O’Connor Sends the Bears Through the Air in Eagles 3-1 Win

LOVELAND, CO. – Logan O’Connor, Sheldon Dries and Kevin Connauton all found the back of the net, while Eagles fans tossed an estimated 12,000 teddy bears onto the ice during Colorado’s 3-1 victory over the San Diego Gulls on Saturday. Eagles goaltender Adam Werner was sensational in net, stopping 36 of the 37 shots he faced to earn the win in net.

O’Connor sent the teddy bears raining onto the ice when he snapped a shot from the slot past San Diego goaltender Anthony Stolarz to give the Eagles the 1-0 lead just 1:22 into the contest.

The Gulls would square things up when forward Daniel Sprong smashed the puck past the outstretched glove of Werner to tie the score at 1-1 at the 10:47 mark of the first period.

A 5-on-3 power play would set up Colorado to reclaim the edge when Connauton blasted a shot from the left-wing circle that would light the lamp and put the Eagles on top 2-1 with 3:59 remaining in the opening frame.

The second period would see Colorado outshoot the Gulls 12-9 but some solid work from both netminders would keep the scoresheet clean and the two teams would head to the second intermission with the Eagles still leading, 2-1.

San Diego would tilt the ice in the third period. A pair of power plays and a tenacious attack helped the Gulls outshoot Colorado 15-6 in the final 20 minutes. However, some brilliant stops by Werner and some key shot blocks down the stretch kept San Diego from finding the net. As the Gulls pulled Stolarz in favor of the extra attacker in the final minute of the contest, Dries would take advantage with an empty-netter from deep in his own zone with just one-tenth of a second remaining on the clock. The goal was Dries team-leading 10th tally of the season and solidified the Eagles the 3-1 win.

Colorado was a perfect 4-4 on the penalty kill, while going 1-for-4 on the power play. San Diego outshot the Eagles on the night 37-34.

The Eagles return to action when they host the Manitoba Moose on Tuesday, December 17th at 7:05pm MT at the Budweiser Events Center.