Eagles Takeaways: Scheel shuts down Griffins again

Matthew Phillips had a hattrick and Jacob MacDonald had two PP tallies in the shutout win over Grand Rapids.

The Colorado Eagles are on a two-game winning streak after beating the Grand Rapids Griffins (DET) last night 2–0. Adam Scheel secured his first shutout of the season last night against the fifth best team in the league as they peppered 29 shots on goal. The Eagles will be missing a few players as they wrap up the last game of the road trip. Jere Innala is out with an illness and Kevin Mandolese is out as he attends his grandfather’s funeral. Right before the game, the Colorado Avalanche recalled Trent Miner. Colorado will also miss Chase Bradley and Jason Polin because of injury. Here are the takeaways from the 6–0 over the Griffins.

Takeaways

Colorado converted on the power play for the first time on the road trip and the first time in four games (0-for-5). It only took 18 seconds for defenseman Jacob MacDonald to send it to the back of the net. Macdonald now leads all defensemen in the AHL with 16 goals. Nine of them have been on the power play. MacDonald finished the night with two power play goals and five shots on goal.

Matthew Phillips was on fire tonight with a hat trick. Two of the goals were in the first period and in the first four shots of the game. The first goal came as Garret Pyke shot off the post and he crashed the net. The second came as Jayson Megna center a pass for Phillips in the slot. Phillips’ third goal was in the second period, as he stood in front of the crease and tipped a shot. It is not uncommon for Phillips to be in front of the net. Despite his small stature, he often rushes the crease, looking for contact and scoring junk goals.

Adam Scheel has been the goalie that the Eagles have needed this season. Now with an 8-1–0–2 record, he could very well steal the crease from Mandolese. Tonight marked the first time in his AHL career (96 games) that he has put together back-to-back shutouts. Scheel now sits with a 2.32 goals against average and .920 save percentage.

The Eagles did everything right tonight. They forechecked, backchecked and just plain checked. Colorado killed every penalty that was given to them (four) and converted on most of the power plays. If they play more games like this, they will be a force to be reckoned with.

Upcoming

The Eagles will take a break for the All-Star game in Palm Desert, California, the home of the Coachella Valley Firebirds (SEA). Colorado will be sending MacDonald as their representative. The rest of the team will not play until Friday, February 7th at Blue Arena in Loveland against the Abbotsford Canucks (VAN).