Photo courtesy Darren Francis of FotoShotz
The Eagles are looking to rebound from the two previous losses to the Rivermen over the weekend being outscored 6-1 and outshot 39-26 on home ice and 3-1 in Langley the following night but allowing the Rivermen to outshot them by a 27-26 margin.
The last meeting between both clubs saw the Chiefs manage to get 31 shots at Daniel Davidson, while the Eagles managed to hammer 30 shots at Daniel Chenard through sixty minutes.
Not only have the shots been close it’s interesting to note that both clubs are separated by one point with Surrey holding down third spot in the Mainland Division, while the Chiefs sit with 30 points, also in the Mainland Division.
The Eagles enter the game with two players in the top ten in scoring in the BCHL as Ty Westgard holds down 4th spot with 39 points through 29 games, while John Wesley sits 8th with 35 points through 29 games followed by Chiefs Will Calverley in 13th with 29 points.
Keys to the game sees has speed, discipline and sticking to the game plan playing a huge role to pulling out a win as well as a fast start, which works in favour of Surrey.
The game started out with the Chiefs getting a couple of quality chances only to have the tables turned on a poor clearing play on the left side of the zone near the top of the circle.
As Desi Burgart was pinching in he forced a turnover to Westgard who slipped past Turcotte while cutting to the middle.
With his sights set on driving to the net, he was pulled down but managed to maintain possession of the puck putting it top shelf over a sprawling Chenard at 2:28.
The goal was solely due to the unselfish relentless work that saw him and the puck ending up in the back of the net.
The Chiefs newest member PJ Marracco got the Chiefs on the board notching his first as a Chief at 3:07 tying the game at one.
Both teams attacked the net forcing each “tender” come up with numerous remarkable stops, but despite the aggressive play of the Eagles, it was Marrocco that got his second of the game at 17:28 giving the Chiefs a 2-1 lead heading to the dressing room after one.
Entering the game the talk on the concourse was about how fast both teams could play, but it all depended on the play of the tenders to keep the game within reach.
The Eagles pressed and managed to get only 8 shots at Chenard, while the Chiefs peppered Nic Tallarico with 11, many of which were labelled for the back of the net.
The Eagles came out with more jump in the second getting several quality shots at Chenard that saw Ross sent one back to the point on the left side setting up Westgard.
He wasted no time hammering one off the back boards to a waiting Wesley parked on the right side of the crease delivering his 23rd of the season on an electric backhand shot top shelf at 4:47 giving the Eagles the tying the goal.
As mentioned in the broadcast by Greg, this shot might not have been possible in Surrey due to the Olympic size ice as the puck would have taken a completely different bounce, possibly preventing Wesley from jumping on the loose puck.
The second saw the Eagles outshot the Chiefs by a narrow 13-12 margin in what was an exceptionally entertaining period as both were focused on a win.
The third continued where the second left off with each team having chance after chance and I for one would be hard pressed to say who had more quality chances despite the 11 shots for the Chiefs to the minimal 5 recorded for the Eagles.
The tight checking entertaining game saw the Eagles heading to OT down one player as in the later stages of the third Cory Babichuk was assessed a Minor for Check to the Head plus a Misconduct accompanying the minor that carried over to period four.
Overtime started four on three for the Chiefs with each having exceptional chances only to be denied by both Chenard and Tallarico and given the open ice the fans were clearly got their money’s worth in this contest.
The Chiefs notched the game winning goal as the first OT was winding down as Tesink gave the Chiefs the game winner at 4:23 after sending what we called a “screen shot” low along the ice getting behind Tallarico.
Clearly top dollar entertainment supplied by two quality BCHL teams that saw stellar goaltending at each end of the ice.
FORTIS BC PLAYER OF THE GAME
Tommy Lee (1 Assist)
Three Stars:
1st PJ Marrocco (2 Goals)
2nd Anthony Vincent (2 Assists)
3rd Nic Tallarico (41 Shots Against/38 Saves)
The Eagles head on the road for a pair of road games first in Powell River December 2nd with
the face-off set for 7:15 pm followed by an afternoon game in Port Alberni the following day
(December 3rd) at 2 pm.
The Eagles next home game is December 10th at the South Surrey Arena with the face-off
set for 4 pm. Remember to bring your skates for a “Skate With The Eagles” following the game!
