NORTH CHARLESTON, SC. – Forward Jackson Houck registered his first two goals as an Eagle, as seven different Colorado skaters posted multi-point games in a 7-5 victory over the South Carolina Stingrays on Saturday. Clarke Saunders claimed the win in net, his second victory of the season.
The Stingrays would jump out to an early 1-0 lead when forward Steven McParland grabbed the puck in the low slot and dragged it across the crease, beating Saunders at the 2:59 mark of the first period.
Colorado would storm back, as Houck scored his first goal as an Eagle with a shot from the left circle to even the score at 1-1 with 9:55 remaining in the opening period of play. Just 3:22 later, Colorado would cash in on the power play when defenseman Jake Marto fired a shot from the point past Stingrays goaltender Adam Carlson to give the Eagles the 2-1 edge. The Eagles would grow the lead to 3-1 when forward Cole Sanford tallied his seventh goal of the season with a wrister from the right circle just 1:13 later.
Moving into the second period, Colorado would again stretch their lead, as Houck took advantage of a diving effort by Carlson that pulled him out of his crease, while Houck patiently waited and fired the puck into the net to make it a 4-1 Eagles lead at the 13:02 mark of the middle frame.
The Eagles would continue to light the lamp in the third period, as forward Matt Garbowsky deflected a pass along the ice into the net to make it 5-1 Colorado with 9:37 gone in the final frame of regulation.
South Carolina would not go away quietly, as forward Scott Tanski banked a shot past Saunders at the 15:42 mark to trim the Eagles lead to 5-2. Just 17 seconds later, forward Alex Gacek snapped a wrister into the back of the net to slice the Colorado edge to 5-3. The Stingrays would pull Carlson in favor of the extra attacker and forward Rob Flick would capitalize from the side of the net make it 5-4 Colorado and pull South Carolina to within one goal with 1:31 remaining in regulation.
With South Carolina’s net still vacant, the Eagles would track down a loose puck along the boards in their own zone and defenseman Matt Register would send it sailing into the empty net to put Colorado back up 6-4 with 1:07 left in the third period. That advantage would increase to 7-4, as forward Luke Salazar notched his ninth goal of the year on an empty-netter with 39 seconds left to play.
South Carolina would have one last tally left in their arsenal, as defenseman Steve Weinstein wired home a shot from the blue line with only 15 seconds remaining to make it a 7-5 Eagles lead, which would last to the final horn.
The Eagles conclude their three-game series with South Carolina when they square-off with the Stingrays on Sunday, November 20th.
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