Road tripped
The Canmore Eagles were unable to make up any ground in their playoff positioning chase against the teams in front of them in the Alberta Junior Hockey League South Division standings.
First up was the Drumheller Dragons on Saturday (Jan. 28) where the home team took out a measure of revenge. After losing four previous meetings against the Eagles, the Dragons posted an 8-0 victory.
Ty Daneault had a second-period hat trick and Dylan Glinski scored two goals in the first period. Other goals came from Noah Danielson, Sam Simard and Coy Pighin.
Drumheller outshot Canmore 50-25 with Garrett Fuller earning the shutout victory, while Matthew Malin went the distance for the Eagles.
On the power play, Canmore was 0-for-4 and Drumheller was 2-for-6.
Kodiaks prevail
On Sunday (Jan. 29), Canmore headed up to Camrose with another close contest played against the Kodiaks in this afternoon clash. Unfortunately like the previous four encounters this season, the Eagles would come up short, losing 2-1.
Levi Carter scored on the power play 11:40 into the second period to snap a 1-1 tie. Ty Hodge had given Camrose a 1-0 lead in the first period.
Vincent Scott tied the game just eight seconds into the middle frame, stealing the puck after Camrose won the period-opening faceoff, splitting the defence and firing a wrist shot past a surprised Kodiaks goaltender. For the Canmore captain, it was his team leading 22nd goal and 60th point.
Canmore outshot Camrose 36-34 with Malin in goal for the Eagles and Freddie Halyk for the Kodiaks.
On the power play, Canmore was 0-for-5 and Camrose was 1-for-3.
Three of the five games between these two teams featured just a one-goal difference, with an empty net goal providing Camrose with a two-goal victory cushion in one other game, with a three-goal difference also featuring in the season-long series.
Sunday’s result puts fifth-place Camrose (22-24-2-0) at 46 points and four points up on sixth-place Canmore (19-25-2-2) with each team having 12 games remaining in the regular season.
Drumheller (27-16-3-2) holds down fourth place with 59 points. The Calgary Canucks (16-23-6-2) – defeated by Canmore 4-1 on Tuesday, Jan. 24) – are in seventh place just two points back of the Eagles.
Canmore won four of eight games in a busy January. The Eagles start February with a home game against the eighth-place Olds Grizzlys (13-31-3-0 for 29 points) on Saturday (Feb. 4), 7 p.m. at the Canmore Recreation Centre.