CEDAR PARK, TX. – Colorado goaltender Justus Annunen turned aside 30 of the 31 shots he faced, and stopped both Texas shooters in a shootout, as the Eagles defeated the Stars 2-1 on Friday. Forward Andreas Wingerli scored Colorado’s lone goal in regulation, as the Eagles improved to 3-0 on the season against Texas. Forwards Mikhail Maltsev and Dylan Sikura both lit the lamp in the shootout, while Roland McKeown and Trey Bradley each collected an assist in the victory.
After killing off a pair of Eagles power plays, Texas would earn the game’s first goal when forward Anthony Louis swooped behind the net, before spinning and burying a shot from the right-wing circle. The goal was Louis’ first of the season and gave the Stars a 1-0 edge with 4:29 left to play in the opening 20 minutes of action. Texas would go on to outshoot Colorado, 11-8 in the period and would head to the first intermission still on top, 1-0.
The second period would see the Eagles penalty kill rise to the occasion, shutting down two Stars power play opportunities. It would also be punctuated by a fight between McKeown and Texas forward Jeremy Gregoire at the 11:21 mark of the middle frame. Despite both teams generating some quality opportunities throughout the period, the Stars would skate into the second intermission still in possession of a 1-0 advantage.
The Eagles would finally breakthrough when Wingerli batted a rebound out of midair on top of the crease, banging it past Texas goaltender Jake Oettinger and tying the game at 1-1 at the 10:06 mark of the third period.
As the horn sounded on 60 minutes of regulation, and with the game still deadlocked at 1-1, the contest would move to sudden-death overtime. Annunen would be tested early in the extra session as he would shut down Stars forward Frederik Karlstrom on a penalty shot just 1:03 into OT. The Eagles netminder would go on to make four saves in overtime and the game would move to a shootout.
Annunen denied opportunities in the shootout from both Jordan Kawaguchi and Riley Damiani, while Maltsev and Sikura each found the back of the net to help Colorado secure the 2-1 win.
The Eagles and Stars each finished with 31 shots on the night, as Colorado went 0-for-3 on the power play and 4-for-4 on the penalty kill.
The Eagles will return to action when they take on the Texas Stars on Saturday, November 13th at 6:00 pm MT at H-E-B Center in Cedar Park, Texas. 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.
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