Eagles Complete Sweep with 5-2 Win over Barracuda
Dec 17, 2022
LOVELAND, CO. – Five different Eagles found the back of the net, while goaltender Jonas Johansson turned aside 25 of the 27 shots he faced, as Colorado completed a two-game sweep of the San Jose Barracuda with a 5-2 victory on Saturday. Eagles forwards Ryan Wagner and Cal Burke each finished with a goal and an assist in the win, while fellow forwards Spencer Smallman and Cedric Pare each netted a goal for the second straight contest.
Colorado would bury the game’s first goal when Wagner streaked through the left-wing circle before lighting the lamp with a wrister to give the Eagles a 1-0 edge at the 9:39 mark of the first period.
After killing off a San Jose power play, Colorado would expand its lead when Smallman skated through the slot and tipped a shot past Barracuda goalie Eetu Makiniemi to put the Eagles up 2-0 with 7:44 left to play in the opening 20 minutes. Colorado would go on to outshoot San Jose 11-5 in the period and carried a 2-0 advantage into the first intermission.
A power play would help the Eagles expand their lead, as Pare rifled a shot from the left-wing circle into the back of the net to put Colorado on top 3-0 just 3:30 into the second period.
The Barracuda would finally break through when a delayed penalty against the Eagles allowed San Jose forward Thomas Bordeleau to sweep home a shot from the bottom of the right-wing circle, slicing the deficit to 3-1 with 3:06 remaining in the middle frame.
Still leading 3-1 as the puck dropped on the third period of play, Colorado would again find paydirt when forward Shane Bowers camped on top of the crease and deflected a shot from the point past Makiniemi to expand the Eagles lead to 4-1 at the 2:25 mark of the final frame.
The excitement would be short-lived, as just 21 seconds later Barracuda forward Brandon Coe buried a shot from the bottom of the right-wing circle to trim Colorado’s advantage to 4-2.
San Jose would pull Makiniemi in the final three minutes of the game in favor of the extra attacker, but it would be the Eagles who would capitalize when Burke smacked home an empty-netter with 55 seconds remaining in the contest.
Colorado outshot the Barracuda 28-27, as the Eagles finished 1-for-6 on the power play and a perfect 4-for-4 on the penalty kill.
The Eagles will be back in action when they take on the Bakersfield Condors on Tuesday, December 20th at 7:05pm MT at the Budweiser Events Center. 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.
