LOVELAND, Colo. – After a solid back and forth affair through almost 40 minutes, the Colorado Eagles looked to take a tie into the third period on Wednesday night. It was Game 1 in the opening round of the 2024 Calder Cup Playoffs, featuring the Abbotsford Canucks against Colorado. Unfortunately for the Eagles, the Canucks scored in the last minute of period two, carrying Game 1 in a 4-2 victory. Could Colorado win Game 2 on Friday evening to push the best-of-three series to an all-deciding Game 3?
FIRST PERIOD
The Eagles finished the 2023-24 regular season with a record of 30-8-1 when scoring first. Not leaving anything to chance, Colorado figured to reverse fortunes after Abbotsford obtained the first goal in Game 1. After sparse scoring chances from both sides, the Eagles seized the moment. Defenseman Brad Hunt faked a shot in the high slot before passing it over to forward Nikolai Kovalenko. Kovalenko scored his first North American professional postseason goal on a snap shot at 13:09 of period one.
Keeping up the furious pace, Colorado added to its lead on the breakaway. After an Abbotsford neutral zone turnover caused by Riley Tufte, Fredrik Olofsson collected possession to advance into Canucks territory. The resulting 2-on-2 situation ended with a cross-ice pass to Tanner Kero and a goal at 14:25. The Supernova Line of Kero, Olofsson, and Tufte were officially reunited.
As was the case last game, a late-period Abbotsford goal bit Colorado in the rear. Canucks left winger Tristen Nielsen lobbed the puck on net from the right wing with less than a minute remaining. Centerman Aatu Räty had positioning in front and tipped it past Eagles goaltender Ivan Prosvetov at 19:10 of the opening stanza. Colorado maintained a 2-1 lead after one.
SECOND PERIOD
Colorado continued its onslaught by piling on more goals in period two. Eagles forward Callahan Burke drove into the Canucks zone with speed and fervor after stealing the puck in the neutral zone. One forehand to backhand move later, Burke put the puck by Abbotsford netminder Zach Sawchenko to make it 3-1 at 6:06.
Eagles forward Spencer Smallman must have been taking notes, attempting Burke’s move just a few minutes later. Canucks defenseman Nick Cicek attempted to advance the puck from behind his net, but Smallman intercepted it in close. Smallman then deployed the forehand to backhand technique before lifting it past Sawchenko. The tally elevated Colorado to a 4-1 lead at 9:28 of the second.
Abbotsford needed to respond to stay in this game, beginning with the latter half of the period to mount the comeback. Canucks defenseman Christian Wolinan fired a puck from the left wing to an initial Prosvetov save. The puck deflected around, with Abbotsford’s Max Sasson and Colorado’s Keaton Middleton in the crease, before squirting out to Wolinan on the leftt wing for a shot and a score at 10:53. Canucks forward Linus Karlsson added another tally – this time on the power play – at 18:02 to bring Abbotsford within one.
THIRD PERIOD
With two goals in the last half of the second period, the game felt like it was slipping away from the Eagles. A combined four minor penalties in three minutes of gameplay between the second and third periods made for an even more chaotic atmosphere. Nevertheless, after the last power play goal from the Canucks, neither team would capitalize on special teams for the rest of regulation.
However, a fourth Abbotsford goal definitely gave a greater sense of danger to Colorado. Canucks defenseman Akito Hirose initially fired a shot on net from above the high slot. Nielsen tried to tuck it past Prosvetov, but was denied by a stick save. The puck slid over to Hirose — who had maneuvered to the goal line — where he fired a high-angle shot into the net at 10:47 to tie the game up at 4-4.
The game’s urgency seemed to affect the players, as skaters were falling down left and right in the final portions of regulation. The Eagles finished the period with five shots on goal to the Canucks’ two. With no additional scoring, Colorado and Abbotsford ventured into overtime to settle Game 2.
OVERTIME
With the sudden death rule in full effect, both teams clamped down on defense to start the extra frame. A few chances split between the two teams led to an Eagles offensive possession about three minutes into OT. Hunt volleyed a shot through traffic from just below the blue line. A deflection from forward Chris Wagner helped the puck hit twine, as Colorado grabbed back the win from Abbotsford by a score of 5-4.
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT
A winner-take-all Game 3 decides who will advance to the Pacific Division Semifinals. Colorado or Abbotsford will face the winner of the Ontario Reign / Bakersfield Condors series. The seventh-seed Calgary Wranglers sweep of the Tucson Roadrunners on Friday confirms a match-up with division champion Coachella Valley in the second round.
Puck drop is 3:05pm MDT / 4:05pm MDT on Sunday afternoon.