Burnaby, B.C. – The Surrey Eagles (13-2-1) have clinched the top spot in the Coquitlam pod after they earned their 9th win in a row with a 2-1 victory over the Powell River Kings (7-7-2).
Eagles head coach Cam Keith offered praise to both teams after the afternoon game came to a close. “[It was a] close checking game from both teams with a playoff vibe intensity. Powell River made us earn every inch offensively, and didn’t give us a lot of second-chance opportunities.”
In a rare low-scoring game for the Eagles, they managed to clog things up and limited the Powell River Kings to just 22 shots on goal during the game. Jacob Slipec’s huge check thrown on Kings defenseman Brody Johnston was a sign of things to come in a game where physicality reigned supreme, and goals came at a premium. Much of that due to the incredible goaltending of Kings’ starter Nick Peters who made 27 saves in the loss, many of them of the highlight variety.
Both Surrey goals were scored on the powerplay and both from the BCHL’s leading scorer Holden Katzalay. Katzalay’s 10th and 11th goals of the season were scored in the 1st and 2nd periods. Jacob Bonkowski scored for Powell River a minute after Katzalay’s 2nd of the game, but they were unable to find the equalizer in the 3rd thanks to some great defensive play from the Eagles.
Keith praised his group’s mentality and discipline in the 3rd period. “I thought we did a great job of managing our shift lengths and decisions with the puck in the 3rd period.” The Eagles only gave up 5 Kings shots in the final frame, helping Tommy Scarfone close the door. Scarfone made 21 saves in the victory.
While the Eagles winning the Coquitlam pod is a nice sentiment for family, friends, and fans of the team, the Eagles remain committed to developing through the remaining 4 games of the 2021 pod season. A sentiment Keith followed through with post-game. “Our focus is improving our play each game without being result-oriented.”
The Eagles will look to continue their development on Sunday afternoon when they’ll look for their 10th win in a row against the Coquitlam Express. Puck drop is slated for 1:00 pm inside the Scotia Barn, and you can catch all the action live on BCHL TV (Powered by HockeyTV), and on mixlr.com/eaglesbchl.
