LOVELAND, CO – The Colorado Eagles collected their 17th straight win by producing a 5-4 victory over the South Carolina Stingrays on Friday night. The two teams combined for 122 penalty minutes in the contest, as Colorado tied the 2007-08 Cincinnati Cyclones for the second-longest winning streak in ECHL history. Eagles forward Luke Salazar potted 
two goals in the win, while defenseman Jake Marto and forward Casey Pierro-Zabotel each posted three assists.
The Stingrays claimed an early advantage when defenseman Steve Weinstein fired a shot from the top of the left circle that beat Eagles goaltender Clarke Saunders and put South Carolina on top 1-0 with 7:45 remaining in the first period.
Trailing by one goal after 20 minutes of action, Colorado would knot the game at 1-1 when Salazar wired a wrist shot past Stingrays goalie Parker Milner on the power play just 1:32 into the second period.
South Carolina would reclaim the lead less than seven minutes later when forward Rob Flick collected the puck in the low slot and sent a backhander into the net to make it a 2-1 Stingrays advantage.
The Eagles would find yet another answer, this time on a shorthanded rush, as defenseman Teigan Zahn spun through the slot and slid the puck between the legs of Milner to even the score at 2-2 with 5:57 remaining in the middle frame. The goal was Colorado’s league-leading 16th shorthanded goal of the season.
With the two teams deadlocked at 2-2 heading into the third period, Colorado would stake claim to its first lead of the night when defenseman Sam Jardine launched a slapshot from the top of the circle that would light the lamp and give the Eagles the 3-2 edge at the 4:21 mark of the period.
Salazar would extend the lead to a pair of goals when he snapped home a shot from the point on the power play to put Colorado up 4-2 at the 10:46 mark of the final frame.
The Eagles lead would be sliced in half when Stingrays forward Scott Tanski beat Saunders with a shot from between the circles on the man-advantage to trim the Colorado advantage to 4-3 with 7:02 left in regulation.
Colorado would produce a quick response less than two minutes later, as defenseman Jake Marto would deliver a beautiful outlet pass onto the tape of forward Kenny Brooks who would finish off the play by besting Milner and stretching the Eagles lead to 5-3.
South Carolina would not go away quietly, as forward Steven McParland would send a spinning effort from the right circle into the back of the net to cut Colorado’s lead to 5-4 with 2:56 still left in the third period. The Stingrays would pull Milner in favor of the extra attacker, but Colorado would slam the door defensively and hold on for the 5-4 victory.
Clarke Saunders picked up the win in net, stopping 22 of South Carolina’s 26 shots in the contest, while the Eagles finished the evening going 3-for-6 on power play.
The Eagles conclude their three-game series against the South Carolina Stingrays on Saturday, March 4th at 7:05 p.m. MT at the Budweiser Events Center.
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