Eagles Takeaways: MacDonald’s hat trick secures victory over San Jose

Jacob MacDonald scored a hat trick to hit 20 goals for the season to put the Eagles only three points out of first place.

Loveland, CO — The Colorado Avalanche may be on a break for the 4 Nations Face-off, but the Colorado Eagles are still in full swing. The Eagles have been on a tear lately, winning four of their last five games, placing them in second place in the Pacific Division. Last game, the Eagles came out looking for revenge and roared back to pummel the Abbotsford Canucks (VAN) 5–3. Tonight, it was a battle against the San Jose Barracuda (SJS), who started the night trailing by three points in the division. The two teams have met four times (out of eight) this season, splitting the series with two wins each. Matthew Phillips comes into the series on a three-game goal streak (six goals) and leads the Eagles in points with 36 (14g–22a). The Eagles flooded through the gate tonight for a 6–3 victory over the Barracuda. Here are the takeaways from the win over San Jose.

Takeaways

Jacob MacDonald continues to be a key piece to the Eagles and their power play unit. Ten of his 19 goals have come on the power play and he is a constant threat from the right side of the ice for a one timer. The returning defenseman is second on the team in scoring with his 33 points (20g–13a). He leads the league for defensemen with his 20 goals and is second in the league for power play goals. MacDonald’s veteran presence has been a key to the team as well. MacDonald has taken the younger players under his wing to show them the ropes and help them with anything they need.

“He’s got great offensive instincts,” said head coach Aaron Schneekloth. “Obviously, the shot is a huge asset of his and he can play and score from different positions on the power play. He scored some nice goals from up top. Scored some nice goals on the one timer, nice goals off the rush. So, he’s a guy that is multi-tooled in that department. And, yeah, I mean, 20 goals leading the league for defensemen, and goals leading the league in power play, goals. Like he’s a big weapon for us on the power play.”

Part of the reason for the Eagles’ dominant play tonight was their passing. The passing through all three zones of the ice was accurate and helped lead to better zone exits. These zone exits led to more possession time and getting the puck deeper in the Barracuda zone. The early pressure forced goaltender Georgi Romanov to scramble more and eventually suffered a lower-body injury. Romanov left the game and did not return while Yaroslav Askarov took over the crease for the rest of the contest.

The rush from the backend of the Eagles was unstoppable tonight. Half of the points on the scoresheet came from a defenseman. Three of the six goals came from MacDonald while five of the 10 assists were from blue liners. They were consistently leading the rush out of the zone for the Eagles and racked up an amazing 21 shots on goal (out of 39). The top three players with shots on goal were all defensemen, with Jack Ahcan (5) and John Ludvig (5) leading the way. MacDonald hit three out of his four shots to secure the hat trick.

Upcoming

The Eagles will have a quick turnaround as they battle the San Jose Barracuda tomorrow night at 7 p.m. at Blue Arena in Loveland.