Merkley Scores First As An Eagle

The Colorado Eagles went into Wednesday night’s game against Bakersfield on a three-game losing streak. The Eagles have caught a bit of the injury bug as of late with some players out of the lineup. Alex Galchenyuk and Jean-Luc Foudy are both out with upper body injuries. Mikhail Maltsev is out with a thigh injury suffered in November, his timeline to return is uncertain. Josh Jacobs was knocked out of Tuesday night’s contest with a lower body injury and did not play last night. Dalton Smith has an uncertain timeline and several players are up with the Avalanche due to their injuries.

Ryan Merkley, however, would return after missing two games due to an upper body injury. 

First Period 

Bakersfield would break open the scoring with a power play goal about five minutes into the period. The Condors dumped the puck into the left side corner for an easy pick up by Xavier Bourgault. He would pass to the point to Tyler Benson, who did not hold onto it long as he sent a cross-ice pass to Noah Philp. He sent a rocket to the crease past Colorado goaltender Justus Annunen.

With 4:14 left in the period and each side playing four-on-four, Eagles forward Sampo Ranta carried the puck into the zone and hammered a slapper from the top of the slot. Colorado defenseman Keaton Middleton would race to the front of the net and get the tip of his stick on the puck to redirect it past Bakersfield (and former Avalanche) goaltender Calvin Pickard.

The Eagles started to gain some momentum, but ended the period tied at one.

Second Period

Colorado would bring that momentum into the second as they were firing everything they had at Pickard. The Eagles would get a couple of chances to practice their power play in the period. Yanni Kaldis would go to the box for the Condors after getting a little too rough in the corners, leading to the man advantage for the Eagles.

Colorado would get plenty of opportunities, but Bakersfield held strong. About halfway through the period, Michael Kesselring would get a delay of game infraction and fought the whole way going to the box. As he left the box, Colorado would turn the puck over, giving Kesselring a two-on-one chance. Annunen stopped him with confidence on what would be the best chance for the Condors in the period.

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Third Period

After a back and forth third period over almost seven minutes, Charles Hudon would break the tie. As Pickard came out to play the puck behind the net, Cedric Paré picked off the puck and sent a pass in front of the net right on to Hudon’s stick. The Eagles gained the lead back 2-1 with essentially an open-net goal.

With roughly seven and half minutes left in the third, Justin Scott lined up for a face-off. Anton Blidh would come in to help and push the puck back to Merkley. He took a hard slap shot at the top of the slot to get his first goal of the year. The Eagles now held a 3-1 lead.

Knife In The Heart

After a few scuffles that would eventually lead to a Colorado power play, Mitchell Vande Sompel would dump the puck into the Condor’s zone. Ben Meyers gained quick possession and ripped a pass to an open Paré and for a one-timer and a 4-1 lead. With almost five minutes left, Colorado pushed out of their own zone and chipped it into the air. Hudon gathered it at the nearside blueline and sent the pass to the far side point to Middleton. The defenseman threw it on net and Paré picked up the trash for his second of the night.

Conclusion

After losing the last three at home, the last thing the Eagles wanted to do was get beat last night. They came out in force and never gave up. The addition of Ben Meyers back into the line-up gave the team some extra fuel that they need to get going with the 5-1 win.

Unfortunately, it sounds as though the win may have come at a cost. Forward Ryan Wagner left the game with a possible injury in the late first/early second period. More information should become available in the next few days.

The Eagles’ next game will be Friday against the Calgary Wranglers at 7:00pm MST.