First period

The first period was fast-paced, with few interruptions. They made no infractions on either side, just some heavy hitting. The Eagles recorded 10 shots on goal compared to the Griffins’ seven. It seemed like the players were just going through the motions in the frame.

Second period

The middle frame heated up. The pace picked up, and the physical play rattled the boards inside Blue Arena. Just over one minute into the second, Brogan Rafferty stole the puck in the neutral zone and sent it up ice to Nolan Stevens. He carried it into the offensive zone and passed across the slot over to Cross Hanas. There was a little juke move, and the shot came quick onto Justus Annunen and trickled through to make it 1–0. It took 17 minutes for the Eagles to strike back in the second. Riley Tufte poked the puck loose in the neutral zone and the defense worked into the Griffins’ zone. Joel Kiviranta snapped a shot on goal with no success to have Cedric Pare follow it right on the crease. This forced an open net as the puck bounced to the slot and Wyatt Aamodt rocked a slapper from one knee to tie the game at 1–1.

Wyatt Aamodt gets his 1st goal of the year on a wide open net from the slot to tie the game at 1. Assisted by Cedric Paré and Joel Kiviranta. #Avs #GoAvsGo #EaglesCountry @TheRinkColorado pic.twitter.com/YSNO5Pcp38

— Brennan Vogt (@brennan_vogt) October 22, 2023

Third period

The last frame was reminiscent of the first. Until 7:49 when the Griffins tried to work into the Eagles’ zone. They attempted a cross-ice pass and Peter Holland poked his stick and took off. Tufte capitalized on a 2-on-1 rush and scored the game-winning goal.

“I saw the puck come out of the zone and I saw there’s only one defender, so we kind of got on the horse a little,” Tufte said of the play. “Was kind of patient with it. You know, so Peter kind of like blew up a little bit and he made a great play. He faked a shot.”

Riley Tufte scores his 3rd goal in two games on a 2v1 with the help of of none other than Peter Holland. Eagles lead 2-1. #Avs #GoAvsGo    #EaglesCountry @TheRinkColorado pic.twitter.com/V5Loq1dOCF

— Brennan Vogt (@brennan_vogt) October 22, 2023

Analysis

The Eagles battled the entire game despite a slow start. They could rally and regain the lead. It shows the leadership in the room. Brad Hunt had mentioned that the team is full of leaders and a game like tonight showed it. Veterans like Holland and Keaton Middleton are teaching young players to never give up. Once they can learn to control that, they will be extremely dangerous.

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First period

The fans’ enthusiasm energized the Eagles on the ice. Their forechecking in the first frame was not seen in the previous season. New head coach Aaron Schneekloth has made some changes to the system. The hard forecheck led to the first goal of the period, as Henry Bowlby hit a man hard on the half boards to separate him from the puck and steal it away. Bowlby tossed it to the slot right to Peter Holland‘s tape, who then sent it to the twine for the opening goal. Ben Meyers took a shot on goal after the Eagles made some excellent passes around the zone with about eight minutes left in the first period. Riley Tufte tapped the rebound in, making it 2–0.

Second period

Scoring started when Brad Hunt made a poor pass to Jason Polin. William Walinder intercepted the pass and walked in to snap it past goaltender Justus Annunen to cut the lead in half. Seven minutes later, Caleb Jones picked off a pass at the point and sent it to Sam Malinski, who slammed a slap shot to extend the lead to 3–1. Jack Achan snapped a shot on the goal and scored his second goal of the night. And last but not least, during a 4-on-4, the Griffins cycled the puck and Marco Kasper nailed one past Annunen.

Sam Malinski rips one from the point for his second of the season with and assist by Caleb Jones on the other side! Eagles up 3-1 #Avs #GoAvsGo    #EaglesCountry @TheRinkColorado pic.twitter.com/kMoxq2MIHV

— Brennan Vogt (@brennan_vogt) October 21, 2023

Third period

The first half of the last frame was uneventful, except for a scuffle between Ahcan and Cross Hanas, resulting in misconducts and ending their night. A delayed call and extra attacker resulted in another goal for the Griffins with 8:59 left. They worked the zone, passing to Taro Hirose, who scored off Annunen’s back. The Eagles would help solidify their lead as Holland kept the puck in on an attempted a clear. He walked it up and passed to the slot right to Spencer Smallman to make it 5–3. The final score was 6–3 after Tufte’s empty net goal a minute later.

Spencer Smallman nails his first of the season with help from Holland and Jones, both now have multiple assists tonight #Avs #GoAvsGo       #EaglesCountry @TheRinkColorado pic.twitter.com/3IGHh0vjxG

— Brennan Vogt (@brennan_vogt) October 21, 2023

Analysis

Mobility has revitalized the Eagles’ defense.

“A lot of guys that have had success offensively,” Schneekloth said. “And I want to give them that opportunity to showcase their strengths out here without compromising what we want to do and how we want to defend.”

They have used the players just like their parent club, the Colorado Avalanche. The Eagles were also heavy on the forecheck throughout the entire night, Oskar Olausson.

