By: Isabella Urbani PHOTO: Brandon David (BrandonDavidImages)
SURREY – The Surrey Eagles (14-10-3-0) took on the Coquitlam Express (14-9-2-1) for the first of back-to-back games in consecutive nights. Surrey played Coquitlam to a 4-2 win in October last time these two teams met. The Eagles headed into the matchup splitting their recent road trip to Victoria and Cowichan.
The game broke out in the second period in favour of Surrey. After a quiet first period, both teams exchanged penalties. Coquitlam mustered an extra shot to lead in that stat category 12-11 after the opening 20 minutes. Conserving energy for the middle frame, the Eagles took advantage of a Coquitlam hooking penalty to score the first of three goals in the second period.
Cam Russo, whose last three points have been goals, potted his fifth of the season on a one-time blast at the left circle from defenceman Shawn Leary and forward Sihwan Kim. With an assist on the play, both Leary and Kim improved their point streaks to two and four games, respectively. 1-0 Surrey.
Just over 10 minutes later, Kim got on the board once again, sending the Eagles the other way after stealing the puck at the top of the zone. He jammed home his seventh goal of the season, finishing the give-and-go with Cameron Caron to put Surrey up by two. 2-0 Surrey.
Leary’s second goal of the season, with less than a minute remaining in the period, gave the helpers of Surrey’s opening draw their own goal in the same period. Leary roofed the puck glove side off a pass from Ryan Evenhuis and Kim. 3-0 Surrey. Eagles’ goaltender Aidan Fischer was equally as busy, stopping all 16 shots he faced in the second frame to increase his shot total to 28 as Coquitlam once again outshot Surrey, 16-14.
Another three goals were scored in the third period. This time, Coquitlam converted on their fifth power play opportunity of the game, after a fight near the start of the third, to beak Fischer’s shutout streak. 3-1 Surrey.
The Eagles regained their three-goal lead, issuing some return fire on the power play as Yuchan Kong fired a long shot from the point, for this third goal in as many games, beating Express goalie Eric Young five-hole, from Miles Burgin and Hunter Heisten. 4-1 Surrey. With the assist, Burgin extended his point streak to six games — his longest of the season.
Before the end of the game, Surrey would score yet another powerplay goal to seal the deal. Caron picked up his ninth goal of the season, and second point of the night, with a tap-in at the side of the net from Russo for his second point and Kim’s fourth. This is the third time this season the Eagles have scored two powerplay goals and the first time they have scored three. 5-1 Surrey. Shots 15-13 Surrey.
Fischer picked up his third win at home, stopping all but one of Coquitlam’s shots to give Surrey two points over a conference opponent. With a four-goal victory, the Eagles swept the postgame awards. Caron earned the FortisBC Player of the Game with a goal and an assist. Leary picked up the third star with the third goal of the game and an assist on the opening tally. Kim’s four-point performance (1 G, 3 A) was enough for the second star, as Fischer’s 40/41 save performance topped the night.
The Surrey Eagles (15-10-3-0) will take on their third-round opponents from last year’s playoffs, the Alberni Valley Bulldogs (18-8-1-0) for their final home game of 2024. Puck drop is at 7:00 p.m.
