The Eagles arrived in Tucson for the last two games of their six-game road trip. At the start of the weekend, the Tucson Roadrunners (UTA) ranked seventh in the Pacific Division with a record of 19–14–7–0. They were 6–2–2–0 in their last ten games. In the AHL and the Pacific Division, the cutoff to make the playoffs is seventh place. The Roadrunners, one of the Colorado Eagles’ major rivals, are desperate to hold the position in the standings.

Friday: 3–1 victory

Both teams wore throwback jerseys as part of the AHL’s 90th Anniversary celebration. The Eagles jerseys dated back to their days in the Central Hockey League and included the original CHL patch on one shoulder.

The Eagles sport their CHL throwback jerseys in Tucson.

The Eagles sport their CHL throwback jerseys in Tucson. (Photo courtesy of the Tucson Roadrunners.)

Isak Posch started in net for the first time since January 13, when the Eagles suffered a brutal loss on home ice to the Ontario Reign (LAK). It was a bit of a slow start for both teams. Five minutes into the game, Tucson had no shots on goal, and Colorado had only one by Sean Behrens. At 5:35, Jack Ricketts went to the box for crosschecking. The Eagles scored less than twenty seconds into the ensuing power play. It was Valtteri Puustinen‘s first goal as an Eagle.

Alex Barré-Boulet and TJ Tynan assisted him on the goal. Ten minutes later, Mark Senden scored his third goal of the season, assisted by Jake Wise and Jack Ahcan, giving the Eagles a 2–0 lead which they’d take into the first intermission.

Tucson’s Ben McCartney scored just 1:18 into the second period. Both teams had some high-danger chances in the second, and both goalies made some spectacular saves. The Eagles outshot Tucson 23–15 through the first two periods, but nobody could convert.

Unsurprisingly, the Roadrunners came out desperate in the third period. They outshot the Eagles 9–3 through the first seventeen minutes of the final frame, but Posch turned them all away. Jason Polin finally put the game away with an empty-net goal at 18:50 of the third.

Saturday: 3–2 overtime victory

Danil Gushchin was a late scratch for this game. After Friday night’s game, Kevin McGlue reported Gushchin was “a bit banged up” but that he should be ready to play by next weekend.

The first period flew by with very little stoppage, taking only twenty-three minutes in real time. Colorado outshot Tucson 9–4, but nobody scored. The Eagles had the only power play of the period but couldn’t convert, so the teams went to the first intermission tied at zero.

Former Eagle Andrew Agozzino broke the tie at 5:38 of the second period, putting Tucson up 1–0. Tucson scored again on a power play late in the period, giving them a two-goal lead. The Eagles had a power play with 2:08 left in the second, but didn’t record a single shot on goal during their two-minute advantage. They were outshot by Tucson 12–8 in the second period and went to intermission down 2–0.

The Eagles finally found the back of the net at 16:16 of the third period when Jake Wise tipped a puck across the crease and Jayson Megna tucked it home, narrowing Tucson’s lead to 2–1. It was Megna’s twentieth goal of the season, assisted by Wise and Maroš Jedlička. Then, at 10:21 of the third, Brian Yoon scored his third goal of the season, tying the game at two apiece.

Maroš Jedlička and Mark Senden assisted Yoon. The game remained tied through the end of regulation.

Both teams had high-danger chances in overtime, but it wasn’t until the final minute, with only thirty-eight seconds left, that Tristen Nielsen scored the game-winning goal. It was his seventeenth goal of the season after having zero points in the last five games.

Takeaways:

Defenseman Jacob MacDonald joined Kevin McGlue in the broadcast booth for both games. MacDonald has been out all season after having hip surgery. He’s skating and traveling with the team, although the team doesn’t expect him back on the ice for a couple more weeks at least. He was pretty quiet on Friday night, mostly speaking only when asked a direct question, but he seemed much more comfortable in the role of color commentator by Saturday. Having him in the booth provided some great insight, but Eagles’ fans will be happy when he’s ready to reclaim his spot on the Colorado blue line.

The Eagles had scored one goal on twenty-one power plays over their previous seven games before this weekend, and that goal barely counted because they scored it on an empty net in the final minutes of a game. On Friday, the Eagles finally scored a true power-play goal, breaking their long drought. However, it was still only one goal in four chances on Friday night, and zero goals on two chances on Saturday. The power play continues to be this team’s biggest weakness.

Saturday night was Alex Barré-Boulet‘s 400th AHL game. Barré-Boulet — called “Beebs” by his teammates — is currently third in the AHL in points with fourteen goals and twenty-nine assists. He has nine goals and nineteen assists in the last nineteen games. He’s been a powerhouse for the Eagles, directly involved in 32% of their goals so far this season.

Colorado went through a bit of a slump in January, going 5–2–1–2 through the first ten games of 2026. They returned to form on this six-game road trip, though, with their only loss being to Ontario. Colorado struggles more against Ontario than any other team and is now 1–4–0–1 against them this season. The Eagles are once again in first place in the Pacific Division, but the Reign are only two points behind them. It’s shaping up to be a real battle down the stretch between these two division rivals.

Up Next:

The Eagles head home for a few days of rest before hosting the Chicago Wolves (CAR) on February 6 and 7. The Wolves are ranked second in the Central Division with a record of 21–10–5–5. Denver’s Channel 3, “The Spot,” will broadcast the February 6 game. AHLTV on FloHockey.com will also stream both games.