A physical period backstopped by goaltending carried over the opening twenty minutes. Winger Kennan Reyelts and Ice Wolve defender Andrey Moskvitin got mixed up after a whistle and were handed offsetting roughing minors with 12:43 remaining in the period. Buoyed by Erickson, the scoreless tie remained through the end of the first period. The Grit were unable to convert on a power play in the period’s final minute after George Poirier’s effort was turned aside by New Mexico goaltender Gavin Schahn, who finished with 18 saves.

 

The Grit’s second power play opened the scoring midway through the second period. After a Herman Asberg head contact minor, the Grit man advantage got to work. The Rakowski-Poirier-Mann line delivered when Poirier sniped a shot past Schahn to give Colorado the lead, 1-0, with 9:15 to go in the second period. Reyelts got the best of his former team when he powered his third goal of the season past Schahn and picked up an unsportsmanlike conduct major in the process. The tally doubled the lead, 2-0, with 2:52 left in the period. Offsetting penalties to Lucca Ori and Nayan Pai meant 4-on-4 hockey to close the period. Luc Bydal took advantage of the extra space and deposited the puck behind Schahn for his fifth goal of the season. The tally stretched the Grit lead, 3-0, with 44 seconds left in the middle frame.

 

For the second consecutive meeting, Erickson withstood a barrage in the final period. The second-year netminder finished with 28 saves and twelve of them in the third period. Colorado’s penalty kill was called into action three different times in the third period while New Mexico searched for a goal. Ori’s high sticking minor with just under five minutes remaining brought the home side’s best chances. Three efforts were turned aside by Erickson to bring the curtain down on New Mexico as the final buzzer sounded and Colorado poured off the bench with their third consecutive victory.