Eagles Begin Road Trip with 4-1 Loss at Texas
Jan 27, 2023
CEDAR PARK, TX. – Colorado forward Spencer Smallman netted his sixth goal of the season, but the Eagles kicked off their five-game road trip with a 4-1 loss to the Texas Stars on Friday. Stars forward Mavrik Bourque led the way with a goal and an assist, while goaltender Matt Murray stopped 24 of the 25 shots he faced to earn the victory in net. The loss also brings to an end a three-game winning streak for Colorado.
After having a goal waived off early in the contest, Texas would eventually put the first mark on the scoreboard, as Bourque set up on top of the crease and deflected a shot into the back of the net. The goal was Bourque’s eighth of the season and gave the Stars a 1-0 edge with only 57 seconds remaining in the first period.
Still leading 1-0 as play began in the second period, Texas would expand its lead when defenseman Ben Gleason took advantage of traffic in front of the net by burying a wrister from the top of the right-wing circle. The tally pushed the Stars advantage to 2-0 at the 6:16 mark of the middle frame. The Eagles would go on to kill off three Texas power plays, but closed out the second stanza still trailing, 2-0.
A power play early in third period would dig the hole deeper for Colorado, as defenseman Oskari Laaksonen found the back of the net to stretch the Stars lead to 3-0 just 3:30 into the final frame.
The Eagles would finally answer back when Smallman darted through into the zone on the rush before beating Murray with a wrister from the top of the right-wing circle to trim Texas’ advantage to 3-1 with 8:31 still left to play in the contest.
Colorado would pull Annunen in favor of the extra attacker, but it would be Stars forward Riley Tufte who would capitalize with an empty-netter at the 19:52 mark of the final frame.
The Eagles were outshot in the contest 35-25, as Colorado finished the night 0-for-2 on the power play and 4-for-5 on the penalty kill. Goaltender Justus Annunen suffered the loss in net, allowing three goals on 34 shots.
The Eagles will be back in action when they take on the Texas Stars on Saturday, January 28th at 6:00pm MT at the H-E-B Center in Cedar Park, Texas. Tickets for all regular season games are on sale now and start at just $21. 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.
