Goaltending, penalty killing propel Eagles

LOVELAND -- Sebastien Laplante helped give the Colorado Eagles a 2-0 series lead over the Texas Brahmas after earning his third shutout of the playoffs at the Budweiser Events Center on Sunday with a 2-0 victory in Game 2 of the Northern Conference Finals.

A barrage of shots came at Laplante but he turned down all 35 of Texas' opportunities.

"For him (Laplante) to play as well as he did on the penalty kill really makes a difference," Eagles' coach Chris Stewart said. "Good penalty killing starts with good goaltending, and he played remarkably well. I think the guys responded well to the saves he made."

But Laplante, instead of taking all the credit, credited the whole team for its win. He tied four other players for the CHL's record for playoff shutouts with three, but figured that will just be something to look back on 10 years from now.

"We are in it for the long run," Laplante said. "Right now we're focused on winning hockey games."

Even if it means working a defensive unit to the bones.

"When you work hard, things happen for you," Laplante said. "A lot of credit goes to the whole team. They were blocking shots, (Aaron) Schneekloth at the end with a huge block point blank, these things all add up."

The Eagles defense killed 11 power plays -- six coming in the third period -- including a 6-on-4 in the last three minutes.

"You need good special teams to win the playoffs," Eagles defenseman Brad Williamson said. "But we don't want to give them that many chances because, eventually, when you give a team that many chances they're going to start putting the puck in the net."

Although dominating the physical play against the Brahmas, discipline has to become the key for the Eagles going on the road to North Richland Hills, Texas.

"I think that the physical side of it was ours," Stewart said. "But if I was going to nail one thing, stay out of that penalty box. We can't take as many penalties as we're taking."