Eagles Shutout Chiefs In 1-0 Overtime Victory

Chilliwack, BC – The Surrey Eagles (26-24-0) wrapped up their 7 game road swing across 5 different cities on Friday night inside the Chilliwack Coliseum against the Chilliwack Chiefs (27-17-4). In a game which proved to be a nail biter, the Eagles came out on top at the end of overtime and beat the Chiefs by a score of 1-0.

Friday’s effort followed the same blueprint as Wednesday, as Surrey controlled pucks along the wall and looked to grind the short-handed Chiefs down through 40 minutes. However in the 3rd period Trent Wilson was called for a double minor for high-sticking and the Eagles penalty kill needed to come up large for them. Eagles starter Max Prazma stole the show for the Eagles in the final 10 minutes, as he was the Eagles best penalty killer and helped get the team to overtime. Prazma and the Eagles penalty kill were perfect on the night, and killed off all 4 Chilliwack power-plays including the double minor and one other slashing minor in the 3rd period. In overtime, the Slipec brothers connected on a beautiful 2 on 1 passing play which was finished off by Grayden Slipec to give the Eagles the win.

Eagles Head Coach Cam Keith watched his group battle throughout the game, but there was no shortage of praise for his starting goaltender who earned his 2nd shutout of the season. “He came up big when we needed him the most. The double minor in the 3rd was killed off by a willingness from our group to block shots and Prazma making save after save. I don’t know how he did it, he must’ve been wearing a cape underneath his gear.”

While the 3rd period nearly got away from the Eagles, the first 40 minutes were some of the best hockey the team has played all season. Cam talked about what the game plan was coming into the game and how his team was able to follow it in the contest. “We knew we had to be disciplined and keep it a very simplified game along the walls and not get into a back & forth game with them. We accomplished that through 40 minutes, but sometimes the game dictates how it is and it was an unfortunate 4 minute penalty we had to kill. When we needed saves Prazma was there for us.”

Surrey’s playoff style of game has helped them earn two straight wins and salvage the 7 game road swing with a 3-4 record. More importantly for the Head Coach though is the group’s willingness to sacrifice for each other and to be rewarded for playing the right way. “We took another step in the right direction. We’ve formed this playoff style of hockey with the buy in from our group. To get the results in two straight games playing this style of game is huge for our group.”

Surrey will return home on Sunday afternoon in search of their 3rd straight win in a battle with the visiting Cowichan Valley Capitals. Puck drop is 4:00pm inside the South Surrey Arena, and tickets for Bingo Night are still available on our website. If you can’t make it too ‘The Nest’, you can catch all the action on BCHL TV (Powered by HockeyTV) and on mixlr.com/eaglesbchl.