Eagles Rally for Point, Fall to Stars in Shootout, 4-3
Nov 13, 2021
CEDAR PARK, TX. – The Colorado Eagles rallied to erase a 3-1 deficit but fell to the Texas Stars in a shootout, 4-3 on Saturday. Dylan Sikura, Callahan Burke and Dennis Gilbert all found the back of the net in the loss, as Colorado claimed three of a possible four points in the two-game road set against the Stars. Eagles goaltender Justus Annunen stopped 35 of the 38 shots he faced in the contest.
Texas would strike early when forward Frederik Karlstrom collected a feed on top of the crease and bashed the puck past Annunen to give the Stars a 1-0 edge just 2:16 into the contest.
Colorado would even the score just 1:44 later when Jean-Luc Foudy forced a turnover deep in the Texas zone and dished the puck across the low slot where Burke would flip a shot into the back of the net. The goal was Burke’s fourth of the season and tied the game at 1-1 at the 4:00 mark of the first period.
The Stars would hop back on top courtesy of a 2-on-1 one rush that would be capped off by forward Curtis McKenzie, giving Texas a 2-1 lead with 6:49 left to play in the opening 20 minutes of action.
Still trailing 2-1 to begin the second period, Colorado would see that hole grow deeper when the Stars took advantage of an early power play. McKenzie would earn his second goal of the night when he camped out on top of the crease and deflected a pass into the back of the net to stretch the Texas advantage to 3-1 just 51 seconds into the middle frame.
The Eagles would swing the momentum on a power play of their own when forward Dylan Sikura beat Stars goalie Colton Point with a wrister from the left-wing circle to trim the deficit to 3-2 with 4:17 remaining in the second period. Texas would go on to outshoot Colorado, 11-6 in the period and the two teams would head to the intermission with the Stars still leading, 3-2.
The Eagles would level the score when defenseman Dennis Gilbert streaked through the right-wing circle and buried a wrister to square the game at 3-3 with only 18 seconds gone in the third period.
Colorado would then be forced to face three Texas power plays to close out the final frame, including a 5-on-3, but Annunen and the penalty kill would meet the challenge and the game would move to a sudden-death overtime, still deadlocked at 3-3.
The Stars would outshoot the Eagles, 3-1 in the extra session, but neither team would be able to generate the game-winner and the contest would then move to a shootout. Texas forward Anthony Louis would be the only shooter on either side to light the lamp, as the Stars walked away with the 4-3 shootout victory.
Colorado was outshot in the game, 39-19. The Eagles finished the night 1-for-4 on the power play and 6-for-7 on the penalty kill.
The Eagles will return to action when they return home to take on the Henderson Silver Knights on Friday, November 19th at 7:05 pm 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.
