Victoria, BC – The Surrey Eagles (17-15-0) looked to cap off their gruelling 5 day road trip on Tuesday night with a win against the hometown Victoria Grizzlies (16-14-0) who awaited their arrival. It started well for Surrey, but unfortunately fatigue set in and the Grizzlies top line took over as the Eagles dropped their final game on the road by a score of 8-5.
The Eagles were up 3-1 after a pair of powerplay goals in the 1st period, but the Grizzlies top line started to take over in the 2nd. Connor Eddy completed his hat-trick midway through the 2nd to tie the game, and ended the game with 4 goals and 2 assists. The Eagles re-took the lead on 2 different occasions, but Eddy’s 4th goal in the 3rd period was the back-breaker and the Eagles weren’t able to overcome the deficit from that point on. Despite the loss, the Eagles never gave up and should be able to build on this game, and the entire road trip moving forward.
Primo Self and Michael Abgrall had the powerplay goals for Surrey, while Jacob Slipec, Cole Galata and Joel Plante rounded out the scoring for the Eagles in the game. Max Prazma was in the net for the loss, and gave up 7 goals on 38 shots against in a game where he was left to dry due to some fatigue based mental errors. The Eagles powerplay continued to find some success in the game and went 2 for 4, but the penalty kill was unable to contain the Grizzlies top unit which went 2 for 3 in the contest.
The Grizzlies top line of Connor Eddy, Matthew Wood, and Ellis Rickwood combined for 11 points and 5 goals in the game, while Kalen Szeto Andrew Amousse, and Michael Hoekstra rounded out the scoring for Victoria. Kyle Kelsey earned the win, and made 27 saves on 32 shots against.
Eagles Head Coach was relatively positive after the game, and noted that while there were errors in their play it wasn’t for lack of effort as they played their 4th game in 5 nights dating back to Friday. “I thought the effort was there. Our guys battled through a lot of adversity with the early penalty kill. Unfortunately I think fatigue became a factor in the 3rd and there were some mental errors which cost us.”
The powerplay, which had been an Achilles heel for this team all season started to round into form on this trip. The Eagles scored 3 powerplay goals on the road, and looked dangerous in every game. Cam is happy his units are starting to gel, as he and this team understands they’ll need their powerplay to be successful if they want to make a run. “I think some of our guys have settled into their roles and have found comfort with the spots they’re in. They’re starting to get more comfortable and we’re finding some continuity with our powerplay. We’ll need our powerplay to be successful if we want to succeed in the 2nd half of the season.”
All in all, in what was a daunting road trip the Eagles were able to go 2-1 and keep the good times rolling in 2022. While the ending of the road trip wasn’t ideal, Cam and the guys are excited about what’s to come for this group moving forward. “We’re extremely excited about where we’re at and how the team has progressed before and after Christmas. We seem to continue to get better, our passing and chemistry between our lives is a ton of fun to watch and it has increased our excitement and belief in this team in our organization.”
After 4 games in hostile environments, the Eagles will finally return home on Friday, January 21st when they’ll host the Coastal Conference leading Langley Rivermen. You can get your tickets online on our website, as the game is slated to start at 7:00pm inside the South Surrey Arena. If you can’t make it, don’t worry as you can catch all the action live on BCHL TV (Powered by HockeyTV), and on mixlr.com/eaglesbchl.
