The Eagles climbed out of the Pacific basement with their first win of the season against Ontario, leaving only San Diego in the winless club for now. Jayson Megna was clutch with two late goals to force OT then Jacob MacDonald finished the game off with a great shot. Now that they have the result the staff can start worrying about process a little more.
Injuries/Transactions
– Anton Lindholm didn’t make the trip due to an undisclosed injury
– Calle Rosen went MIA sometime around 1st intermission and did not return to the bench.
– Hunter Miska was never added to the Eagles roster but he did show up in Utah, starting Friday’s game vs Idaho
COL 4 – ONT 3 (OT)
Goals: Alt (Tynan, Joly), Megna (Tynan, Werner), Megna (MacDonald, Tynan), MacDonald (Megna, Dries)
Shots: +38/-36
PP 1/3, PK 3/3
Lineup:
Joly – Tynan – O’Connor
Condra – Bowers – Greer
Dries – Megna – Kaut
Lewis – Shvyrev – Henry
Rosen – Timmins
Renouf – MacDonald
Anderson – Alt
Werner
Bibeau
Scratch: Nantel, Campbell, Larocque, Lindholm (?BI)
Breaking Down: Week 2
Goals: +4/-3, season +8/-12
Shots: +38/-36 (51.4%), season +102/-88 (53.7%)
Shooting percentage: 10.5%, season 7.8
Save percentage: 91.6%, season 86.3
PDO: 102.1, season 94.2
It’s going to take a little while to get out of the hole from the first weekend. Adam Werner is already up to 90.5%, not outstanding but fairly close to league average. Shot share is pumped up by a lot of time spent trailing but the Eagles are +36/-29 in the first period so this is definitely a style they play early as well. Throw out the first game and there’s a lot to like here.
PP: 1/3, season 2/15 with 1 SHGA (13.3%, 15th in AHL)
PK: 3/3, season 12/13 (92.3%, t9th in AHL)
Adjusted Special Teams percentage: 99.0
Colorado remains a high-volume penalty team and special teams haven’t been very special overall. The PK is good but could be even better, they’ve had a few dangerous chances for shorties but haven’t converted. The power play is still trash with little hope for noticeable improvement. If they could just be average it would help a lot.
Scoring Stars of the Week: Megna 2G/1A, Tynan 3A, MacDonald 1G/1A. Shoutout to Adam Werner for his 1st AHL & North American point, unfortunately he leads Eagles rookies in scoring so far.
Overview
Winning the first game of the season should take some pressure off a few guys. Now we know they can do it, the next step is to grab a lead and hold it. First periods have been frustrating so far, second periods have been bad (like last year) and third periods are pretty score effected. Let’s look at how.
1st period
36 shots for, 0 goals, 0.0% shooting percentage
29 shots against, 2 goals, 93.1% save percentage
2nd period
25 shots for, 1 goal, 4.0% shooting percentage
28 shots against, 6 goals, 78.6% save percentage
3rd period
39 shots for, 6 goals, 15.4% shooting percentage
31 shots against, 4 goals, 87.1% save percentage
With average shooting the Eagles should have had 2 or more likely 3 goals in the 1st period by now instead of none. That’s a toughie and has some strong effects on the rest of the game. Mark Alt scored the first non-3rd period goal and first 1st goal vs Ontario, although it eventually led to a win in a very roundabout way it didn’t have the desired effect which is getting a lead and holding it. The Reign tied and then went ahead by midway through the period.
By strict definition all 6 goals in the 3rd period have been score effected but only the two in game 1 would I classify as meaningless. Coach Cronin has talked about the urgency in the 3rd period and needing to play like that throughout the game. I agree to a point but like we always say there’s another team out there trying to win and opponents are always going to play differently trying to hold a lead in the final minutes. The first periods have been really good, both offensively and defensively, they just don’t score. I don’t know what to say other than keep at it and they’ll start dropping. The 2nd period malaise is a long-term issue that I’ve never understood. The long change makes for longer shifts and leads to more mistakes but it’s the same for everyone. It’s baffling.
I think one reason it’s been tough to score meaningful goals is that the lines haven’t found their chemistry yet and don’t seem to be balanced or built for complementary skills.
Joly/Tynan/O’Connor – This is supposedly the top line and it was horrible vs Ontario. Joly replaced Kaut for this game which made it even worse. I know he’s the hero and all that but this is playing him at least 2 lines over his head. LOC can be a great facilitator but is having a guy that doesn’t play PP on the top line the way to go? He had the only 2 SOGs by any of the 3 last night but still…
Condra/Bowers/Greer – This line has been effective at generating chances but has no finish yet. I don’t really like Bowers and Greer together, they play in the same area of the o-zone and I think they’ve been cancelling each other out. I also don’t like Greer on his off-wing, no idea why that’s happening.
Dries/Megna/Kaut – Like the 2nd line, this trio has generated chances but has little finish as a group. It’s sort of a donut line without a strong center, I like Megna a lot better on the wing.
Lewis/Shvyrev/Henry – This line was fun and at times the Eagles most effective, so inconsistent though.
The pieces are there and if I were coach for a day I’d tweak a few things and go with:
Greer/Tynan/O’Connor – Tynan and Greer’s skillsets are a great match
Kaut/Bowers/Megna – This could be the 1st line real quick
Condra/Dries/Joly – You hate it, right? So do I.
Lewis/Shvyrev/Henry – Keep these guys together and let them figure it out.
Next up
A week of practice then a trip to Milwaukee to visit the Zombie Pirates
Thanks to the AHL for stats and standings and to the Colorado Eagles for the feature photo.