LOVELAND, Colo.— The Colorado Eagles started their season with two wins against the Calgary Wranglers (CGY). Although both games showed the grit and tenacity of this Eagles squad, the two wins could not have been more different. Friday night’s game proved that this team can score. Saturday’s game showed their resilience under pressure.

Friday night: 7–4 victory

The power play of the Colorado Eagles finished 10th in the AHL last season. After Friday night, they are aiming for first place. The Eagles went three for three during game one, scoring with no issues. New assistant coach Derek Army is in charge of the power play unit and brings a fresh look to the team. With that, Army appears to bring a look very similar to the Colorado Avalanche. They were incorporating quick passes and getting a man down low.

The new players on the team all paid off, hitting the scoresheet in multiple ways. Danil Gushchin, who came to the team in a trade with the San Jose Sharks, had two goals. Alex Barré-Boulet, who had 63 points last season, added two assists himself. Barré-Boulet will be a big addition to the offense to make up points lost by losing Matthew Phillips. Tristen Nielsen, a standout from the Avalanche preseason, tallied a goal and an assist.

Chase Bradley had a good season last year with 14 goals and eight assists. He showed genuine progress in his professional game, and the Calgary Wranglers saw that on Friday. Bradley will have a breakout season with the Eagles and could even see more time with the Avalanche. The UConn alum had two goals on Friday night to aid in the victory.

Saturday night: 1-0 victory

After Friday night’s barnburner, where the Eagles had 23 shots and 3 goals in the first period alone, the Eagles once again came out hot. Jayson Megna snagged a rebound and buried it in the back of the net only 42 seconds into the game to put the Eagles up 1–0.

It looked for a moment; it looked like fans might be in for another night of nonstop action, but in the end, it was the only goal scored by either team all night.

On Friday, the Wranglers struggled to contain Colorado’s dynamic forwards. Not surprisingly, they made adjustments for game two. On Saturday, Calgary slowed the Eagles down by clogging up the neutral zone, inhibiting Colorado’s offensive zone entrances. Huge chunks of the game felt like neutral zone ping-pong, with both teams scrambling for control but rarely managing any sustained pressure. Both teams showed obvious frustration, and the second period saw gritty play. But unlike Friday night, both showed restraint in instigating post-whistle shenanigans. In a 1–0 game, nobody wanted to end up in the box for fighting.

After Friday night’s outstanding power play performance, Saturday’s was underwhelming, with the Eagles going 0 for 3 on the man advantage. Their penalty kill was perfect though, killing off five penalties against the Wranglers.

Possibly the biggest difference for the Eagles was the performance of goaltender Isak Posch. In Friday night’s game, he allowed four goals on 17 shots, giving him a .765 save percentage. On Saturday, Posch stopped all 18 shots, recording his first professional shutout. As a result, Megna’s single goal was enough to secure the second victory of this young season.

Upcoming

The Eagles will be off until next Saturday when they hit the road and play the Coachella Valley Firebirds (SEA). AHLTV on FloHockey.com will stream the game.