Ivan scores late as Eagles edge Wolves in Game 3, take series lead

Ivan Ivan turned Game 3 into the kind of swing night that can decide a playoff series. With 50.3 seconds left in regulation at Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Ill., Ivan slipped into space between the circles and buried the winner, lifting the Colorado Eagles past the Chicago Wolves 3-2 and handing Colorado a 2-1 lead in the Western Conference Finals.

That finish mattered because Colorado had already let a two-goal cushion slip away. Chase Bradley and Tye Felhaber put the Eagles in front 2-0 through two periods, and Trent Miner backed it up with 28 saves in goal. Then Chicago stormed back with a short-handed goal from Domenick Fensore and the equalizer from Cal Foote, turning what looked like a controlled road win into a tense third-period scramble. Instead of folding after the tie, Colorado reset, found a pocket of ice, and let Ivan finish the job.

The road win gave the Eagles something bigger than a single result: they stole momentum in a building where Chicago expected to leverage its postseason history. This is Colorado’s first-ever appearance in the Calder Cup conference finals, and the AHL notes it is the first time a Colorado Avalanche affiliate has reached the final four since the Hershey Bears did it in 2001. Chicago came in with far more conference-finals pedigree, owning a 5-1 all-time record in Western Conference Finals series and three Calder Cup championships, but Game 3 pushed the pressure back onto the Wolves.

The series has already swung on late-game execution. In Game 2, Colorado scored four times in the final five minutes to win 5-2 in Loveland, with late goals from Jacob MacDonald, T.J. Hughes, Jason Polin and Ivan Ivan. Chicago managed only one shot on goal in the third period of that game, a sharp contrast to the desperation it showed late in Game 3, when Cayden Primeau still made 36 saves and nearly helped the Wolves survive another collapse.

Now Colorado gets the leverage game. Game 4 is set for Wednesday, June 3, 2026, in Chicago, with Games 5, 6 and 7 scheduled if necessary for June 5, June 7 and June 8. If the Eagles hold serve again, Ivan’s goal will look less like a clutch moment and more like the goal that cracked the series open.