BOISE, ID – The Colorado Eagles scored a pair of goals in the third period to notch a 3-2 victory over the Idaho Steelheads on Friday. The win was Colorado’s 46th of the season, tying this year’s team with the 2006-07 Colorado Eagles for the most victories in a single season in team history. Lukas Hafner shined in net for Colorado, stopping 33 of Idaho’s 35 shots in the contest.
Colorado opened the scoring when forward Casey Pierro-Zabotel snapped a wrister through traffic on the power play to give the Eagles the 1-0 lead 4:48 into the contest.
Idaho would tie the game with a shot that was tipped past Hafner by Steelheads forward Joe Basaraba, knotting the score at 1-1 with 4:45 remaining in the first period. Only 23 seconds later, a shot from the low slot from Idaho forward Connor Chatham would be stopped by Hafner. However, the puck would roll just short of the goal line and be signaled a goal by referee Andy Howard. The call gave the Steelheads the 2-1 lead which they would carry into the first intermission.
After a scoreless second period that was highlighted by four separate fights and 90 combined penalty minutes, the Eagles would come roaring back in the final period of play. Eagles defenseman Matt Register leveled the score with a slapshot from the left circle that would beat Idaho goaltender Landon Bow and tied the game at 2-2 with 13:06 left in regulation.
With time winding down in the contest, rookie forward Matt Brown fielded a pass in the slot and snapped a shot into the back of the net to give Colorado a 3-2 edge with just 2:03 remaining in the third period.
Idaho would pull Bow in favor of the extra attacker, but Hafner stood tall and helped the Eagles hold on for the 3-2 win. Colorado finished the game going 1-for-3 on the power play and a perfect 6-for-6 on the penalty kill.
The Eagles will be back in action when they take on the Idaho Steelheads on Saturday, April 1st at 7:10 p.m. MT at CenturyLink Arena in Boise.
Follow us on Twitter @prohockeynews
You must be logged in to post a comment.