Defense Meets Pressure as Eagles Face Wolves in Conference Final
By Carlynn Claypool, Taylor Kittle and Christian Moreno
May 27, 2026
After two different playoff journeys, the Colorado Eagles and the Chicago Wolves are set to face off in the Western Conference Final. The Eagles have lost just two games through the first three rounds of the playoffs, sweeping the San Diego Gulls in the opening round and recording four shutouts behind their strong defensive play.
The Wolves’ road to the Western Conference Final featured a first-round bye, with the Eagles forced to dispatch the San Diego Gulls 2-0 in the opening round. In the semifinal round, Chicago defeated the regular-season Western Conference-leading Grand Rapids Griffins in four games. Throughout their first two rounds, the Wolves went to overtime four times, winning two of those games.
Chicago presents a different challenge than the teams Colorado has faced so far this postseason. The Wolves play a more aggressive defensive style focused on taking away time and space while pressuring players on the puck.
“Structurally, they're totally different. They're going to play a bit more of a man-on-man than what we've seen. Their goaltender is a really good player, they’ve got a lot of younger skill, and they skate,” said Eagles head coach Mark Letestu. “To get to this point, they’re obviously a really good team.”
Up to this point, the Eagles have attributed much of their success to their defensive structure and the competitiveness of goaltender Trent Miner.
Miner has a .947 save percentage through 10 playoff games, giving the rest of the team confidence to play aggressively in front of him and trust him to make key saves when needed.
Colorado’s defense has also been a strength throughout the playoffs, with players like Alex Gagne, Keaton Middleton, and Wyatt Aamodt helping disrupt opponents through the neutral zone and set up successful offensive-zone entries.
“Our defensive structure, it's kind of what has gotten us to this point, and obviously, their team will give us some different challenges than other teams, but how we defend, and how we play for each other is always going to be the key,” Letestu said.
The Eagles have also been able to rely on their depth throughout the postseason. Players who have rotated into the lineup due to injuries and call-ups have adapted quickly and contributed in important moments.
Defenseman Bryan Yoon, who has seen limited playoff action, scored the opening goal in Colorado’s series-clinching win against Coachella Valley, helping shift momentum in the Eagles' favor.
Playing the Wolves will require Colorado to adjust to a more aggressive style than it has faced through the first three rounds of the playoffs. Chicago has relied on balanced production from across their roster, including forward Bradly Nadeau, who leads the team in assists (7), and forward Ryan Suzuki, who leads in goals (4).
Chicago’s defense has also been a big part of their point production. Blueliner Juuso Välimäki has played an important role on the power play for the Wolves, tallying four assists and a goal, so shutting him down will be important to Colorado’s penalty kill.
Both teams’ power plays have also been closely matched through the postseason, as Chicago sits fifth in the league, clicking at 21.2% and scoring seven power-play goals. While the Eagles sit sixth on the power play at 20.7%, having scored six power-play goals.
Chicago has also relied on strong goaltending from netminder Cayden Primeau, who has posted a .924 save percentage in the playoffs and won both of his regular-season starts against the Eagles.
The combination of defeating the Griffins in the last round and winning the regular-season series against Colorado gives the Wolves confidence heading into the Western Conference Final.
“There's going to be a lot of confidence there, and we're going to have to do a lot to try and match that confidence level and make sure that we're playing at the level we need to be, so we have success,” Letestu said.
During the regular season, the Eagles and the Wolves faced each other four times, with Chicago getting the better of Colorado with a 3-1-0-0 record. Despite the record, three of the four games were decided by one goal, and two went to overtime.
In those four games, the Wolves never faced Miner, who has been the league leader among goaltenders in the postseason with an 8-2 record and a 1.26 goals-against average.
The penalty kill has been one of Colorado’s strong points as the Eagles enter the conference finals with the third-best penalty kill in the playoffs at 95.2%, while the Wolves have struggled and currently sit 14th at 82.9% on the kill.
Goal scoring was a common theme between the two teams in the regular season, with both sitting atop the leaderboard for goals per game. Colorado now leads the way in the postseason with a 3.30 average, while the Wolves sit at 3.22 goals per game.
The Eagles have the upper hand in goals against per game, as they’ve led the playoffs with a 1.40 average, mainly thanks to Miner’s consistent goaltending. The Wolves still sit tenth with a 2.67 goals-against per game.
In the regular season, Chicago forward Felix Unger Sörum led the team with five points in four games against Colorado, which also included potting three goals. Välimäki was a big contributor on the back end with four points, including two goals in the regular season series.
In between the pipes, a seven-year NHL veteran netminder in Cayden Primeau has led the Wolves in net, having played 39 games in the regular season, posting a 21-11-7-4 record with a .916 save percentage.
Against the Eagles in the regular season, Primeau played two of the four games, winning both games with a 2.95 goals-against-average and a .925 save-percentage.
For Colorado, the only netminder to record a win against the Wolves was Kyle Keyser, who was playing in place of Miner at the time.
Due to injuries and call-ups, the Eagles were missing several key players during the regular-season series against Chicago, with Aamodt leading Colorado in points against the Wolves. Aamodt tallied one goal and four assists across the four games, while only tallying 4 goals and 20 assists total in the regular season.
Having the majority of their roster available gives the Eagles a slight edge since they are familiar with the Wolves and their style, but the Wolves haven’t faced some of Colorado’s key players.
“They went three and one against us, so it gives us the ability to go back and see where they had success, and where we need to make adjustments,” said Letestu. “It gives us an opportunity to look into how they had success. And I think that is a good way to focus our players on some of the things that we need to key on, you know, limit some of their more dangerous players.”
Despite Chicago winning the regular season series, Colorado enters the Western Conference Final with a healthier roster and a clearer understanding of how it needs to respond to Chicago’s style of play.
