Surrey, BC – A sub-par outing in the third game of a six-game homestand cost the Surrey Eagles a chance to move out of the B.C. Hockey League’s Mainland Division basement on Sunday afternoon, as they dropped a 2-1 shootout loss to the Langley Rivermen at the South Surrey Arena.
Langley’s Brendan Budy scored the only goal in the penalty shot contest, showcasing a quick release to slide the puck past Eagles goalie Tommy Scarfone, who single handedly gave his team the chance to earn two points, instead of one ugly one. For the season, Surrey is now zero-for-nine in shootout attempts, and 8-13-0-3 overall.
The Rivermen outshot Surrey in each period, and 39-22 overall. Somehow, Scarfone wasn’t named a star of the game, although Surrey’s Carter King, who scored the team’s only goal, got the nod as the second star. Budy was named the third star, and teammate Jake Livingstone, who forced extra time with his goal at 16:17 of the third period, was named the first star. Livingstone, the BCHL’s second-highest scoring defenseman, jumped up from the blueline, got a nice feed and displayed a power forward’s instinct by cutting around an Eagles defender in the face-off circle to go in on Scarfone with a clean look and bash home the equalizer.
King’s goal came at 12:56 of the first period. With the Eagles on a powerplay, Surrey’s Holden Katzalay took a shot which was blocked but bounced right back onto his stick. Katzalay quickly sent it to King who was alone in front of Langley goaltender Braedon Fleming and just as quickly fired it home to give Surrey the lead.
Offensively, that was about the only serious threat Surrey directed at the opposition net. They looked nothing like the team which posted a convincing 7-2 victory over the Prince George on Friday night, which left head coach Cam Keith more and more perplexed as the game wore on. “I think we thought because of how we played against Prince George it was going to be easy, and Langley just out-worked us the whole game,” said Keith. “It was the first time this year I was looking down the bench and I didn’t know who to put out there. Nobody had jump.
“There were times where we played the right way and created, but then our lack of discipline would kick in and we’d have to try to find the momentum again, and it was hard. We just couldn’t find it today. It was not our best effort. It was an ugly point—but we’re very happy to get it,” which gives the Eagles points in four straight games.
“You have to give them credit,” said Keith of the veteran heavy Rivermen. “They worked hard, and they stuck to their game plan. They continually pressured our D and got pucks behind them. They just won those battles, and it wore on us. You could sense the fatigue toward the end. We just didn’t have the legs to push back.”
Surrey was a perfect seven-for-seven on the penalty kill, thanks to Scarfone. “Tommy was the best PKer we had,” said Keith. “He made big saves, controlled rebounds well, scrambled when he needed to, and challenged up top. We need one of [our goalies] to step up and give us opportunities to win games, which he did. It’s the first time this year we’ve had a goalie steal us a point, one that we didn’t deserve, so that was nice. Tommy’s challenging the shooters more, and finding his game. For us, it’s huge, and hopefully he gains a lot of confidence from his performance tonight.”
Surrey still has three more consecutive home games to regain their footing. Next up are the Mainland Division and BCHL-leading Coquitlam Express who visit The Nest on Friday night.
