By: Isabella Urbani PHOTO: Brandon David (BrandonDavidImages)
SURREY – It was a big night at South Surrey Arena as the Surrey Eagles (7-7-0-0) picked up a 5-4 decision over the Langley Riverman (7-5-2-1) on the highly anticipated Punjabi Night. Players switched out their regular home jerseys for a custom orange trim to commemorate the evening. The red carpet was also rolled out for a list of honoured dignitaries for the game’s honourary puck drop, including mixed martial artist, and former ONE Heavyweight World Champion, Arjan Bhullar and Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke.
The occasion also marked the first of two meetings against each other this month. Surrey last split two games (1-1) against Langley back in September. The Eagles began the opening period notching two goals, getting off to a good start in front of an excited crowd of 1,240 despite playing their fourth game in a week.
Massimo Fazio’s fifth goal of the season, assisted by Ryan Evenhuis and Cameron Caron, beat Langley goaltender Bodee Weiss from the bottom of the circle to open the scoring. 1-0 Surrey. The lead was extended to two by the help of the same three Eagles players. This time with Caron as the goalscorer, picking up his first of the season, on the power play, by Evenhuis and Fazio. 2-0 Surrey.
The Eagles’ insurance marker was wiped out by Langley’s Mason Kesselring, who slid it five-hole after a Surrey clear was blocked by the Rivermen who went to the attack down low. 2-1 Surrey.
Surrey closed out the opening frame with another power-play goal after Langley took their fourth penalty of the period. The team’s leading scorer Brady Kudrick tucked it home glove side for his 10th of the season after a beautiful backhand pass from Gavin Rocha at the side of the net. 3-1 Surrey. Shots 12-11 Surrey.
Jagjeevan Phangura notched his fourth goal of the season from Miles Burgin just over two minutes into the second period. 4-1 Surrey. This also ended the night for Weiss, who stopped 11/15 shots before being replaced by Charlie Tritt.
While fewer goals were scored in the second period, the game’s physicality only increased, amounting to a fight between Surrey’s Savek Brar and Langley’s Austin Borggaard. The fight happened 14 seconds after the Phangura goal, as Borggaard hung around the net following a save from Eagles’ goalie Maddox Osaka, starting in his third consecutive game.
A goal by Langley’s Ryan Schelling, the Rivermen’s first of three power-play goals on the night, would cut the Eagles’ lead to two. 4-2 Surrey. The Eagles dominated the second period, outshooting their opponent by 11, bringing the shot total to 27-15 through 20 minutes of play.
Evenhuis’ third goal of the season, and first of the third period, completed the “stat-trick” for himself and linemates Caron and Fazio, who all scored in the game and assisted on each other’s goals. 5-2 Surrey.
The third period swung drastically in favour of Langley who put up 16 shots in comparison to Surrey’s six, scoring on both power play opportunities they were given to bring the score to 5-4 with 38 seconds to go. However, Surrey fought off Langley’s last-ditch attempt to score with the extra man, picking up their second win in a row, and improving their record against Langley this season to 2-1-0-0. Shots 33-31 Surrey.
The line of Caron, Fazio, and Evenhuis cleaned up the post-game acknowledgements for the Eagles. Fazio and Caron picked up the first and second stars, respectively, while Evenhuis earned the FortisBC Energy Player of the Game. Osaka picked up his second win of the season, going 27/31.
The Eagles (8-7-0-0) will be back in a week on Friday, November 8 to take on the best team in their conference, the Chilliwack Chiefs (11-3-2-0). Puck drop is at 7:00 p.m.
