Surrey, BC – Playing in his first game at home after playing five straight on the road since being acquired by his hometown Surrey Eagles at the B.C. Hockey League’s trade deadline, goaltender Reece Klassen certainly delivered the goods on Friday night. He and his new teammates killed off a two-man disadvantage for 1:57 early in the first period, and then went on to post the team’s first shutout in more than two years, a 3-0 victory over the Prince George Spruce Kings at the South Surrey Arena.
The win gives both Klassen and the third-place Eagles a memorable win and a 4-1-1 record since the trade, as well as a 3-point lead over the fourth-place Langley Rivermen as the two teams battle for playoff positioning in the middle of the BCHL’s Mainland Division. The loss leaves Prince George in fifth place in the division, but still well within a BCHL playoff position.
Consistently sharp throughout the game, Klassen made a pair of his handful of top-notch saves in the first period as the Eagles weathered a spirited effort from the opening whistle from the Spruce Kings who outshot the Eagles 35-25 on the night. A powerplay goal 6:35 into the second period from Surrey’s leading scorer Cristophe Tellier was not only the winning goal but the spark the team needed in front of Klassen who joined the team from the Swift Current Broncos of the Western Hockey League.
The Eagles made it 2-0 before the period ended on the second goal of the season from another of the Eagles mid-season acquisitions, Hassan Akl, who came over from the Calgary Canucks of the Alberta Junior Hockey League. Tellier was also in on the 3-0 clincher, which came off the stick of captain Hudson Schandor midway through the third period.
The win sets up the possibility of the Eagles clinching a return to the BCHL playoffs after a year’s absence with a win on Saturday night in Merritt against the Centennials.
“We weren’t bad in the first period, but they should have had two goals,” said Eagles head coach Cam Keith in a tip of his hat to Klassen’s performance post-game in a raucous Eagles dressing room. “That first penalty kill was huge for us. We kept them pretty much to the outside, and when they got inside Reece came up big, really big.
“I thought we were sleepy in the first period, but once we got that goal on the powerplay in the second we kind of woke up,” Keith admitted. “That’s why you need good goaltending: To keep you in the game when you’re not going that well. We got that from Reece tonight and it allowed us to slowly find our game. Then I think we slowly took over the momentum as the game progressed. Obviously, they were getting frustrated when they couldn’t score.”
The Eagles landed the veteran Klassen for future considerations once it became apparent the team’s No. 1 goalie Tommy Scarfone was going to remain sidelined by a groin injury for longer than first thought. Scarfone’s return is still a projected week-10 days away, but with Klassen’s addition the Eagles possess one of the best one-two goaltending duos in the league.
With the possibility of clinching that post-season spot now looming large, Keith noted that “with the way our playoffs are set up, where you could play seven games in 10 days in the first round, it’s almost impossible to run a goalie out there for that many games in that many days and expect the best. Potentially you could, but to have the opportunity to have either Tommy or Reece on any given night is an extra weapon to have.”
Whether or not the Eagles get the win on Saturday night Merritt against the BCHL’s cellar-dwelling Centennials to officially clinch their spot in the playoffs, a post-season berth out of the Mainland Division now seems inevitable for Surrey. For the youngest team in the league this season, that’s taking care of the regular season’s biggest challenge. On Sunday afternoon, the Eagles will look for another two points when the Salmon Arm Silverbacks, solid playoff contenders in the midst of a crowded Interior Division, provide the opposition on Surrey’s annual ‘Star Wars Night’ at the South Surrey Arena.
