LOVELAND, Colo.— The Colorado Eagles had to come home to play the only team that they have not played all season long. The Chicago Wolves (CAR) came to Loveland to battle out for two games, and battle it out they did. They would end in a bloody split for the weekend, with several players needing stitches to their faces. By the end of the weekend, Colorado would be only one point out of first in the Pacific Division. The difference being the game on Friday night.

Friday night: 5–4 overtime loss

Colorado had some extra ammunition added to the lineup with the return of Keaton Middleton and Taylor Makar. Makar’s trip, sending the Eagles to a power play, fueled their initial burst of speed. The Eagles could not convert, although they drew the Wolves into the cycle.

Jake Wise broke away from the group and had an easy chance, but the snake-bitten forward was slashed to put the Eagles back on the man advantage. Six minutes later, an official sent Makar to the box for roughing. Chicago did not take long to make the Eagles pay for the mistake with a cross-crease pass and a backdoor finish from Felix Unger Sörum. The Eagles would get one more chance on the power play with no luck in the first period.

Heartbreak

Colorado came out with a lot more energy to start the middle frame. They peppered goaltender Cayden Primeau with shot after shot, but nothing seemed to get through. But the Wolves fought back. Less than five minutes into the second, Dominik Badinka struggled to get a handle on the puck as Isak Posch slid against the post. Badinka pushed the puck and Posch’s leg into the goal for the Wolves’ second goal of the night.

That goal by Badinka made the Eagles angry, as they would respond with three unanswered goals. With just over 12 minutes left, Jayson Megna broke free for an easy chip shot. Ten minutes later, Valtteri Puustinen walked through the zone and TJ Tynan followed to bat the puck clean out of the air. Then, with less than a minute to go in the period, Tye Felhaber poked the puck free up to Megna. It led to an odd-man rush, as Megna got it over to Alex Barre-Boulet for the 3–2 lead.

As the third period began, Chicago put on the pressure with two goals. One came from Domenick Fensoreand the other Nikita Pavlychev to put the Wolves up 4–3 late in the period. Colorado gained some ground, and Jack Ahcan’s shot from the blue line, deflected beautifully by Felhaber, tied the game with six minutes remaining. During overtime, Tynan of the Eagles passed the puck to Sean Behrens. Behrens then lost possession, allowing Unger Sörum to score the game-winning goal for Chicago.

Taylor Makar Interview February 6, 2025

Mark Letestu Interview February 6, 2025

Saturday night: 6–2 win

The Eagles came into Saturday night looking for redemption after their overtime loss. In the first period, neither team gave much room to move the puck. So it turned into a fast and heavy-hitting period. Chicago threw its weight around a lot more than they did on Friday night, causing Colorado to make quick passes. The standout line in the period had to be the Barre-Boulet-Megna-Felhaber line, causing the most havoc. With just over two minutes left in the period, Behrens rushed to the net and took a hard high-stick. Bradly Nadeau would head to the box for four minutes after the ice crew had to come clean blood off the ice.

A barrage of goals

Driven by anger from the Behrens hit, the Eagles aimed to put points on the board versus the Wolves. Ninety seconds passed before Barre-Boulet found the net for the night’s initial score. Forty-five seconds later, Felhaber screamed down the middle of the ice as  Wyatt Aamodt dropped it off to Megna. The captain saw Felhaber and dropped it off for him, and a casual wrist shot to put the Eagles up by two. They still had more to do. Taylor Makar gained speed in the neutral zone, taking a pass from Chase Bradley to finish with a gorgeous wrist shot.

Six minutes after Makar’s goal, Danil Gushchin picked up a rebound to roof a shot on the power play for the fourth goal of the period. Aamodt would add to the tally with a shot from the blue line and his third goal of the season. It required a man-advantage situation for Chicago to score in the period’s dying moments.

Colorado tried to play keep-away in the third, but Chicago threw it into the corner. They eventually dug it out to get it up to the point and an easy wrist shot in the slot to make it 5–2 Eagles. Exactly 10 minutes into the third period, Colorado would take advantage of an errant pass by Amir Miftakhov that bounced right to  Tristen Nielsen on the power play. He easily tapped the goal in for his 18th of the season. Five minutes later, Justin Robidas would get a rare penalty shot, but Kyle Keyser shut it down as the Eagles would win 6–2.

“I thought we played a pretty good game last night and a pretty good game tonight, today,” said Head coach Mark Letestu. “Our power play scored some goals. We defended a little better, we got a few more saves, but the game script for me, honestly, was very similar. There’s a lot more bleeding out there than I would have preferred tonight, but I’m happy the power play was able to get right and get a few goals and get us going in the right direction.”

Mark Letestu Interview February 7, 2025

Tye Felhaber Interview February 7, 2025

 

Up Next

The AHL will go on the All-Star Break on Tuesday. Colorado will then head to Chicago to take on the Wolves February 14th and 15th. AHLTV on FloHockey.com will stream the game.