January 15, 2022
LOVELAND, CO. – Eagles forward Jayson Megna scored a power play goal in regular play and made the game-winning goal in a shootout as Colorado beat the Milwaukee Admirals 4-3 on Saturday. Goalkeeper Justus Annunen made his fifth consecutive win at the net with 41 saves from 44 shots. The win also extends the Eagles’ winning streak to their best five games of the season. Defenseman Jordan Gross also left his mark on the game, recording three assists for the second straight contest.
Colorado scored the first goal of the game when forward Sampo Ranta wrapped himself behind the net and smacked a shot from the top of the crease over the shoulder of Milwaukee goaltender Devin Cooley. The goal was Ranta’s fourth of the season and gave the Eagles a 1-0 lead at the 11-10 mark of the first period.
A power play by the Admirals late in the opening frame would result in striker Rocco Grimaldi lighting the lamp with a wrister from the right circle to level the game 1-1 with 2:51 remaining in the first 20 minutes of the game.
With the two teams on the ice for the second third, Colorado was still stuck 1-1, and Colorado jumped back into the driver’s seat when forward Shane Bowers fired a shot at the onslaught, which deflected off a stick and into the back net gave the Eagles a 2-1 lead at the 5:54 mid-frame mark.
The lead would grow as a 5-on-3 powerplay saw Megna blow a one-timer out of the left circle that would beat Cooley and put Colorado 3-1 up with 7:38 still to go play would be second period.
Milwaukee would catch up with the Eagles for a change and forward Grant Mismash would make the most of it with a slapshot from the top of the left circle that would elude Annunen and cut the Eagles’ lead to 3-2 at 17:04 by the second stanza.
When the puck dropped in the third period, Colorado still had a 3-2 lead and suffered a lengthy penalty shootout when forward Dalton Smith was booked for a five-minute boarding major at 6:27. The Eagles killed the initial 4:49 of the penalty kick but would eventually concede a goal to forward Cole Schneider, who fired a shot from the bottom of the left wing into back net. The record split the game 3-3 with 8:42 remaining in the contest.
With the game still tied 3-3 after 60 minutes, the contest went into sudden death overtime. Colorado would overtake the Admirals 5-4 in the extra session, but neither team would be able to find the back of the net.
In the ensuing shootout, Annunen knocked out three of the four Milwaukee shooters while Gross and Megna each lit the lamp to give the Eagles the 4-3 win. Colorado was beaten 44-39 in the contest as the Eagles went 1-for-3 on the power play and 4-for-6 on penalties.
The Eagles will be back in action when they take on the Iowa Wild on Friday, January 21 at 7:05pm MT at the Budweiser Events Center. Tickets for all regular season games are available now and start at just $19. Visit ColoradoEagles.com or call the Ticketing Department at (970) 686-7468 for more information on ticket packages, themed tickets and nightly events.
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