Colorado Hands Henderson First Home Loss, 5-2
Mar 24, 2021
LAS VEGAS, NV. – Five different Eagles skaters found the back of the net as Colorado extended its winning streak to four-straight contests in a 5-2 victory over the Henderson Silver Knights on Wednesday. Goaltender Hunter Miska improved to 2-0 on the season, making 20 saves on 22 shots. Colorado finished the night going 2-for-5 on the power and 2-for-2 on the penalty kill, as specialty teams rose to the occasion in the win. The loss was the Silver Knights’ first defeat on home ice after starting the season 7-0 at Orleans Arena.
Henderson earned the game’s first goal when forward Pavel Dorofeyev deflected a shot from the point past Miska to give the Silver Knights a 1-0 edge at the 8:02 mark of the first period.
After earning consecutive 5-on-3 power plays, Colorado would finally cash in on a subsequent 5-on-4 when forward Kiefer Sherwood skated through the left-wing circle and snapped a wrister into the back of the net. The goal was Sherwood’s third in his last four games and evened the score at 1-1 with 5:05 left in the opening frame.
The Eagles would hop into the driver’s seat when defenseman Ian Scheid snagged a rebound at the bottom of the right-wing circle and blasted a shot that would light the lamp and give Colorado the 2-1 advantage at the 18:03 mark of the first period.
Still enjoying a 2-1 lead after the opening 20 minutes of action, the Eagles would strike again on the power play to kick off the second period. Some slick puck movement from the side of the net set up forward Martin Kaut to lift a shot over the shoulder of Thompson from the bottom of the right-wing circle. The tally came just 34 seconds into the middle frame and extended Colorado’s advantage to 3-1.
The Eagles would continue their relentless attack when defenseman Peter Tischke stepped into a shot from the blueline that would weave its way through traffic and into the back of the net. The goal was Tischke’s first in the AHL and put Colorado on top, 4-1 at the 10:15 mark of the second period.
Henderson would finally put the brakes on four straight goals from the Eagles when forward Ben Jones won a net-mouth scramble and shoved the puck across the goal line to trim Colorado’s lead to 4-2 with 1:38 remaining in the second stanza.
Heading into the third period of play, the Eagles would withstand several quality chances for the Silver Knights, while also killing off a Henderson power play in the final five minutes of the contest. As the game entered the waning minutes, the Silver Knights would pull Thompson in favor of the extra attacker, but a backhander from deep in his own zone would earn defenseman Dennis Gilbert an empty-netter with 2:08 remaining in regulation to secure Colorado’s 5-2 victory.
Colorado will return to action when the Eagles take on the Henderson Silver Knights at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on Friday, March 26th at 8:00pm MT. Fans can catch every game this season live on “The Home of the Colorado Eagles,” 92.9 The Bear or on AHLTV.
