Colorado Eagles

LOVELAND, Colo. - The Colorado Eagles defeated the Wichita Thunder, 5-3, as the two teams met for the second night in a row at the Budweiser Events Center. Ed McGrane and Kevin Ulanski added to their already stellar seasons to help Colorado close the gap in the Northern Conference to four points behind the Rush.

Similar to Saturday night, the Eagles controlled much of the first period play, accumulating a 13-6 edge in shots and spending shifts at a time in Wichita's zone. But, unlike the night before, neither team was able to find the back of the net, and the game entered the first intermission in a scoreless tie.

The scoring came in bunches in the second period with four of a total five goals coming via special teams. Wichita got the first goal -- on the power play -- at 4:31, when Kevin Cooper sent the puck toward the net from the left circle and it was deflected top-shelf by Neil Clark from the doorstep.

The Eagles countered at 6:23 with a shorthanded tally as McGrane converted on a 2-on-1, give-and-go with Ulanski. Colorado nearly added another shortie about nine minutes later, but Scott Campbell stopped three breakaways in a row before his teammates made his effort count with another power-play marker at the opposite end of the ice.

At 15:39, Jason Reese sent a pass to Tomas Klempa on a nearly carbon-copy play as their first goal to put Wichita on top again. But just over a minute and a half later, McGrane picked up a loose puck from the right side of the crease and put it home to knot the score back up at 2. And in the final minute of the middle stanza, Ulanski continued to add to his CHL-leading point total with a power-play goal to give Colorado a 3-2 lead heading into the third period.

At 3:23 in the third period, Brett Lutes took the puck hard to the net and McGrane put home the rebound for his third goal of the game and his second hat trick of the season (the previous coming just 15 days prior). The goal ended up being the game-winner and gave him a new personal high for goals in a season with 36.

Ryan Campbell cut Colorado's lead to 1 again at 9:43 when he beat Mike Mole on a rush down the right wing. But Ulanski added his second goal of the game for some insurance at 13:01 as he converted a tape-to-tape-to-tape play by the first line in the offensive end. For Ulanski, the goal gave him 96 points on the year, tying Greg Pankewicz's franchise record set in 2003-04 -- the organization's inaugural season.

The Eagles will travel to Wichita on Wednesday for their third game in a row against the Thunder before returning home to close out their regular season home dates with back-to-back games against the Tulsa Oilers on March 12 and 13.