It took six frames to decide a winner in Friday night’s ECHL Western Conference Finals, but with a 5-4 victory in overtime the Colorado Eagles are one win away from their first-ever appearance in the Kelly Cup Finals. Matt Garbowsky had the game-winning goal in a back-and-forth game that saw Toledo take the lead three different times, only for Colorado to answer.
Tylor Spink opened the scoring for Toledo on a deflection just over three minutes into the game. Eagles defenseman Sergei Boikov rocketed a one-timer past Jake Paterson in the seventh minute to tie things up. Still in the first, A.J. Jenks would score another for Toledo only to be matched by Luke Salazar. Colorado grabbed a short-lived lead in the second period on a wrist shot by Ryan Harrison, but Jenks scored his second of the game to level things at three.
Things took another turn for the Walleye when they took their third lead of the game on a wraparound by Zach Nastasiuk at the 7:27 mark of the third period. The relentless Eagles would not be stopped, though, as Casey Pierro-Zabotel tipped in a power play goal with just over two and a half minutes remaining in regulation. The two sides skated through a pair of scoreless overtime frames before Garbowsky went top shelf on Paterson for the victory.
With the win, Colorado takes a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series. The Eagles can clinch a trip to their first-ever Kelly Cup Finals with a victory on Saturday night. Puck drop is 7:05 p.m. MDT at Budweiser Events Center.
Featured Image Credit: Colorado Eagles, Standout Imagery