Coquitlam, B.C. – The Surrey Eagles (15-13-0) looked to rebound after a tough loss on Friday night. It took every second, but the Eagles gutted out a 3-2 win against the Coquitlam Express (7-16-3) on Saturday night.
Surrey never trailed in the game, but that doesn’t mean it was smooth sailing over the course of 60 minutes. Coquitlam pressed for large portions of the second and third periods, and were able to tie the game up on 2 different occasions. The difference in the game came from Eagles captain Jimmy Darby, who rifled a wrist shot over the blocker of Express starter Carter Woodside to give the Eagles their 3rd and final lead of the game. Jacob Bonkowski and Michael Abgrall had the other goals for Surrey.
Eagles Associate Coach Brad Tobin took over bench duties for the game as Head Coach Cam Keith was unable to attend, and did a great job again behind the bench. Tobin improved to 2-0 this season running the bench with Cam absent, and was happy with the way the boys battled throughout the game. “I thought it took us a little bit to get going and to familiarize ourselves to the smaller rink. We played last night on the olympic ice sheet so we had to become a little grittier. It was a good effort, especially at the end of the game where we had to kill off a late penalty and a 6 on 5 situation so I’m pretty happy with our effort.”
The other massive factor in tonight’s win was the play of starting goaltender Eli Pulver. Pulver was incredible all game, especially in the 2nd period where he faced 23 shots. The 1st star of the game made 45 saves on 47 shots against in the win. Pulver was especially impressive late in the game to preserve the win, making 7-8 quality save to preserve the 1 goal lead. When asked about Pulver’s play, Brad had nothing but good things to say. “Pulver played fantastic. Especially after the 1st penalty where they took a goaltending interference penalty against him. Some guys might shiver to the pressure, but Pulver rose to the occasion and played hard. They tried driving the net and coming at him with speed but he stood tall and I was very impressed with his game.”
After two very tough games against the Chilliwack Chiefs to begin 2022, the Coquitlam Express gave the Eagles another difficult game in which the Eagles had to scratch and claw for a positive outcome. Brad believed the guys passed another tough test as this young team continued to learn how to find ways to win at the BCHL level. “We found a way to win. Obviously you won’t play a perfectly structured game all the time so teams have to find ways to win on the road by grinding the game out.”
The Eagles next game will be Friday, January 14th against the Chilliwack Chiefs. The previously scheduled home game will be hosted inside the Chilliwack Coliseum. Eagles Season Ticket members will be accepted at the game, but if you can’t make it to Chilliwack you can catch the broadcast live on BCHL TV (Powered by HockeyTV), and on mixlr.com/eaglesbchl.
