Chris Taylor scored the only two goals of the first period Monday night and the Golden Eagles went on to defeat the Phoenix Roadrunners 4-2 in International Hockey League action at the Delta Center.
Taylor got the Eagles on the scoreboard only 53 seconds into the contest, taking a pass from Sandy Smith in front of the Phoenix goal and poking the puck past Roadrunner goalie David Goverde.Taylor then found the net at the 15:33 mark, scoring on a power- play goal that mirrored his first, taking a pass from Larry DePalma and giving the Eagles a 2-0 lead at the first intermission.
Salt Lake coach Dave Farrish said the team's recent success has come from being focused from the start of the game and taking the early lead. "The last two or three weeks we've really been concentrating on our focus. We are mentally and physically prepared right at the drop of the hat and that's obviously had some results," he said.
The Eagles dominated the first period Monday night, outshooting the Roadrunners 14-4 and staying out of the penalty box in the process. The Roadrunners only penalty of the period resulted in Taylor's second goal.
In the second period, Salt Lake lost its offensive dominance and was outshot 14-3. In the process, the Eagles were forced to try and kill two Phoenix power plays. "We were giving them the outside shots which probably made it look like we were giving them too many," said Farrish, "but all the shots they were getting were from the blue line and were really non-threatening."
But one of those shots did find the net, killing the shutout effort by Salt Lake goalie Jamie McClennan with 2:41 gone in the second period.
Although the Eagles were held scoreless in the middle period, McClennan and the rest of the team tightened the defensive screws and sewed up the game in the third period.
Salt Lake was again outshot, but outscored the Roadrunners 2-1 over the final 20 minutes.
Farrish said that being outshot in the game (37-26) was a non- factor because it was part of the game plan. "All those shots obviously register on the scoreboard, but we didn't feel they were that tough. Taking the outside shots like that, I thought (McClennan) played his angles very well," said the coach.
Smith and Dave Chyzowski put the game out of reach before the Roadrunners tallied a meaningless goal with four seconds left on the clock.
"It's difficult to maintain your focus for a whole 60 minutes," said Farrish. "The best thing about it is we came back and showed tremendous focus in the third (period) and really did an outstanding job."
The Eagles now take a two-game win streak into the Christmas holiday. "Going home on a good note like that, I think the players are going to feel a lot better about themselves and looking forward to the second half of the season with a string under our belts. Hopefully we'll come back and carry it into the new year," said Farrish.