LOVELAND, Colo. – With the Abbotsford Canucks dropping its final two games of the 2021-22 regular season, the Colorado Eagles moved into the third seed of the AHL’s Pacific Division.
Awaiting Colorado in the first round of the postseason? The sixth-seed Henderson Silver Knights.
Appearing in its first Calder Cup Playoffs, the Henderson held a slight advantage over the Eagles in their regular season series (5-3-0). Colorado also carried a split record against Henderson at home (2-2-0). With the first round being a best-of-three series, there would be no room for error on Friday evening as the puck dropped for Game 1.
FIRST PERIOD
The Eagles’ last regular season game included a goal in the first minute of gameplay. Colorado’s first postseason game would begin the same. With captain Jayson Megna posted up in the crease, defenseman Jordan Gross fired a blast on net from the blue line. Megna deflected the puck past Henderson goaltender Jiri Patera to give the Eagles a 1-0 lead at just 0:31 of the first period.
Colorado found itself on its first penalty kill of the game late in period one,. With possession in the Eagles zone, Megna directed traffic to push the puck up the ice. Making a cross-ice pass to fellow forward Mikhail Maltsev, Megna shot up ice into the Silver Knights’ end. All alone in front of Patera, Maltsev saucer passed it to Megna for a tap-in goal at 16:55 of period number one.
Megna’s two goals gave Colorado a 2-0 lead heading into the first intermission.
SECOND PERIOD
The middle regulation frame was 20 minutes of solid goaltending on either side of the puck. Eagles netminder Justus Annunen showcased some excellent lateral movement from post-to-post, as well as flashing the blocker for saves on a handful of occasions. Patera refocused after the two goals from the first, stopping pucks on a couple breakaways and during cross-ice chances. Even after taking a puck to the mask, Patera was dialed in, stopping all 18 shots on net the Eagles sent his way.
THIRD PERIOD
Henderson, held scoreless for two periods of play, would strike first in period three. After Colorado winger Stefan Matteau mishandled the puck in his own zone, Silver Knights forward Paul Cotter gathered possession above the right faceoff circle. Cotter wristed a shot that sneaked through Annunen’s right armpit to make it 2-1 at 3:02 of the third.
The Eagles answered in short order. Deep in Silver Knights territory, Eagles right winger Martin Kaut circled behind the Henderson net. Emerging from the right wing side, Kaut dumped the puck to defenseman Roland McKeown on the goal line. McKeown threaded a pass to a waiting Jean-Luc Foudy in the slot. Foudy dropped to his knee for a one-timer, shooting the puck beyond the right side of Patera. Hitting the back of the net, Foudy scored his first pro playoff goal at 5:02 of the third, bringing Colorado to a 3-1 lead.
The back and forth goal pattern continued a little over three minutes later. Cotter snagged the puck in the neutral zone after Silver Knights defenseman Zack Hayes chopped it out of the Henderson zone. Forward Sven Baertschi darted up ice, receiving the puck in stride from Cotter before advancing on Annunen and shooting the puck glove-side. The goal brought the Silver Knights back within one — 3-2 now at 8:21 of period three.
As Henderson increased its offensive pressure and Colorado focused more on defense, tensions rose as well. The more physical style of play did not bring with it more penalties, as Matteau’s infraction for boarding (11:41) was the only call of the frame. After taking a timeout late in the period, the Silver Knights pulled Patera with 2:30 left in regulation. Instead of netting the game-tying tally, Henderson yielded not one but two empty-net goals to Maltsev (18:29) and Kiefer Sherwood (19:52) to further seal their fate.
The Eagles defeated the Silver Knights by a score of 5-2, taking Game 1 of the series. Colorado and Henderson will get a day of rest before Game 2 on Friday (7:05pm MT). An Eagles victory would mean advancing to the Pacific Division Semifinal, but a Silver Knights win would force a winner-take-all Game 3 on Saturday (7:05pm MT).
More must-reads: