SURREY, BC – A young but noticeably improving Surrey Eagles team went toe-to-toe with the league powerhouse Penticton Vees before a glaring defensive giveaway late in the third period provided the winning goal for the B.C. Hockey League’s best road team on Friday night at the South Surrey Arena.
With the teams locked in a 3-3 tie, defenseman Cade Alami attempted a cross-ice pass deep in his own zone, but in doing so put the puck on the stick of a wide-open Tyler Ho directly in front of Eagles goalie Cal Schell. A quick shift to his backhand and the puck was in the net. Vees’ leading scorer Jay O’Brien scored the insurance goal into the empty net to make the final score 5-3. With the win, Penticton improved their away record to a stunning 12-2, and coupled with the Salmon Arm Silverbacks’ 4-3 loss to the Trail Smoke Eaters moved back into first place in the Interior Division.
Eagles head coach Cam Keith more or less shrugged off Alami’s late-game gaffe. “He was trying to make a play. As a coach, you encourage them to make plays. Obviously, that wasn’t the right play. But he’ll learn from it.”
“But the main thing is we’re getting better as a group, which we are, it’s plain to see. I’m happy. They’re happy,” said Keith of his rookie-filled lineup. “They competed with the best team in the league, and this game could have gone either way.”
Surrey shot out of the gate from the opening puck drop, outshooting the Vees 11-2 and taking a two-goal lead. Wyatt Schlaht opened the scoring seven minutes in after breaking into the Vees end of the ice with speed, then using the D-man as a screen to send a wrist shot past Penticton goalie Carl Stankowski. Two minutes later the red-hot Holden Katzalay connected on the powerplay, popping home a rebound after some effective passing in the offensive zone by the Eagles created the first chance.
Penticton then put the pedal to the metal, and had the Eagles on their heels for the remainder of the first period and the first half of the second. The Vees struck on the powerplay late in the first, then took the lead with a pair of goals 28 seconds apart early in the second.
However, Surrey righted the ship and clawed their way back to even terms, both in terms of territorial play and puck possession, and eventually on the scoreboard as well. As costly as Alami’s turnover was, the Eagles got a gift of their own on the tying goal late in the second period when Stankowski simply dropped a wrist shot from well out off the stick of Eagles defenseman Kieran O’Hearn right in front of Katzalay’s stick for a no-brainer. For Katzalay, it was his third point of the night, and second such performance in his past three games.
The Eagles continued their strong play into the third period, holding the Vees without a shot for the first eight minutes. Penticton did out-shoot the home team 43-35, although seven of those came on a single albeit unsuccessful powerplay midway through the final frame. Schell looked in full control facing the barrage, calmly barring the door or deflecting shots into the corners, as he gave his team the chance to continue to push for the upset victory.
Although their record doesn’t necessarily reflect it, this year’s Eagles team has repeatedly shown “the ability to pull themselves up once the momentum has changed,” said Keith. “That’s huge, especially against a team like [Penticton] because once they get going it’s really hard to grab the momentum back—and we did. We showed a lot of resiliency.
“That’s three good games in a row we’ve played. We’re still not getting the results we’d like but the process is there. It’s a good group of kids, and they’re starting to figure it out. We had a big penalty kill to start the third then we just kept it going. Every line contributed, and they were earning it the right way.”
Surrey now heads out on the road for a Saturday night encounter against their Mainland Division rival, the Chilliwack Chiefs, before returning to action on Sunday against another Interior Division foe, the Vernon Vipers. Puck drop at The Nest is at 4 p.m., and for both teams it will be their third game in as many days, as Vernon arrives in Surrey after a two-game Island swing.
