LOVELAND, Colo – With all the excitement and intensity of game one of this Northern Conference finals series it would not have come as a shock to anyone if the Colorado Eagles had come out with a little less jump in game two. If anything, the Eagles came out even stronger against the Mississippi RiverKings on Friday night then they did the previous game on Wednesday. Determined not to allow a let down the Eagles came out skating hard and hitting anything that moved from the first drop of the puck.
Konrad Reeder was the recipient of a great set-up from Scott Polaski and Jason Beatty plus a little luck when his shot beat Kevin Beech after it was re-directed off a RiverKing player to take a 1 to 0 lead at 8:10 of period one.
Photo by Terry Sanford
The Eagles second goal, a power play tally, also got past Beech off one of the Mississippi players. Goal number two for the Eagles was by Aaron Schneekloth with assistance from Erik Adams and Ed McGrane was scored at 15:07 of the first period.
The middle period did not produce any scoring but it was filled with up-and-down the ice action and numerous chances. The RiverKings fought hard to get on the scoreboard peppering Eagles goalie Andrew Penner with 15 shots compared to six shots from the Eagles against Beech.
A lot of the credit for keeping the Riverkings from scoring in the second period goes to the checking line of Adam Hogg, Steve Haddon, and either Brett Hammond or Jay Birnie.
“We try to keep things simple with our line,” said Hogg. “(We) make sure we are playing hard (because) we are lined up against the Dumont line, the top line, we have to finish our checks and if we pop in a goal it’s a bonus.”
Leading 2 to 0 heading into the third frame, the Eagles remembered the previous game and how they were able to come back from a 2 to 0 deficit in the third period to ultimately win game one in overtime. The home team Eagles vowed not to let that happen and pushed the play in the third period, out shooting The ‘Kings 16 to 10 and scoring two goals in 18 seconds to solidify their lead.
Ryan Tobler, assisted by Reeder and Schneekloth, scored the Eagles second power play goal of the night at 6:43 of the third with Riley Nelson scoring an unassisted goal off a steal right in front of Beech a mere 18 seconds after Tobler’s goal.
Colorado was less than five minutes away from helping Penner to a playoff shutout when Joe Markuson scored a beautiful backdoor goal assisted by the passing expertise of Garrett Larson and Dumont.
“Shutouts are nice,” said Penner, after the game “But all I am really worried about is the win.”
Game two of the conference finals was also the debut of the Eagles amateur signee, Justin DaCosta, a fast skating defenseman who showed good puck moving skills and was not afraid to get his nose dirty.
“It was fun,” said DaCosta. “It’s always exciting to get to play in the playoffs at any level.”
With the four to one win the Colorado Eagles take a two-to-none series lead into The Desoto Civic Center next Tuesday, April 21. Games three, four, and five (if necessary) of the series will be played on he RiverKings home ice.
Contact the author and photographer at terry.sanford@prohockeynews.com
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