The Eagles sweep the weekend set against the first place Calgary Wranglers.
Loveland, CO — The Colorado Eagles had no issues with the first place Calgary Wranglers (CGY) last night in a 5–2 beat down. The only struggle was keeping the puck out of their own net while on the power play, allowing two shorthanded goals. The Eagles bounced back from their mistakes and made the Wranglers pay for them dearly tonight with a 7–2 victory at home in front of their 100 consecutive AHL sellout crowd. Here are my takeaways from the Eagles’ victory over the Wranglers.
Phillips scores the Eagles first goal again with a sweet wrap around goal! Assists from Olausson and Aamodt #Avs #GoAvsGo #EaglesCountry @MileHighHockey pic.twitter.com/SiJCJdyWxd
— Brennan Vogt (@brennan_vogt) January 12, 2025
Takeaways
The power play unit did not have any problems clicking tonight. One goal from Jason Polin and two from Jacob MacDonald helped gain the lead in the second period for the Eagles. They took advantage of a five on three and MacDonald scored his two goals only 16 seconds apart. Colorado did a much better job tonight with receiving their passes and controlling the play once they got into the zone. Last night, the Eagles were having trouble catching the passes that led to the two shorthanded goals by the Wranglers.
A delayed penalty by CGY causes some frustration on their end and the Eagles get a 5v3 for a full 2 mins. MacDonald rips it from one knee. Phillips and Tynan on the assists #Avs #GoAvsGo #EaglesCountry @MileHighHockey pic.twitter.com/RkZNtH9zB9
— Brennan Vogt (@brennan_vogt) January 12, 2025
MacDonald splits the defense on the PP with a stretch pass to Polin for the sweet goal! Mandolese with the secondary assist #Avs #GoAvsGo #EaglesCountry @MileHighHockey pic.twitter.com/fj8WOnbXrl
— Brennan Vogt (@brennan_vogt) January 12, 2025
“Four huge points at home against the top team in the league,” said head coach Aaron Schneekoth. “I thought there was, a lot of really good stretches where we’re executing our game plan and sticking and playing our structure. We just proved we could play with anybody in the league. So I’m hoping that this is a big stepping stone and springboard for a team this weekend to take that next step in the second half of the season.”
Macdonald scores his second goal of the night in the span of about a minute while on the PP with the help of Wise and Polin #Avs #GoAvsGo #EaglesCountry @MileHighHockey pic.twitter.com/4gywmCnZ2y
— Brennan Vogt (@brennan_vogt) January 12, 2025
Polin has showed some sparks of what we expect from him. Earlier in the season, Polin had missed roughly a month of action because of an injury. He also went on a 10 game stretch with no points at all. Now, in the last two games, he has three goals. He has stepped up his physical play and is attacking the net a lot more. He has become more comfortable and gotten into a groove as of late.
The penalty kill unit for the Eagles killed off all five power plays that the Wranglers had tonight. They were laying in front of pucks and doing everything they could to help their goalie out tonight.
Oskar Olausson right off the faceoff!!!!!! Megna with the assist and the win on the faceoff. #Avs #GoAvsGo #EaglesCountry @MileHighHockey pic.twitter.com/tCx2OxxcEW
— Brennan Vogt (@brennan_vogt) January 12, 2025
“Our penalty kill has been awesome all year,” said MacDonald. “And they come up in huge, huge blocks, huge breakups like breaking up plays, good blocks down the ice. They do an unbelievable job. And they came up big, like it happened all year. They came up big tonight, so they did a great job. And then on the power play side of things, we had to rebound. After a game last night, we had two short-run goals. So again, as a unit, we did a really good job.”
Upcoming
The Eagles will battle against the Bakersfield Condors (EDM) for a two-game series starting on Tuesday at Blue Arena in Loveland at 7 p.m. MT.