Surrey, BC – The Surrey Eagles (20-17-0) looked to build some momentum in their first February game of the season on Friday night against the Coastal Conference leading Langley Rivermen (24-8-3). Yet despite playing one of their best games of the season, Surrey’s offense was couldn’t capitalize on their chances in a tough 1-0 loss against Langley.
Ajeet Gundarah was the story of the game for Langley, as he made 27 saves to earn his 3rd shutout of the season against the high flying Eagles offense. Joseph Messina had the only goal of the game in the 3rd period after Surrey generated a number of quality chances in the first 40 minutes. Both teams went 0 for 1 on the powerplay, and the shots were 27-26 in favour of the Eagles. Despite the loss, Max Prazma was terrific in the game for Surrey with the lone blemish against him being the difference.
Yet, despite the low event game Eagles Head Coach Cam Keith was ultimately proud of how his team matched up against the top team in the Coastal Conference. “You gotta give props to both goalies tonight. It was one of those games where they were dulling back and forth and making great saves. It was a tough, hard fought tight checking playoff style hockey game.”
The Eagles looked dangerous throughout the game, and while it seemed almost inevitable they would eventually capitalize on their chances, a goal never came for this young Surrey roster. In the post-game, Cam focused on his team’s process which continued to look strong as the season rolled along. “I mean, we’re focused on the process and not the result. We stuck to our game plan and tried to find different ways to create offense against a very good defensive team. I thought we did that tonight, we had some good looks and just couldn’t cash in. Some nights we might not create the same but we’ll get more results, so I’m happy the process was there tonight.”
Despite the loss, tonight’s game should help this group moving forward in which Surrey showed they can compete with any team in this conference on any given night. That mindset and their process will help the Eagles as they continue down the stretch. “I think it’s a game which was a measuring stick game where we believe we can compete with any team in this conference. That says a lot to our group and the loss will motivate us to be better the next time we play them.”
The Eagles will continue their home stand tomorrow night as they’ll host the Nanaimo Clippers for the first of a back to back inside the South Surrey Arena. Puck drop is slated for 7:00pm, and you can purchase your tickets online right from 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.
