The Colorado Eagles arrived in Coachella Valley for the fourth game of their six-game road trip. The Firebirds (SEA) came into the night ranked fourth in the division at 22–12–5–0. They’ve been playing well lately, going 7–2–1–0 in their last ten games. The Eagles, on the other hand, have been in a slump, with a record of 4–4–0–2 in their last ten.

Recap

The Firebirds kicked off the night’s scoring with a goal from Logan Morrison at 8:04 of the first. The Eagles had several brilliant chances throughout the period but didn’t convert on any of them. Then, at 17:09 of the first, Ville Ottavainen was called for interference. Alex Barré-Boulet scored on the ensuing power play, tipping in a shot from Jack Ahcan to tie the game at one. It was Barré-Boulet’s fourteenth goal of the season, and Ahcan’s twenty-seventh point. TJ Tynan also had an assist.

The second period saw some back-and-forth play with a few good chances on each end of the ice, but not much else. The teams combined for only fifteen shots on goal in the second period (eight for Coachella, seven for Colorado).

At 4:35 of the third, while on the power play, Jason Polin scored his fifth goal of the season, assisted by Ahcan and Barré-Boulet.

That goal gave the Eagles their first lead of the night — a lead they’d cling to until the end, making them 2–2 on their road trip so far.

Takeaways

Eagles broadcaster Kevin McGlue confirmed that Trent Miner suffered an upper-body injury in the Eagles’ loss against Ontario (LAK) on January 24. They did not specify when he would return. Luckily, even with Miner out of the lineup, the Eagles still have two good goaltenders to fill their net. Kyle Keyser started tonight and allowed only one goal on thirty shots. Isak Posch, who had been a healthy scratch since the Eagles’ 6–3 loss to Ontario on January 13, served as backup.

Ahcan returned to the Eagles’ lineup tonight after several games with the Colorado Avalanche, and he had an enormous impact. Before tonight, the Eagles had scored only one power-play goal in their last seven games — and that was on an empty net. But tonight, the Eagles went two for four on the power play. Ahcan set both goals up. Barré-Boulet also had two points in the game.

Up Next

The Eagles will finish up their road trip with games against the Tucson Roadrunners (UTA) on Friday and Saturday. Tucson is currently in seventh place in the Pacific Division with a record of 18–14–7–0. They are 6–2–2–0 in their last ten. AHLTV on FloHockey.com will stream the game.