ESTERO, Fla. – In a very exciting and entertaining game three in the ECHL Kelly Cup Finals Series, the Colorado Eagles added another overtime victory to claim an ECHL record of playing eight overtime games – of which seven were Eagles wins.
Matt Makenzie started off the scoring for the Everblades, with assists from John McCarron and Mitchel Heard, on a two-man advantage when he blasted a shot from the high slot beating Eagles goaltender Joe Cannata for the 1-0 lead with 16:51 to play in the first period.
Less than one minute later, while still working to kill the second part of the penalty, Colorado managed to get captain Matt Garbowsky skating through the low slot with the puck resulting in a short-handed, unassisted goal to tie the game 1-1 at the 3:53 mark of period one.
Operating with their own five-on-three power play at 6:46 of the first frame, Colorado’s regular season and post-season leading scorer, Michael Joly, broke the 1-1 tie with a screened shot from the left circle that found the back of the net behind Florida’s Martin Ouellette. Assisting on the play were the Eagle’s Matt Register and J.C. Beaudin for the 2-1 Colorado lead.
#16 Michael Joly 2nd Star of the Game
Photo Courtesy of terry.sanford@prohockeynews.com
Rookie Travis Baron of the Eagles scored his first goal of the playoffs by deflecting a slap shot taken by Joly into the Everblades net at 14:56 into the opening period on another man advantage to put the visitors up 3-1.
It was the Everblades turn to make some noise and get themselves back into the game as Brett Bulmer used Florida’s excellent power play unit to bring the score to within a goal with four minutes left in the first frame. Joe Cox and Justin Kea assisted Bulmer on the goal that made it 3-2.
Answering the call one more time to record the game-tying goal with just 12-seconds left in the period, McCarron tipped in a shot from Clark Seymor for the 3-3 tie. Also assisting on the Everblades third goal was Sam Warning.
#25 John McCarron 3rd Star of the Game
Courtesy of the Colorado Eagles Media
Period two saw only a shorthanded goal from Stephen MacAuley with an assist from Spencer Smallman at 5:29 of the middle frame giving the Everblades a 4-3 lead heading into the third period.
In the third period, Ryan Olsen found his game and netted the game-tying goal with a nifty back-hander from close in, with Gabriel Verpaelst and Ryan Harrison assisting on the all-important 4-4 goal.
#14 Ryan Olsen #1 Star of the Game
Photo Courtesy of terry.sanford@prohockeynews.com
Overtime is where the Colorado Eagles have made an impression during this season’s playoff run. After going 6-1 in Overtime games to tie the old record for playoff overtime wins, they moved into first place with their win in Game three with a record of seven wins and one loss in the eight overtime games played in one playoff season.
Once again it was Olsen who took care of the scoring in the extra frame as he, Julien Nantel and Harrison put on a passing clinic to open up Oulette, allowing Nantel to set up Olsen for a tip-in of his one-timer from the left circle to claim the victory for the 2-1 series lead.
The Colorado Eagles and Florida Everblades continue with Game four at the Germaine Arena in Estero, Fla. at 5:30 MT on Friday, June 1st.
Article courtesy of terry.sanford@prohockeynews.com
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