Eagles Start Pacific Division Tournament
May 18, 2021
The Colorado Eagles will take on the Ontario Reign in the first game of the Pacific Division Tournament on Tuesday. Colorado is coming off of an overtime loss to end the regular season on Saturday but is looking to get back in the win column tonight against Ontario.
Eagles goaltender Justus Annunen started in his second straight game on Saturday and made 30 saves on 33 shots. Annunen, a 3rd round pick of the 2018 NHL draft was assigned to the Eagles from the Avalanche earlier this month after concluding his season with Karpat in Finland’s top professional league, going 7-9-7 with a 2.43 goals-against average and a .880 save percentage.
Eagles forwards Sampo Ranta and Ryan Wagner each scored a goal in the overtime loss on Saturday. Wagner finished the regular season with 13 points (5-8-13) in 34 games while Sampo Ranta had 7 points (4-3-7) in 14 games after joining the team in April after a two-year career with the University of Minnesota. The Eagles finished the 2020-21 regular season in 5th place with an overall record of 15-15-3-1.
The Ontario Reign wrapped up the regular season in 6th place, with an 8-2 run over their last 10 games. Colorado and Ontario last played on May 9th where Eagles forward Mike Vecchione completed the hat trick to beat the Reign 7-5.
Eagles at Reign
Five Points Arena - Irvine, California
Roster Report
Forwards Logan O’Connor, Liam O’Brien, Kiefer Sherwood, Alex Newhook, and Jayson Megna are recalled by the Avalanche along with defensemen Jacob MacDonald, Kyle Burroughs, Dan Renouf, Dennis Gilbert, and Conor Timmins.
Defenseman Nate Clurman and Peter Tischke along with forward Sheldon Dries will be out with lower-body injuries. Forward Shane Bowers is also expected to miss tonight’s game with an upper-body injury.
By the Numbers
Tuesday’s contest is the first time the Eagles have faced the Reign in the postseason and the seventh time the two clubs have seen each other this season. Colorado went 2-4-0 against Ontario during the regular season.
Colorado - Ontario Connections
Reign defenseman Mark Alt was the Eagles captain from 2018-2020. Alt signed a one-year, two-way contract with the Los Angeles Kings in October of 2020. Also from the Reign, forward Mikey Eyssimont is a native of Littleton, Colorado.
