Eagles Takeaways: Colorado’s power play fizzles in loss to Coachella Valley
Mike Zitek/Coachella Valley Firebirds
The Eagles go 0/6 on the power play against the Firebirds and into a 0/17 slump on the current road trip. The Colorado Eagles headed into New Year’s Eve against the Coachella Valley Firebirds (SEA) after a successful weekend in Tucson (UTA). The Eagles swept the weekend series against the Roadrunners with a win on Saturday and an overtime win on Sunday. Tonight marked a milestone for head coach Aaron Schneekloth as he coached his 100th AHL game for the Eagles. Up until tonight, Schneekloth held a 56–33–10 record. It was a hard fought battle in Southern California with the back-to-back Western Conference Champions. Here are the takeaways from the 5–1 loss to the Firebirds.
Wyatt Aamodt nails his first goal of the year to open the scoring for the night. Felhaber and Megna on the assists #Avs #GoAvsGo #EaglesCountry @MileHighHockey pic.twitter.com/iyhln8ZfJS— Brennan Vogt (@brennan_vogt) January 1, 2025
Takeaways
Tonight, John Ludvig, on a conditioning loan from the Colorado Avalanche, demonstrated greater comfort. Ludvig had not played with the Avalanche since December 5 despite being healthy. During tonight’s game, Ludvig was driving the puck out of the zone and controlling the backend a lot more. His performance on Sunday showed he was lost; however, it was his first game with the Eagles this season.
The Firebirds shut down the neutral zone and played typical Seattle Kraken hockey. Coachella Valley was lining the blue line with three players to clog the zone for Eagles to exit. Anyone that made it through the neutral zone with the puck was immediately hit on the Firebirds’ blue line. The Avalanche had this same problem with the Kraken, and now the Eagles with the Firebirds.
IN THE LEAD THANKS TO ROED pic.twitter.com/r4RR68aJV1— Coachella Valley Firebirds (@Firebirds) January 1, 2025
Colorado ended the night with zero goals in six chances on the power play. The power play is becoming a glaring problem on this road trip as they have not scored in 17 chances. Over-passing could be part of the problem. During the last power play tonight, the Eagles passed the puck 11 times and did not get a shot on net. In the first two chances, they managed one shot on goal. The special teams unit just may be overthinking it.
BIG MAC SCORES pic.twitter.com/6InOC2EkTc— Coachella Valley Firebirds (@Firebirds) January 1, 2025
Upcoming
The Eagles travel North to play a pair of games against the San Jose Barracuda (SJS) starting on Saturday at Tech CU Arena at 7 pm....
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