Matt Garbowsky
LOVELAND, Colo. After the longest road trip of the season of seven games in ten days, the Colorado Eagles’ first home game in two weeks saw a slightly different team notch a hard-working shootout victory over the Tulsa Oilers.
First stop on the road trip was a three game set against the Idaho Steelheads. Before the Saturday night game in Boise it was announced that Defenseman Gage Ausmus and Forward Jake Marchment had been traded to the Utah Grizzlies in exchange for Forward Ryan Olson and Defenseman Cliff Watson. Watson was subsequently called up to the San Jose Barracuda after playing one game with the Eagles.
In the three games with Idaho the Eagles won the first game 4-2 and lost the second
Ryan Olson 14 sets up shop in front of Goalie Devin Williams 35
in a 3-0 shutout. The rubber match saw the short benched Eagles dig deep to steal a point in a 5-4 shootout loss to salvage three points in the standings.
Two games in Wichita against the Thunder were next on the agenda with game one going to the Eagles in a 5-3 win. Game two in Wichita ended with a 2-1 shootout victory for Colorado, adding four more points to keep the Eagles on top of the Mountain Division.
Finishing up the road trip was a visit to Tulsa, Oklahoma where the Oilers and Eagles skated to a 1-1 tie at the end of regulation and with neither team able to light the lamp in the overtime period. It was on to another 2-1 shootout win for the Eagles. Game two was a tough 6-3 loss for the Eagles as the short bench and seven games in 10 nights in three cities took its toll.
Another bump in the road was a surprise announcement by Eagles forward, Emil Romig, that he was heading to Europe to play at the morning skate before the first game in Tulsa. Always resourceful, Eagles President and General Manager Chris Stewart, was able to replace Romig quickly by signing Nicholas Miglio who had previously played with the Kansas City Mavericks.
Coming home to the BEC was especially gratifying as both Eagles forwards, Jesse Mychan and Captain Matt Garbowsky, were cleared to play after missing 16 games each with injuries.
Michael Joly 16 league leading 37th goal beats Williams 35
Michael Joly continued his league leading scoring wizardry notching his 37th goal of the season and Garbowsky also scored a goal in his first game back. Mychan had an assist and Olsen scored the first Eagles goal of the game as well as a shootout goal for five goals in his first seven games with Colorado. Gabriel Verpaelst beat Oilers goalie Devin Williams for the winning goal in the shootout.
Former Eagle and feisty competitor, Joey Sides scored
Hafner 33 stops former Eagle Joey Sides 19 for the Shootout win
the first goal for the Oilers with Adam Pleskach adding another first period tally for the visitors. In the second period Charlie Sampair wristed the puck past Eagles goalie Lukas Hafner for the third goal. Sampair was also the only Tulsa player to beat Hafner in the shootout.
Colorado Eagles and Tulsa Oilers resume play Friday March 3 at the Budweiser Events Center in Loveland, Co. Game time is 7:00 P.M.
Contact the writer/photographer: Terry.Sanford@prohockeynews.com
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