Port Coquitlam, BC – The Surrey Eagles (22-20-0) looked to make up some ground in the Coastal Conference on Saturday night against the Coquitlam Express (12-23-5) in a rare game held inside the Port Coquitlam Community Centre. The new environment may have been a distraction for Surrey, as the Eagles started slow and never recovered in a 6-4 loss against the Express.
It was a wild first period to begin the game which saw the Express score a powerplay goal to go along with two short-handed goals, while Surrey scored two powerplay goals of their own from Primo Self and Grayden Slipec and kept things interesting through twenty minutes. It was a rough period for Eagles starter Max Prazma, who was pulled after the first period after he allowed four goals on sixteen shots.
Not a lot happened in the second period, but in the third the Eagles got another goal on the board to make it 4-3 when Trent Wilson scored on a breakaway. The Eagles looked great, and were poised to pot an equalizer but Christian MacDougall put the Express up again by two with a shot off a face-off halfway through the third. The Eagles never relented, and made it close when Michael Abgrall scored on the powerplay again with just over two minutes remaining in the 3rd. The Express scored an empty netter to seal the game in the end in an extremely close game. Eli Pulver was terrific in relief, and only gave up one goal on twenty shots against.
Eagles Head Coach Cam Keith was happy with his team’s no quit effort, but lamented another slow start for the Eagles who lost their second game in a row. “Slow start tonight really hurt us. We chased the game from the 2nd period on and tried to come back. The guys showed a lot of heart towards the end but our first period start killed us.”
It was a strange game where special teams are concerned, as the Eagles were able to go 3 for 4 with the man advantage but gave up two shorthanded goals and a powerplay goal in the game as well. When asked about the strange night, Cam was happy with the way his powerplay moved the puck but acknowledged the failure to manage it well. “It was one of those games where a lot of different things potentially distracted the guys which led to the two short-handed goals. The powerplay moved the puck well and created some scoring opportunities. Both of those short-handed goals were a big factor in our loss tonight.”
Surrey could’ve gave up after the way the game began, but the boys hung in there and nearly tied it up on three separate occasions in the final 40 minutes. The effort level in the final two periods is the positive to take out of the game in the eyes of the head coach, who believes tonight’s comeback effort could seep into future games. “These are the games where we’re still growing as a team and preparing for playoffs. A no quit effort, no matter what the score is, will always bleed into the next game. We’re focusing on the process, not the results and our guys did that tonight and we’ll take that positive.”
The Eagles will get a rematch on Sunday afternoon inside the South Surrey Arena where they’ll look for some revenge. Puck drop is slated for 4:00pm, and tickets are still available on our website. If you can’t make it to the game, you can catch all the action on BCHL TV (Powered by HockeyTV) and on mixlr.com/eaglesbchl.
