Colorado Staves Off Late Rally to Top Gulls, 5-4 in OT
Feb 13, 2019
LOVELAND, CO. – San Diego scored three goals in the final 5:53 of regulation to force overtime, but Eagles defenseman Nicolas Meloche would bury the game-winner 2:20 into sudden death to give Colorado a 5-4 victory over the Gulls on Wednesday. Eagles forward Andrew Agozzino paced the offensive attack for Colorado, notching two goals and an assist in the win.
San Diego would take advantage of an early power play to claim the game’s first goal, as forward Corey Tropp would carry the puck from the left-wing corner to the bottom of the circle before beating Eagles goalie Pavel Francouz with a wrister. The tally would give the Gulls a 1-0 edge at the 9:36 mark of the first period.
Colorado would respond with a flurry of chances late in the period and the hard work would finally pay off when defenseman David Warsofksy stepped into a shot from the right point that would weave its way through traffic and light the lamp to tie the game at 1-1 with only 21 seconds remaining in the opening stanza.
The Eagles would come out flying in the second period, as Agozzino would capitalize on a 3-on-2 rush when he fielded a pass in the left-wing circle and snapped a shot past Gulls goalie Jeff Glass to give Colorado a 2-1 edge at the 6:24 mark of the period.
Just minutes later, a power play for the Eagles would set up forward Scott Kosmachuk to bury a one-timer from the left circle to extend Colorado’s advantage to 3-1 with 9:15 remaining in the middle frame. Aggozino would add to his total when he created a turnover in the right-wing circle and unfurled a wrister that would beat Glass and give the Eagles a 4-1 lead at the 14:18 mark of the middle frame.
The third period would see San Diego ratchet up the pressure by outshooting Colorado 11-5 in the final 20 minutes of action. It would also see Glass give way Angus Redmond in net for the remainder of the contest. The comeback would start when forward Chase De Leo fed a shot past Francouz to trim the Eagles lead to 4-2 at the 14:07 mark of the final frame. Just 11 seconds later, Gulls forward Kiefer Sherwood would race down the right wing and muscle a shot in the low-slot and into the back of the net to cut the deficit to 4-3. San Diego Would pull Redmond in the final minute of the contest and the move would set up forward Kalle Kossila to collect a drop pass in the slot and snap the puck past Francouz to tie the game at 4-4 with only 38 seconds left in regulation.
With the two clubs headed to sudden-death overtime, each team would earn a multitude of chances in the extra session, including a breakaway for each side. However, it would be a 2-on-1 rush for Colorado that would deliver the game-winner, as Meloche tucked home a shot from the left-wing circle with 2:20 left in OT to give the Eagles the 5-4 win.
Colorado outshot the Gulls 37-30 in the contest, as the Eagles went 1-for-1 on the power play and 2-for-3 on the penalty kill.
Colorado returns to action when the Eagles begin a three-game road trip against the Stockton Heat at Stockton Arena on Saturday, February 16th at 7:00pm MT.
Single-game tickets for the 2018-19 season are on-sale now and start at just $18 per seat. Purchase your seats today by visiting the Budweiser Events Center box office, online at ColoradoEagles.com or by calling the Eagles ticketing department at 970-686-SHOT (7468).
