By: Isabella Urbani PHOTO: Brandon David (BrandonDavidImages)
SURREY – The Surrey Eagles (9-7-0-0) were 1:23 seconds away from winning against one of the league’s best teams before the Chilliwack Chiefs (11-3-2-0) tied the game on the power play. Before the game, the Eagles honoured veterans and first responders with a ceremonial puck drop, complete with a bagpipe performance from Mike Chisholm.
In their first meeting of the season, Chilliwack’s leading goal scorer Mateo Mrsic gave the visitors the edge late in the first period with the shots 16-9 in favour of the Chiefs. The Eagles had a strong second period, scoring the only two goals of the frame, and limiting Chilliwack to 10 shots compared to the Eagles’ nine.
Surrey’s first goal was scored shorthanded by Ryan Evenhuis after defenceman Jonathan Lanza headed to the box for a hooking penalty. Evenhuis roofed the equalizer for his fourth goal of the season after picking the pocket of a Chilliwack player following a clear on the penalty kill from linemate and fellow penalty killer Massimo Fazio. 1-1.
Eagle Cameron Caron cashed in on the team’s second power play opportunity of the period after the Chiefs were caught with too many men on the ice four seconds after killing off a roughing penalty. A keep-in by captain Jackson Anderson to start the man advantage allowed the Eagles to establish control down low as Fazio worked the puck from behind the net to defenceman Yuchan Kong at the nearside boards. Kong hit Caron backdoor for his second goal of the season, giving Surrey their first lead. 2-1 Surrey.
Eagles’ leading goal scorer Brady Kudrick boosted Surrey’s power play from 50% to 66% with his 11th goal of the season assisted by defenceman Ryan White and forward Sihwan Kim. 3-1 Surrey. But after extending the lead to two, the rest of play remained in Surrey’s zone as Chilliwack put 21 shots on net on Eagles’ goalie Maddox Osaka.
The Chiefs cut the lead in half with just over 11 minutes remaining in the third with a goal from forward Connor Dick. 3-2 Surrey. A holding penalty taken by the Eagles with less than three minutes to go effectively put Chilliwack on the power play for the remainder of the game. With 1:53 seconds remaining in the third, Chilliwack pulled their goalie to give them a 6 on 4 advantage with forward Caleb Malhotra tying the game at three.
Like the Eagles did to start the third, the Chiefs scored their third unanswered goal, stealing a win from the Eagles and Osaka, who faced 50 shots. 4-3 Chilliwack. Shots 50-26 Chilliwack.
Evenhuis picked up the FortisBC Energy Player of the Game with his goal, while Osaka picked up the third star, nearly holding off the comeback from one of the league’s best teams.
The Eagles (9-7-1-0) will be back at home to take on their second-round opponents from last year’s playoffs, the Victoria Grizzlies (10-5-2-0) on Friday, November 15. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
