LOVELAND, Colo. — The Eagles had two final games at home against the Calgary Wranglers (CGY) before heading to the playoffs. With the Henderson Silver Knights (VGK) four points behind — and the tie-breaker in Henderson’s favor — the Eagles needed to keep from falling from second seed to third.

Friday night: 5–2 loss

Written by Brennan Vogt

Friday night was a special one with the pro debut of the recent signee T.J. Hughes. But the big worry was that the Eagles needed a point to secure their playoff seeding. Just. One. Point.

It looked rough from the start as the Wranglers tapping a goal only thirty seconds into the game for a quick lead from Sam Morton.

As the Eagles attacked the crease, one of them took a stick butt to the face, and Gustav Stjernberg dropped his mitts in defense of his teammate. Stjernberg had to sit in the box while he watched Daniil Miromanov easily put another past Trent Miner.

A skirmish involving everyone on the ice sent two players to the box from each side. Four minutes later, the Wranglers were on the power play once again and set up in the Eagles’ zone. A pass to the backdoor let Aydar Suniev redirect the shot past Miner for the three-goal lead.

The second period brought along a push by the Eagles with only little success. Six penalties by the Wranglers gave the Eagles plenty of chances to catch up, but with no luck. Two minutes into the period, Tristen Nielsen roofed a backhand shot to put Colorado within two, but that was it.

The final period was not much different from the second. Calgary gave the Eagles two more chances on the power-play and they still couldn’t convert. Former Colorado Avalanche Dryden Hunt netted a goal less than four minutes into the period to put Calgary up 4–1. Nielsen struck back twenty seconds later, putting Colorado down by two. But the Wranglers put the nail in the coffin halfway through the period as Justin Kirkland scored their fifth goal.

“This game’s lost on special teams, and we give up two on the kill, and we don’t score on eight opportunities,” said head coach Mark Letestu. “They tried to give it back to us. So we just we couldn’t take it. We got to find a way, when you play almost a third of the game on the power play, to find one to get past them. So it’s a special teams game that we’re going to want back and watch film and hopefully make some adjustments for tomorrow.”

Mark Letestu interview April 17, 2026

T.J. Hughes interview April 17, 2026

Saturday night: 7–5 loss

Written by Marie Sexton

Saturday night ended up being a night loaded with prospects in the lineup. The Henderson Silver Knights lost on Friday, so the Eagles’ seeding situation was secure. All the veterans sat this one out and rested up for the upcoming playoffs.

Less than five minutes into the game, the Eagles went on the power play after going 0-for-8 on Friday. Gavin Brindley wasted no time by burying the puck within seconds of the faceoff.

Not even one minute later, Colorado rushed out of the zone on the breakout. Led by Bryan Yoon and Cooper Gay, the play would be finished off by Luke Toporowski to put the Eagles up by two.

As the period wrapped up, Calgary put themselves in the box with two penalties to force a 5-on-3 power play for Colorado. Jacob MacDonald took advantage of it with a pass from Hughes. It would be the Michigan Wolverines’ first professional point.

Just 14 seconds into the second period, the Eagles increased their lead to 4–0 with Hughes’ first professional goal.

Unfortunately, it was all downhill from there. Calgary’s Brennan Othmann and Miromanov scored back-to-back goals before four minutes of the period had passed. The play was sloppy enough to make me wonder about the condition of the ice. Skaters fell all over themselves and each other. Both teams committed multiple penalties throughout the period, and very little of the second was played at even-strength.

second period penalties

The teams combined for eight penalties in the second period.

At 10:42, Nick Cicek narrowed the score to 4–3. Ronnie Attard added one more for the Eagles, but the Wranglers answered back only a few minutes later. Hughes, Brindley, and Taylor Makar had a few great moments, but overall, the team just couldn’t find its rhythm. In the third period, Calgary added two more goals against Isak Posch before tacking on an empty-net goal to finish the game.

Takeaways

Both games were ugly. The Calgary Wranglers were eliminated from the playoffs weeks ago. They ranked dead last in the league. They had nothing left to play for but pride.

Apparently, pride was enough.

On Friday, the Eagles came out flat, looking like they’d just spent a couple of weeks on vacation and barely remembered how to catch a pass. By the time they woke up in the second period, it was too late. They were already down three goals. They couldn’t come back from that despite putting 52 shots on net. Being 0-for-8 on the power play definitely didn’t help.

On Friday, the Eagles came out flat, looking like they’d just spent a couple of weeks on vacation and barely remembered how to catch a pass. By the time they woke up in the second period, it was too late. They were already down by three goals. They couldn’t come back from that despite putting 52 shots on net. Being 0-for-8 on the power play definitely didn’t help.

On the bright side, it was clear that Hughes and Brindley had played together before. Hughes has also played with Makar in the past.By the end of Saturday, the three of them were connecting on some amazing passes. They looked like they could be a real threat if the Eagles can stay in the playoffs long enough for their chemistry to pay off.

Up Next

The Colorado Eagles begin the Calder Cup playoffs on Wednesday night against the San Diego Gulls (ANA). AHLTV on FloHockey.com will stream the game.