ABBOTSFORD, British Columbia — It was a must-win game for the Colorado Eagles coming into Game Two against the Abbotsford Canucks (VAN). Last game, the Eagles’ physical struggles hampered their performance. The Canucks clearly stifled their speed. On Sunday, things changed as the Eagles made the Canucks play their style of hockey. Colorado walked away from Abbotsford with a split series after winning 5–3 and now will play the next three games at home.

Takeaways

The Eagles stayed out of the penalty box compared to a normal AHL game. Sunday was an almost spotless game with no penalties being called in the first period. In the Second period, the Eagles received two penalties that led to Abbotsford power plays. The first penalty by Devante Stephens was a really weak call. Stephens went to hit the player on the wall and the Canuck fell before Stephens got there. It was called for boarding. The other penalty was for high-sticking on Tye Felhaber. Wyatt Aamodt added a third penalty during a scrum in the third period after players fell on Trent Miner.

With Jason Polin out of the game because of injury, you would think the hit count for the Eagles would have gone down. Matthew Stienburg took Polin’s place in the lineup and is exactly what Colorado needed. Stienburg injected a gritty and hard-hitting game into the lineup. His style bled throughout the rest of the team and Colorado kept up with the physical game they struggled so much with on Friday.

Even though the Canucks held the Eagles to fewer shots on goal than on Friday, they were more dangerous on Sunday. Colorado stacked their offense and came in waves. The initial shot came in on Artūrs Šilovs, but Colorado had someone consistently there for the rebound. It was not a matter of the quantity of shots; it was the quality of shots on Sunday. Šilovs probably felt a lot more pressure in Game Two after taking shots from all over the zone. Colorado had studied the film from the previous games and made the adjustments.

If Colorado can come into Game Three with the same attitude as Sunday, add to that the environment of Blue Arena, they should have no problem winning the game.

Upcoming

The Eagles travel back home to Blue Arena on Wednesday, May 21 at 7 p.m. MT. AHLTV on FloHockey.com will stream the game.