“It’s how we need him to play,” Schneekloth said of Olausson. “If he continues to play like that, his game is gonna go to another level and that’s what we need him to do.”

These Eagles are gonna be something else.

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After a 4–3 loss Friday night, something was working, but something was also unsuccessful. Going into Saturday’s game, it was up to coach Aaron Schneekloth to shuffle his players accordingly.

Though there were some changes in players, the Eagles dropped the game 5–2 despite outshooting the Griffins 43–25.

First period

Though appearing evenly matched in the first frame of the game, it did not take long before the Griffins jumped on the Eagles to take the lead. Just over seven minutes in, Arvid Holm let one through and Grand Rapids began to build upon their early lead.

Five minutes later, the Griffins found the back of the net once more. The Griffins outshot Colorado 10–9 in the stanza.

The Griffins add another to the board. Eagles now down 2-0. @TheRinkColorado #EaglesCountry

— Savvy Rafkin (@savvyrafkin) October 14, 2023

The Eagles went 0 for 2 on the power play in the first period, which would become a theme for the night.

Second period

Only 1:40 into the second period, Henry Bowlby found himself in the box for elbowing, leaving his team shorthanded. The Griffins found an opportunity to capitalize and increased their lead to 3–0.

The rest of the period remained scoreless for the Eagles despite having two more chances at the net with an advantage.

Third period

With two periods already in the book, it truly was do or die for Colorado. The Eagles had a power play chance but could not convert on it. For almost 10 minutes, neither team had found the perfect shot on the goal.

Breaking the scoring freeze, Grand Rapids’ Tim Gettinger makes the score 4–0. But, three minutes later, the Colorado Eagles finally made it onto the board.

Peter Holland, assisted by Caleb Jones and Cal Burke, raised the score to 4–1. With some refreshed hope, the Eagles favored an extra offensive player and moved Holm off of the ice.

Such a decision did not go unpunished, and once again Colorado was trailing by four goals after an empty-net goal by their opponent. Holm was returned to the crease for the final five minutes of the game.

In the last minutes of the game, Sam Malinski, with the help of Holland and Cedric Pare, finally cashed in on a power play and finished the contest 5–2.

Malinski delivering on the power play pic.twitter.com/9sbQL7h5a2

— Colorado Eagles (@ColoradoEagles) October 15, 2023

Analysis

The first few games of the season are always unpredictable, and this weekend was no exception. The Eagles really struggled using the power play to their advantage, though seem to work effectively on the penalty kill.

The Eagles will have a rematch with the Griffins at home on Friday night. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. MDT.

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First period

The Griffins struggled against the Eagles’ defense in the early stages of the game. Just seven minutes into the game, Austin Czarnik scored for the Griffins despite it being only the second shot on goaltender Trent Miner. Just three minutes later, Ivan Ivan attacked the man in the corner to steal the puck. Ivan tossed it over to Peter Holland in the low slot to take the shot and score the Eagles’ first goal of the season and tie the game at 1–1.

Here is the replay of the Holland goal, nice job coming from the corner to center ice. Ivan Ivan credited with the assist. #Avs #GoAvsGo    #EaglesCountry @TheRinkColorado pic.twitter.com/5uAU94oJTy

— Brennan Vogt (@brennan_vogt) October 13, 2023

Second period

The middle frame became somewhat of an issue for the Griffins. They would have four penalties in the period to the Eagles’ one. Grand Rapids showed some much-needed change, however, as they could close the neutral zone a lot more. The second penalty in the period is where the Eagles’ power play clicked. They were nailing their passes and were more mobile in the offensive zone. Ahcan took the puck down low and sent it up to Brad Hunt on the blue line. Hunt faked a shot, passing over to Oskar Olausson in the left faceoff circle. Olausson sauced it across the slot to a charging Ahcan, who finished with a slapper for the goal.

Jack Ahcan gets the cross slot feed from Oskar Olausson for the PP goal and Brad Hunt credited w the secondary assist. #Avs #GoAvsGo    #EaglesCountry @TheRinkColorado pic.twitter.com/nrWaTBxisA

— Brennan Vogt (@brennan_vogt) October 14, 2023

Third period

Things went right for the Griffins in the last frame. Right from the first face-off, Albert Johansson passed the puck to Taro Hirose as he headed toward the Eagles’ zone. Hirose easily made it around Sam Malinski to chip it past Miner and tie the game at 2–2. The final Colorado penalty by Olausson would cost them the game. Hirose struck one more time as he gathered up a rebound from a Jonatan Berggren shot off of Miner’s left leg pad. Miner lost track of where the puck was and Hirose easily slapped the Griffins’ third goal in.

Analysis

The first game of the Aaron Schneekloth era was a blast to watch. Colorado played a very defensive-heavy game, and it worked for most of the night. They could push forward, yet stop their opponents in the neutral zone. Ahcan joining the power play will add speed and help maintain the line. Despite their 3–2 loss, Colorado will face Grand Rapids again on Saturday night.

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