This story was originally published on Hockey Mountain High, part of the Mile High Sports network.
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LOVELAND, Colo. — The Colorado Eagles came flying into Game Two with one purpose: to tie the series. On Saturday night, the Eagles battled the Chicago Wolves in the AHL Western Conference Finals in Loveland, Colorado. And battle they did. The Eagles took the lead early but had to claw back to a 5–2 victory as they tied the best-of-seven series. They have done what the Colorado Avalanche could not do this season: win a game in the Conference Finals.
First period
Colorado entered the contest aiming to avoid penalties. The Eagles achieved this during Game Two’s initial period. They even put the pressure on the Wolves during the period, not allowing a shot on goal for the first eight minutes of the game. Meanwhile, Colorado’s possession game went through the roof as they held on to the puck and danced around the Chicago zone. When Dominik Badinka went to the box for cross-checking, Colorado gained momentum but couldn’t convert. Nine minutes later, Charles Alexis Legault headed to the box for roughing, and the Eagles found a window. Tristen Nielsen nailed a one-timer from the middle of the slot after a quick pass from T.J. Hughes for the 1–0 lead to end the period.
TRISTEN NIELSEN!!!! Nielsen on the one timer during the PP and the opening goal of the game for the Eagles and the lead!!!! T.J. Hughes (5), Jack Ahcan (3) with the assists #Avs #GoAvsGo #EaglesCountry @HockeyMtnHighCO pic.twitter.com/20nEzRWSCE
— Brennan Vogt (@brennan_vogt) May 31, 2026
Second period
The second period did not go as well as the first did for the Eagles. Although the Wolves did not score any power-play goals, Chicago found the back of the net twice. Gavin Brindley received a penalty right when the first period finished, which continued into the second. Colorado killed the penalty by allowing no shots, but Chicago responded right after with a goal from Joel Nyström. Four minutes later, as Alex Barré-Boulet tried to exit the zone, he turned the puck over and Ivan Ryabkin scored. Chicago led 2–1 heading into intermission; however, Hughes briefly left play after receiving a severe hit from behind. Unfortunately, Colorado couldn’t score on the resulting five minute power play.
TJ Hughes goes HARD into the boards after a cross -check from Dominik Badinka. Hughes struggled to get back up and was treated on the ice by the trainers. He skated off under his own power. Hughes went right down the tunnel. Badinka got 5 for boarding #Avs #GoAvsGo #EaglesCountry… pic.twitter.com/P9zXMwHjNJ
— Brennan Vogt (@brennan_vogt) May 31, 2026
Third period
Colorado locked it down in the last period against the Wolves, trying to battle their way back from the one-goal deficit. With Five minutes left in the period the real push began as defenseman Jacob MacDonald pinched down the slot and nailed a shot from one knee to tie the game.
JACOB MACDONALD TO TIE THE GAME!!!!!!!! JMAC ties it up from low in the slot with less than six minutes left in regulation!!!!!!!! T.J. Tynan (8), Sean Behrens (2) with the assists #Avs #GoAvsGo #EaglesCountry @HockeyMtnHighCO pic.twitter.com/6sZqBjre6d
— Brennan Vogt (@brennan_vogt) May 31, 2026
Six seconds after the goal, Nikita Pavlychev put the Eagles on the power play. And like a storybook, Hughes picked up a loose puck in front of the net to take the 3–2 lead. They scored only 52 seconds after MacDonald’s goal. Jason Polin and Ivan Ivan both tacked on empty-net goals for the 5–2 victory.
“It’s awesome, like playing with them is pretty easy,” said Chase Bradley of playing with Ivan and Polin. “Like, we keep it simple, and I think that helps us in the long run, and like you said, like a little chaos, like I would say, controlled chaos, where we play a mixture of both games, we’re good defensively, I think we’re pretty good offensively.”
TJ HUGHES ON THE PP FOR THE LEAD!!!! Hughes picks up the lose puck in front of the net and buries it for the Eagles to take the lead late in the third! Tristen Nielsen (5), T.J. Tynan (9) on the assists #Avs #GoAvsGo #EaglesCountry @HockeyMtnHighCO pic.twitter.com/CTDXj7zokL
— Brennan Vogt (@brennan_vogt) May 31, 2026
“Anytime a player’s down for a while, you have concern, you never want to see anybody down, theirs or our players,” said head coach Mark Letestu. “I’m happy that he was able to come back clearly and to come back and get a goal again. The young player trying to figure it out, development time, as we talked about, there’s no better development than taking a big hit, maybe coming back a little bumped up, little bruised, and a big goal for your team. For me, that’s a big moment for that player.”
Takeaways
Colorado did a great job of limiting the offense from Chicago. In the first 12 minutes of the game, Colorado only allowed a pair of shots from the Wolves. Then, in the final 20 minutes of the game, the Eagles outshot Chicago 13–1. Both goals from the Wolves were even-strength goals as the Eagles killed both power plays. Colorado cut its penalties in half in Game Two (they had six penalties in Game One). So staying out of the box created momentum for the Eagles that carried throughout the entire game. If they can respond like this in Game Three, they should be able to to put up a good fight in this series.
Up next
The Eagles will head onto the road for the next three games in hope to clinch the series in Chicago with games on June 2nd, 3rd and 5th. AHLTV on FloHockey.com will stream the game.
Chase Bradley interview May 30, 2026
Mark Letestu interview May 30, 2026
