Life can transform in seconds.
The Colorado Eagles know that better than most. Their postseason run has been full of drama and their fate rested on a razor’s edge more than once. Why should the Kelly Cup Finals be any different?
Staring at a Game 1 loss at home to South Carolina, Colorado rallied for a late game-tying goal before going on to win 3-2 in double overtime Friday at the Budweiser Events Center.
“It’s obviously not a position we want to put ourselves in. I think we could’ve buried a few more chances earlier in the game,” forward Matt Garbowsky said. “But when it happens like that, and the guys come together and we find a way, it kind of lifts the whole team and changes momentum.”
With the Eagles in full desperation mode, pulling goalie Lukas Hafner for an extra attacker inside of 2 minutes trailing 2-1, they surged forward with heavy pressure and repeatedly banged on the door. But no goal.
Time seeped off the clock, agonizingly slowly for South Carolina and simultaneously lighting quick for Colorado. Inside 30 seconds. Then less than 10. Five. Three. Still nothing.
The puck trickled out to South Carolina’s left circle. No Stingray could reach it for a game-clinching clear. Instead, Garbowsky wheeled tightly inside, beating everyone to the puck, including his teammate Matt Register, by milliseconds.
Garbowsky’s shot barely (if at all) left the slick surface. But it surprised Parker Milner, the Carolina goaltender who had otherwise been nearly impenetrable. Late down into his butterfly, the puck snuck between his leg pads and across the goal line. Just 2.5 seconds flashed.
Milner’s head hung as he remained slouched in his late position. All around him, Eagles players leapt off their feet, in unison with the sea of yellow-clad spectators. In seconds, everything changed.
“It was just kind of a mad scramble. You know you don’t have much time left, you’re just trying to throw it to the net,” Garbowsky said. “It happened to slip through. I don’t know if it was 5-hole or what, but as soon as it happened, we were all pretty excited because it gave us a chance. Right?”
After the teams traded chances to no avail throughout one overtime, Register did what he does best (seven game-winning goals during the year) and blasted a shot from the point seconds into a power play, which wiggled through bodies and struck twine, sending the hulking blue liner into the air as he jumped with joy.
“My reaction there, it took me a second to kind of realize what happened,” he said of his game-winning goal. “It was exciting. I just want to get pucks to the net and when I’ve gotten pucks to the net, I’ve been pretty successful. Even if they’re not going in for me, there getting in there for other guys. I’m not gonna stop doing that.”
The Eagles realistically should have dropped the championship opener. Now, they’re ahead and feeling great.
It was a lively start to the series, both in the stands, and on ice where each club established a physical tone to this championship series.
As the two sides bruised each other up (with five penalties total in the opening period), Colorado would draw initial blood as Garbowsky crashed hard to the Stingrays’ crease to collect a rebound and bury the first goal of the Kelly Cup Finals late in the opening period.
Physicality ramped up throughout the night, with eight power-play opportunities between the clubs after only two frames (14 in total, seven each). The Eagles swelled their chances to out-shoot South Carolina 34-23 in regulation.
Yet the hefty edge in shots did little to bolster the Colorado advantage.
The Stingrays notched the only score of the second period to equalize the contest, utilizing thick traffic in front of Hafner to beat the rookie and snag a tying goal heading into the final frame.
South Carolina found its only lead with 2 minutes remaining in regulation, scoring just after a power play expired on a cross-slot pass, forcing the Eagles into their comeback mode.
“We preserved. It’s a great win for Game 1 in the Kelly Cup Finals. I wouldn’t expect anything less than a tight hockey game,” Eagles coach Aaron Schneekloth said. “This team’s done it over and over again. They’ve found ways to win hockey games.”
Cris Tiller: 970-669-5401, tillerc@reporter-herald.com or twitter.com/cristiller
Eagles 3, Stingrays 2 2OT
At Budweiser Events Center
South Carolina01100—2
First Period — 1. Colorado, Garbowsky 3 (Nantel, Zahn), 16:11.
Second Period — 2. South Carolina, Tanski 1 (Perrier, Nicastro), 10:14.
Third Period — 3. South Carolina, McParland 5 (Arnold, Archambault), 17:27. 4. Colorado, Garbowsky 4 (Register, Zimmerman), 19:58.
Overtime Period — No scoring.
Second Overtime Period — 5. Colorado, Register 7 (Marto), 10:52 (PP).
Shots on goal — South Carolina 34; Colorado 46
Power plays — South Carolina 0/7; Colorado 1/7
Goalies (shots-saves) — South Carolina: Milner (46-43); Colorado: Hafner (34-32)
