By Nick Greenizan
A nifty shootout goal from rookie Matthew McKim Sunday in Victoria salvaged what was an otherwise difficult road trip for the Surrey Eagles last weekend.
McKim’s tally – a hard wrist shot that went post-and-in over the glove of Victoria Grizzlies’ goalie Keenan Rancier – gave the visiting Eagles a 6-5 win, which was the Surrey squad’s only points of a three-games-in-three-days Vancouver Island trip that began with a 6-2 loss in Nanaimo Friday and continued with a 4-2 defeat Saturday evening against the Cowichan Valley Capitals.
McKim has only one goal on the season, but he has become something of a shootout specialist for the Birds – Sunday marked the second time this year that the Newfoundland native has sniped the shootout winner for his team.
And though no doubt thrilled to leave Victoria with two points, the Eagles very nearly left empty handed. The team trailed by one goal until Justyn Gurney tied the game up with just five minutes left in the third period, and in overtime, goaltender Kyle Dumba made a big save at the buzzer to ensure the game moved on to a shootout.
In total, Dumba was peppered with 47 Victoria shots.
Surrey’s Chase Stevenson scored twice in the game – with both goals coming within the first five minutes of the opening frame to give the Eagles a 2-0 lead. The two-goal cushion evaporated by the first intermission, however, as the Grizzlies clawed back on goals from Lach Hadley and Alex Newhook.
Victoria scored twice more in the second period to go up 4-2 before Surrey’s Samuel Feldman scored to draw the Birds to within one. In the third, Alexander Campbell restored the Grizzlies’ two-goal lead before Corey Clifton and Gurney scored for Surrey.
Ty Westgard – who is tied for second in BCHL scoring with 24 points in 18 games – had three assists in the win, and also scored in the shootout.
