Taylor Makar's Two Goals Power Eagles Past Wranglers 2-1 in Calgary

Taylor Makar redirected a Gustav Stjernberg shot past Arsenii Sergeev with 3:19 remaining in the third period Sunday, giving the Colorado Eagles a 2-1 road win over the Calgary Wranglers and pushing his season goal total to 14.

Stjernberg collected the puck off an offensive-zone faceoff and fired from the high slot; the puck deflected off Makar and past Sergeev to put Colorado ahead for good. Trent Miner made the lead stand up, stopping 31 of 32 shots and coming up with several critical saves in the final frame to preserve the victory.

Makar had given the Eagles the early edge at 5:38 of the first period, deflecting a point shot from the slot into the net for a 1-0 lead. Calgary responded 4:30 later when Rory Kerins tied it at 1-1 with a cross-slot finish off an odd-man rush. Neither team converted on the power play through the second period, and the score remained level heading into the third.

Stjernberg's two assists on the night were the first two points of his professional career. Danil Gushchin and Ivan Ivan each added an assist as Colorado spread the scoring across four contributors despite going 0-for-3 with the man advantage. The Eagles were a perfect 2-for-2 on the penalty kill, surrendering nothing when shorthanded.

Calgary pulled Sergeev after Makar's go-ahead goal but generated nothing with the extra attacker. Sergeev allowed two goals on 36 shots and took the loss.

Colorado heads to Bakersfield on April 1 with two things clarified: Miner remains dependable when games tighten in the third, and Stjernberg has his first professional points precisely when the Eagles needed a contributor beyond their established scorers to step up.