LOVELAND, Colo. — It was a big weekend for the Colorado Eagles as they battled the Coachella Valley Firebirds. Going into the series, the Eagles were only two points out of first behind the Ontario Reign (LAK). In the last 10 games, the Eagles had the better record with a 5–3–0–2 record over the Firebirds’ 4–5–1–0. Even though the Eagles were the better team, Coachella Valley clipped the Eagles’ wings the entire weekend.

Saturday Night: 5–2 loss

The Eagles struggled in the first period, letting in four goals. Coachella Valley looked like it was more motivated and quicker to the puck. It took only six minutes for the Firebirds to break through with a seeing-eye shot from the blue line by Ville Ottavainen. Soon after, Carson Rehkopf scored from the face-off circle, elevating the score to two. Turnovers by the Eagles purely caused the next two goals in their own zone or the neutral zone. Trent Miner would come into the game after only seven shots on net to replace Kyle Keyser.

The Firebirds sent two players to the penalty box six seconds apart, but Colorado couldn’t take advantage. The period would fall flat with the Firebirds leading 4–0.

“If there’s one part of the first period that I’m most disappointed about, it’s a five on three,” said head coach Mark Letestu.” “We get a five on three for a full two minutes, and we really don’t generate quality chances like we should, and a chance and an opportunity where a power play can grab back some life. Again, I liked a lot of our effort. Just find ways for pucks to go in and try and change the goalies, to get a little bit of a spark going and but I thought the power play there in a key moment kind of kind of let the group down a little bit.”

In the middle frame, the Eagles fared better, giving up zero goals. But Coachella Valley would head to the box to give Colorado three power plays in the period. Eagles failed to capitalize on them whatsoever. Colorado had several odd-man rushes that just fell apart and yielded no results. The big highlight of the period was that Gustav Stjernberg, who was playing in his first pro game, had his first fight. Stjernberg ran a Firebird in the corner, and John Hayden stood up for his teammate against the rookie.

Not Enough

During the third period, the Eagles fought back. Cooper Marody headed to the box for the Firebirds on a trip, but the Eagles finally converted. Jayson Megna sent a pass out front for Taylor Makar to nail the shot from one knee for the goal. It was Makar’s sixth point in just three games.

Three and a half minutes later, Sean Behrens went deep into the zone and wrapped around the net for his fifth of the season. Eleven minutes into the third, Jack Ahcan made his way to the box for interference. Jagger Firkus took full advantage of the power play as Keaton Middleton had no stick on the play. Colorado fell 5–2, unable to scrape their way back.

Mark Letestu interview March 21, 2026

Jayson Megna interview March 21, 2026

 

Sunday Afternoon: 4–3 overtime loss

It was another rough start on Sunday afternoon for the Eagles against the Firebirds. In the first three minutes, the Firebirds outshot Colorado 5–0. Surprisingly, there were no penalties called in the first as the officials “just let the boys play.” The Firebirds hit the back of the net with 11:30 to go in the period. Ahcan tried to exit the zone, and Lleyton Roed lifted his stick to do a 180 and snap a shot on Miner. Five minutes later, Ty Nelson tapped the puck in on an odd-man rush that caught Middleton on his own. Colorado had only a few chances on net, getting six shots off to the Firebirds’ 14.

The second period went much better for the Eagles. There was more energy and pushback from Colorado in attempts to get the puck into the Coachella zone. It took only 37 seconds for the Eagles to strike as Wyatt Aamodt passed up to Alex Barré-Boulet then to Megna for the snapshot in front.

It would take another 17 minutes for the Eagles to strike again. This time it was on the power play. Barré-Boulet casually strutted in front of the net and roofed the shot to tie the game.

The third period would see the Eagles and Firebirds trade penalties. But the best play came as the Eagles were fighting off one of those penalties. Felhaber took off in the neutral zone, a Firebird tripped him up, and it sent the puck right over to Megna. The captain easily picked up and snapped the shot into take the lead with his second of the game. Within five minutes, Coachella answered right back to tie the game at three apiece, eventually sending the game into overtime. The extra frame saw several breakaway opportunities by the Eagles, including one by Ivan Ivan. He clearly had the game on his stick, and the puck rolled off for a giveaway. The Firebirds had one breakaway chance in OT and they roofed it past Miner for the 4–3 win.

Mark Letestu interview March 22, 2026

Gustav Stjernberg interview March 22, 2026

Takeaways

Colorado struggled offensively early on. Coach Letestu said that it took the Eagles until the second in the last two games to get going. Puck management has been a consistent issue as well, turning over the puck that led to several goals on Saturday night. And one thing that Colorado has struggled with all season is overtime. They cannot finish the game in the extra frame despite having multiple opportunities to close out the game.

“You get breakaways and two unwanted open looks,” said Letestu. “You got to make the most of it. I think they had one, and then ends up in the back of that. That’s the efficiency you’re looking for in overtime. So I don’t know if it was a taxing weekend, a quick turnaround we were at 11 forwards with 5d last night. Like a lot, a lot of different things that added up. We just, we just got to find a way, especially with the opportunities we had, felt good about some of the looks and some of the people in those looks, and just they were more efficient.”

Up next

The Eagles will head on the road for their last road trip of the season as they take on the Calgary Wranglers on Friday and Sunday. AHLTV on FloHockey.com will stream the game.