Surrey, BC – On one of the rare nights this season when their top line failed to produce any offense, the Surrey Eagles did just enough to earn two valuable points, with a 2-1 victory over the B.C. Hockey League cellar-dwelling West Kelowna Warriors at South Surrey Arena.
Surrey outshot the visitors 36-10 over the first 40 minutes but were unable to maintain sustained pressure or get many second-chance opportunities against Warriors goalie Johnny Derrick, who was named the game’s third star. Meanwhile, Surrey goalie Tommy Scarfone played his best hockey in the third period as the Warriors fed off two early powerplay advantages and carried the play for most of the period, outshooting the Eagles 15-8. However, they were unable to get the equalizer past the battling, energetic Scarfone, who made a half dozen grade A saves to preserve the lead and the victory.
“I think we created a lot of scoring opportunities off of keeping things simple early,” said Eagles head coach Cam Keith. “We threw a lot of pucks on their net, and I think we were a little snake-bitten at times. [And] I thought Tommy was a little shaky at the start, probably because he didn’t face a lot of shots, but then he settled in and made some big saves for us toward the end.”
“Tonight was a good display of shots but we have to get in tighter and pick corners better. We seem to not have that guy who can bury pucks, other than [leading scorer Holden] Katzalay. Our young guys need to learn how to score at this level. You can’t coach it.”
Center Wyatt Schlaht didn’t need any offensive skill in opening the scoring in the first period, as Derrick made his only mistake and gifted him a goal by catching then dropping a shot from the point in the blue paint for an easy tap-in for Schlaht. West Kelowna, which has been hit hard by injuries this season, equalized six minutes into the second period after a soft pass from high in the slot from John Evans found Max Bulawka behind the Eagles defense and he deftly put a backhand past Scarfone.
With just a little over a minute to go in the second frame West Kelowna’s leading scorer Brandon Dent was guilty of overhandling the puck just inside the Surrey blueline. He was stripped of the puck and Eagles broke out on a three-on-two and diminutive Kenny Riddett converted a nice pass from Brandon Santa Juana for his second goal of the season and the eventual game-winner.
“That was a much-needed two points,” said a relieved coach Keith, whose team surrendered five third-period goals in a losing effort in their previous game. The team now embarks on an eight-game road swing, beginning with two straight in Coquitlam, this Friday and Sunday. Coquitlam not only leads the Mainland Division, but the entire BCHL, and administered a 7-2 whipping of the second-overall Penticton Vees on Wednesday night. “Coquitlam is the best team in the league right now,” noted Keith before quickly adding, “but we’ve played them pretty hard so far. I thought we should have beat them in our home-opener, and we have a win and an overtime loss against them the last two times we played them. They’re a good, experienced team so we’re going to have to play our best hockey to be in it.”
With the win, Surrey pulled within a point of the fourth-place Langley Rivermen and two points of the third-place Prince George Spruce Kings.
Surrey plays in Vernon and Trail next weekend, then make a three-game swing to the Island the following week. Following a game in Langley to finish the demanding stretch of away games, the Eagles will finally return to the South Surrey Arena on December 20 when they play host to the Spruce Kings in the team’s annual Teddy Bear Toss game. Two nights later the Alberni Valley Bulldogs visit The Nest in what will be the final game before the Christmas break for both teams.
