Eagles best ‘Bugs with four unanswered goals

BOSSIER CITY, La. – A motivated Colorado Eagles team took the ice in Game 3 of the Central Hockey League finals at the CenturyTel Center on Tuesday night and recovered from a two-goal deficit with four unanswered tallies in the third period to win 4-2.
The victory provided Colorado a 2-1 series lead in the best-of-seven series and represented the Eagles’ first regulation win in Bossier City in the team’s post-season history.
Unhappy with their effort and the results in Game 2 back in Colorado Saturday night, the Eagles vowed to mend some holes in their offensive game.
Firing shots on Bossier-Shreveport goalie John DeCaro from all angles, the Eagles out shot the Mudbugs 14-4 in the first period. Yet it was the home team that scored the only goal. On their first shot of the game, the Mudbugs’ Justin Aikins registered a power play tally, beating Eagle’s net minder Andrew Penner at the 11:35 mark for the 1-0 lead.

Unable to keep up the frenetic pace through the second period, the Eagles focused on playing strong defensive hockey and looking for scoring opportunities. Shots on goal were 8-6 in favor of the Mudbugs.
Once again, the home team scored the only goal of the period when amateur Nick Layton deposited a shot on a breakaway chance behind Penner late in the second frame.
Trailing 2-0 starting the final period,  the Eagles dug deep to find their missing offense. An unlikely hero, defenseman Jason Beatty broke the seal on the Mudbugs’ goal net with a hard slapshot that found it’s way through a crowd in front of DeCaro and into the net at 7:54.
At 11:18, the abysmal Colorado power play, which was on a 0 for 32 pace in previous games, was finally resuscitated. Keven Ulanski stationed himself beside the net in perfect position to slam home a Scott May rebound for the even up goal.
A Former DU Pioneer and 2010 CHL MVP, Ulanski also scored the go-ahead goal at 17:26 on a tic-tac-toe passing play with Riley Nelson and Adam Cherneyko.
To top off the four-goal scoring outburst, Dan Sullivan carefully slid a shot into the empty net at 19:26 to seal the deal.
Scoring on 4 of the 11 shots in the final frame the Eagles pounded DeCaro with a total of 31 shots in the 4-2 win.
Bossier-Shreveport  managed a meager 19 shots on goal, scoring on just two of them in the loss.
Game 4 will be played on Thursday, May 19th at the CenturyTel Center with a 7:05 p.m. CST start.
Contact the writer/photographer at terry.sanford@prohockeynews.com