Duncan, B.C. – After the Surrey Eagles (10-9-0) spoiled Victoria’s Teddy Bear Toss night on Friday, the Eagles looked to do it again when they strolled into the Cowichan Community Centre to face off against the Cowichan Valley Capitals (4-17-0). After scoring 3 quick goals to open the first period, the Eagles continued to apply the pressure and pulled away with a 6-3 victory for their 2nd straight win on the road trip, and climbed above the .500 mark for the first time this season.
Jacob Slipec led the way offensively with 2 beautiful goals, while Michael Abgrall, Joel Plante, Grayden Slipec and Zack Feaver rounded out the scoring for Surrey. Max Prazma got the start, and made 25 saves on 28 shots against for his 6th win of the season to continue his hot run of play since the beginning of November.
For the 2nd night in a row, the Eagles offense forced the opposing team to swap goaltenders in the 2nd period. McCoy Bidewell got the start for the Capitals, but struggled early and often in the game. After Surrey raced out to an early 3 goal lead in the 1st period, the Eagles would score 2 more goals in the 2nd period before the halfway mark which forced Cowichan Valley to put Evan May into the game. Bidewell gave up 5 goals on 18 shots against in under 27 minutes of action, while May gave up just 1 goal on 17 shots to finish the game. Sam Schofield, David Jacobs, and Brett Fudger scored for the Capitals.
Tonight wasn’t as clean of a game as Friday night was, but Eagles Head Coach Cam Keith was still happy with his team’s effort level in the contest in the post-game interview. “It wasn’t pretty, but it was an important game for us to get over that .500 mark like we talked about. We had some hard shifts when we needed to buckle down, and while we know we have better we’re happy with the two points.”
The Eagles powerplay didn’t factor into the game, but the penalty kill was terrific despite giving up a powerplay goal in the 2nd period. Jacob Slipec’s 2nd goal was short-handed and gave the Eagles their 5-2 lead which took away any momentum the Capitals had mustered in the 2nd period. Cam praised the effort level of the penalty kill, and highlighted the work of his defenders in the post-game. “I think our defense did a good job of clearing 2nd chance opportunities. They collapsed and blocked a lot of shots which made it easier for Max to see pucks. When he made saves, we went into desperation mode and cleared a lot of pucks out of our zone. It was a great group effort from our defense tonight.”
It was a physical game early and often against the Capitals who were also looking for their 2nd win in a row following a victory on Friday night. The Capitals played hard, and forced the Eagles into many situations where they needed to show a lot of heart as they battled throughout the game. Cam noted this should be expected against every opponent moving forward as the season continues. “As the season progresses, the physicality increases and teams start to bond more and guys want to win more for their teams. So we’re going to face these tough road games which have a playoff like atmosphere. A lot of our kids did a really good job tonight; they took hits, and made smart plays even while taking a lot of hits.”
The Eagles will look for their 3rd win in as many days tomorrow afternoon when they soar into the Frank Crane Arena to battle the Nanaimo Clippers. Puck drop is slated for 2:00pm, and you can catch all the action live on BCHL TV (Powered by HockeyTV) and on mixlr.com/eaglesbchl.
