Colorado Eagles

INDEPENDENCE, Mo. - The Colorado Eagles lost to the Missouri Mavericks, 5-4 in a shootout, earning a point in the standings to tie the Rapid City Rush atop the Northern Conference (both with 59 points). It was the Eagles' third game of a seven-game road trip, and all three have taken extra time to decide.

Missouri got the scoring started at 3:39 of the first period when  Jeff Christian flipped a pass to Nick Sirota down low and he beat Mike Mole with a shot top shelf. The Eagles countered 80 seconds later when Adam Hogg used a top-shelf shot of his own to beat Gerry Festa on his glove side to tie the game at 1.

Then, at 7:53 of the opening frame, Kevin Ulanski snatched up a lose puck in front of the Missouri net and sent it to  Ryan Tobler for a quick strike goal and a 2-1 lead. But the Mavs tied it up again by taking advantage of a five-on-three opportunity when Jeff MacDermid poked in a loose puck from the left side of the Eagles' netminder.

Brett Lutes would be the only player from either team to score in the second period, and his goal came at 1:33 when he one-timed a Ryan McLeod pass past Festa, who had gotten tangled up with his own teammates at the side of the net. The rest of the period saw even play as both teams faced a flurry of scoring chances. However, both goaltenders stood tall for their respective teams and the period would end with Colorado on top by one.

The Mavericks began the third period with a quick goal when Sirota scored his second marker of the night just 22 seconds in to tie the game back up at 3. Sirota took a slapshot from the faceoff circle that slipped between Mole's shoulder and the goal post. Missouri would then take their second lead of the game midway through the third stanza when veteran  Jeff Christian took advantage of a bad bounce and put the puck behind Mole.

With time winding down and the Eagles down a goal, Colorado pulled their netminder for an extra attacker and the move paid off. With just 41 seconds left in regulation McLeod scored the goal that would send the game to overtime off a feed from Steve Haddon.

Neither team could score in the five minute overtime frame, so the game went to a shootout that saw MacDermid and Jordan Foreman score for the home team;  Ryan Tobler was the only Eagles player to score out of five shooters.

Colorado will continue on the road when they take on the Odessa Jackalopes in back-to-back games this Friday and Saturday night. The Eagles will return home to face the Arizona Sundogs on February 12.