Eagles Win Again in New Mexico, Improve to 19-4-1

RIO RANCHO, N.M. - The Colorado Eagles defeated the New Mexico Scorpions, 4-3, at the Santa Ana Star Center in what has become a pattern between the two clubs. Entering the evening, the Eagles held a 27-3-4 record all-time against the Scorpions, including a mark of 12-3-1 on the road. And to make matters worse for the 'Scorps this time around, they were just 3-7-1 on home ice this season and looking at the first of two games in as many nights against the Eagles.

Colorado/New Mexico Box Score

Colorado carried the play for the first half of the opening period, but Scorpions goaltender Andrew Martin kept the game scoreless until the 14:14 mark when Greg Pankewicz snapped home a power-play goal off the crossbar (Konrad Reeder had already hit two posts in the first 12 and a half minutes of play); the goal increased the Eagles' captain's league-leading total to 19. But at 15:39, New Mexico answered with their own power-play goal when Craig Macdonald converted a back-door pass from along the left boards to tie the game at 1. The Scorpions nearly made it 2-1 via another man-advantage marker with just over a minute left in the first when Mike MacDonald's blast from between the circles was snared by Morgan Cey who had come out into the low slot to challenge and keep the score knotted up.

Mitch Stephens was able to give the Scorpions that 2-1 lead at 2:55 of the second with another power-play goal (just after a 5-on-3 advantage had expired) after Aaron MacInnis' shot from the right wing boards went wide, but bounced off the end boards and right to Stephens at the left side of the net. But Reeder tied it back up at 10:39 with the Eagles' second power-play tally of the evening when he picked up the puck at the left post, stepped in front and shot it between Martin and the pipe.

Then, less than a minute and a half later, Ed McGrane made it 3-2 by deflecting a Pankewicz shot on his backhand from the right of the crease, beating Martin as he moved right to left. And just over a minute and a half after that, Adam Hogg scored his 5th goal of the season off a beautiful feed from Riley Nelson. Kevin Ulanski and Nelson had cycled the puck around the right faceoff circle before the Eagles veteran took it to the net and sent a deft backhand pass through the low slot to Hogg crashing on the opposite side.

In the final frame, the Eagles out-shot the Scorpions 13-7, but it was New Mexico that got the period's lone goal when Andrew Smale's shot from atop the right circle beat Cey at 9:07 to cut Colorado's lead to a single goal. But Cey and the Eagles would hang on the rest of the way to notch their 13th victory on the road against New Mexico all-time -- more than any other opponent. The two teams will play the second half of their back-to-back games Saturday night.