Eagles Rally Falls Short in 7-6 Loss at Stockton
Jan 5, 2019
STOCKTON, CA. – Colorado scored three goals in the final 7:34 of the third period but fell short in a 7-6 loss to the Stockton Heat on Saturday. Eagles forward Andrew Agozzino notched two goals and two assists, while defenseman David Warsofsky posted four assists in the loss. Colorado was also fueled by a power play that went 3-for-4 in the contest.
Colorado claimed an early edge when Cody Bass found Dominic Toninato streaking through the neutral zone, setting up a breakaway that would see Toninato beat Stockton goalie Tyler Parsons to give the Eagles a 1-0 lead just 3:46 into the contest.
Stockton would tie things up just minutes later when a shot from the blue line was tipped in the slot by forward Ryan Lomberg and found the back of the net to even the score at 1-1 at the 7:38 mark of the first period.
The Eagles would jump back on top on the power play only 1:18 later when Warsofsky’s shot from the point was deflected past Parsons by Agozzino to give Colorado the 2-1 advantage.
Later in the first period, Stockton defenseman Rob Hamilton would find himself alone in the slot and buried a shot past Eagles goalie Pavel Francouz to tie the game at 2-2 at the 15:27 mark of the period. The Heat would then claim its first lead of the night 34 seconds later when an Eagles turnover deep in their own zone set up forward Curtis Lazar to snap a puck from between the circles into the net to give Stockton a 3-2 edge.
Hamilton would stretch the Heat’s lead when he unfurled a wrister from the left circle that would beat Francouz between the pads and give Stockton a 4-2 advantage at the 17:23 mark of the first period.
Enjoying a two-goal advantage after 20 minutes of play, the Heat would pick up right where it left off to start the second period. A 2-on-2 rush would see forward Matthew Phillips turn on the jets at the blue line and lift a puck past Francouz from the low-slot to extend Stockton’s lead to 5-2 at the 1:26 mark of the middle frame.
Later in the period a Stockton power play would lead to a shot from the top of the left circle that would be deflected in front of the crease by forward Buddy Robinson to stretch the Heat’s advantage to 6-2 with 7:07 left to play in the second stanza.
Colorado would finally put the brakes on five straight goals for Stockton when a power play opportunity would set up Agozzino to hit defenseman Nicolas Meloche with a cross-lot pass, which Meloche would power into the back of the net to trim the Stockton lead to 6-3 at the 12:19 mark of the second period.
Heading into the final period of play, the Heat would tuck another tally into the back of the net off the tape of forward Glenn Gawdin to give Stockton a 7-3 advantage just 3:49 into the period.
The Eagles would then flip the script on the power play, as forward Michael Joly would field a pass at the bottom of the left circle before sweeping the puck past Parsons to cut the Heat’s lead to 7-4 at the 12:26 mark of the final frame. Colorado would take another bite out of the deficit only 19 seconds later when Meloche deflected a pass in the slot into the net to make it a 7-5 Heat advantage.
With the clock dipping under two minutes left to play, the Eagles would pull Francouz in favor of the extra attacker. The move would pay dividends as Agozzino would locate a rebound on top of the crease and feed it past Parsons to pull the Colorado within one with 1:45 still left to play.
Francouz would again head to the bench for the extra skater, but the Eagles would not be able to generate a game-tying goal, falling by a final score of 7-6. Colorado was outshot in the contest, 46-29.
The Eagles return to action when they return home to host the Bakersfield Condors on Friday, January 11th at 7:05pm MT at the Budweiser Events Center.
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).
