By: Isabella Urbani PHOTO: Brandon David (BrandonDavidImages)
SURREY – The Surrey Eagles (6-4-0-0) hosted the visiting Spruce Grove Saints (2-6-1-0) on Halloween Night, looking to extend their longest winning streak to four games. The two teams kicked off their first meeting in British Columbia Hockey League history against each other in fiery fashion, with remnants of amber that reignited during the second and third periods.
Spruce Grove got the game’s early jump, seeing Carson Lloyd’s first goal of the season for the opposition, walking in from the half-circle after faking a shot at the point. 1-0 Spruce Grove. Surrey countered with a goal from Jagjeevan Phangura who was fed in the slot by a beautiful backhand pass from Cameron Caron, who was pinned behind the Saints net by a Spruce Grove defender. 1-1 tie.
A nice passing play on a rush into Surrey’s zone resulted in Ryan Johnstone restoring the Saints’ one-goal lead. 2-1 Spruce Grove. Matheson Mason made the Eagles pay for an icing, winning the offensive faceoff, hanging around by the outskirts of the net, and jamming home the loose puck. 3-1 Spruce Grove. Shots 15-12 Spruce Grove.
The goals continued to come in the second period, with all but one being scored with the man advantage. Massimo Fazio brought the Eagles to within one after reloading in the bumper to fire home the pass Yuchan Kong threaded him. 3-2 Spruce Grove. The Saints returned the favour with their own power-play goal from Max Seguin, whose backhand effort rolled around in the crease before it trickled in. 4-2 Spruce Grove.
While power-play goals were exchanged on minor penalties taken by either team, the penalties started to amass later in the period. On the first of three occasions, twice in the third period, a skirmish broke loose resulting in five players on the ice being sent to the box. Cole Kronewitt of the Saints and Charlie Derrheim of the Eagles, in particular, were given game misconducts and five-minute majors, resulting in their removal from the game.
Amidst an action-packed second, Spruce Grove capitalized for the game’s final goal after a sneaking Josh Polak was set up at the front of the net from a pass below the goal line. 5-2 Spruce Grove. Shots 14-9 Surrey. While the scoring came to a close in the third period, tempers were still flaring between the two teams, resulting in two more game misconducts for fighting to Spruce Grove’s Austin Peters and Surrey’s Dean Toskos.
The final moments of the game continued to be shadowed by the ever-increasing physicality, as just a handful of players were left to exit the bench when the final horn went.
Captain Jackson Anderson picked up the third star after recording an assist on both Surrey’s goals. Meanwhile, Caron was voted the FortisBC Energy Player of the Game with one assist. Eagles’ goalie Jaiden Sharma finished the game 33/38, while Spruce Grove goalie Ryan De Kok turned aside 37/39 shots.
The Eagles (6-5-0-0) are back in action on the first of next month against the Langley Rivermen (6-3-1-1) with puck drop slated for 7:00 p.m
