Colorado Uses Hot Start to Top Reign, 6-4
Apr 22, 2022
LOVELAND, CO. – The Colorado Eagles built a 5-0 lead and carried it to a 6-4 victory over the Ontario Reign on Friday. Defenseman Jacob MacDonald led the way with a pair of goals, while forward Mikhail Maltsev notched three assists in the win. Hunter Miska earned the victory in net by making 27 saves on 31 shots, as 11 Eagles skaters collected a point in the win, including multi-performances for MacDonald, Miska and forward Andreas Wingerli.
Colorado would notch the game’s first goal when defenseman Andreas Englund fired a wrister from between the circles that would light the lamp and give the Eagles a 1-0 edge at the 12:53 mark of the first period.
The lead would grow when MacDonald camped in front of the net and deflected a shot past Ontario goaltender Matthew Villalta to give Colorado a 2-0 advantage with 2:57 remaining in the opening 20 minutes of play. The Eagles would go on to outshoot the Reign, 19-9 in the first period and carried their 2-0 lead into the first intermission.
Colorado would keep the foot on the gas to begin the second period, as forward Kiefer Sherwood backhanded a rebound in the low slot into the back of the net to push the Eagles advantage to 3-0 just 37 seconds into the middle frame. The goal was Sherwood’s 36th of the season and stretched his point streak to 13 games, which is tied for the longest point streak in the AHL this season.
Only 1:15 after the Sherwood tally, Wingerli would snag a turnover at the bottom of the right-wing circle before creeping into the slot and snapping a shot past Villalta to put Colorado on top, 4-0.
The Eagles would strike again when defenseman Dennis Gilbert weaved his way through the high slot before burying a slapshot to extend Colorado’s lead to 5-0 at the 10:46 mark of the second stanza.
A power play would finally get Ontario on the board, as forward Akil Thomas lit the lamp with a shot through traffic from the top of the right-wing circle to trim the deficit to 5-1 with 7:44 remaining in the middle frame.
Still leading by four goals as the puck dropped on the third period, the Eagles would build on their efforts when MacDonald blasted home a shot from the left-wing circle on the power play to propel Colorado to a 6-1lead just 2:54 into the final frame. The goal would also spell the end of the night for Villalta, who would give way to David Hrenak in net for the duration.
The Reign would swing the momentum on a power play of its own when defenseman Frederic Allard connected on a shot from the blue line to slice the Eagles advantage to 6-2 at the 8:30 mark of the period.
Less than two minutes later Allard would again find the back of the net with a wrister to erode the Colorado lead to 6-3.
Ontario would pull Hrenak in favor of the extra attacker and the move would pay dividends when forward Martin Frk scored his 40th goal of the season with a shot from the left-wing circle to trim the deficit to 6-4 with 3:37 still to play in the contest.
The Reign would again pull Hrenak to bring the on extra skater, but Miska and company would stand tall, securing the 6-4 victory.
The Eagles outshot Ontario by a final count of 42-31, as Colorado finished 1-for-4 on the power play. The Reign would connect on two of its three opportunities on the man-advantage.
The Eagles will be back in action when they wrap up the regular season against the Ontario Reign on Saturday, April 23rd at 7:05pm MT at the Budweiser Events Center. Tickets for all regular season games are on sale now and start at just $19. You can find more information on ticket packages, theme tickets, and promotional nights, by visiting ColoradoEagles.com or by calling the ticket department at (970) 686-7468.
