I hear otherwise.” Said Head Coach Aaron Schneekloth “You know, been out a little bit. Can take a little bit of time for him to get his timing, but I thought he he looked better as the game went on. He looked strong over the puck and looked responsible. You know, basically what you expect from a player in his first game in the American Hockey League this year, coming off injury.”

Upcoming

A rematch with the Condors tomorrow night at 7 p.m. MT at Blue Arena in Loveland.