AJHL final: Eagles resilience pays off on the road

Talk to any Canmore Eagles’ fan before the Inter Pipeline Cup final against the Whitecourt Wolverines began and a split on the road was their best expectation.

The players had other ideas and headed home after two games in Whitecourt with a 2-0 lead in this Alberta Junior Hockey League best-of-seven championship series.

Canmore followed up its opening game 3-1 victory on Friday (April 17) with a determined 3-2 win on Saturday. The Eagles have now posted eight consecutive victories in these playoffs.

Each time Canmore took the lead in Saturday’s game, Whitecourt would answer back until they didn’t as the Eagles defenders (led again by their goaltender Alex Scheiwiller) put up a robust defence to seal the victory, take command of the series, and  put the Wolverines in the position of must win at the Canmore Recreation Centre, where the next two games will be contested.

Whitecourt’s Xander Schulte had his team playing on the backfoot for much of the back half of the first period when he was tapped for a pair of double minor penalties – the only penalties the Wolverines would take in this game. That allowed Easton Milne (5th goal of the playoffs) to score a power-play goal at 12:12 on the first of those four power plays. The rookie forward scored his second goal of this series as he stood unopposed in front of the goal and redirected Lutic’s pass from the right-wing face-off dot.

Whitecourt may have considered themselves fortunate to only trail by one goal entering the second period. Schulte (6) would redeem himself at 15:06 of the middle frame when he scored on the third and final power-play afforded to the Wolverines, firing the puck along the ice and inside the right-side post off a pass to the slot from Kyle Tucker.

It would be a thrilling third period.

Canmore reclaimed the lead at 2:32 thanks to an unlikely source. Defenceman Conor Watson, who scored just four times in the regular season, notched his first goal of the playoffs with an end-to-end rush. The rookie from Weymouth, Mass, carried the puck out of his own zone, sped up the left-wing boards, cut in at the goal line, and sent the puck toward the net, where it deflected off Wolverines goaltender Elliott Pratt and in.

Jalen Bianchet (6) made his presence felt in the series at 9:43, scoring off a rebound following a perfectly executed play involving the AJHL MVP and his linemates. The sequence began with Bianchet moving the puck at centre ice to Tyler Pretty, who then fed Kyle Tucker from below the left-side goal line. Tucker’s shot was stopped by Scheiwiller, but the rebound dropped right to Bianchet, who buried it while positioned between two Eagles defenders.

The deadlock lasted just two minutes before Aidan Tkachuk (4) netted what stood as the game-winner. Cohen Daoust carried the puck down the left-wing boards and fed it inside to Tkachuk, who stepped around a defender and lifted a short side shot over Pratt’s right pad.

It was then all hands, sticks and torsos to the defence as the Eagles repelled the Wolverines’ attacks for the final eight minutes, with the home side only able to get an extra attacker (pull the goalie) for 20 seconds.

Canmore outshot Whitecourt 29-28, marking the first time the Eagles have outshot an opponent since Game 6 of their first-round series against the Calgary Canucks.

Canmore has won all four games in Whitecourt this season, which includes two regular-season clashes. Now the Eagles come home, but it might be far from comfortable as the Wolverines won both regular-season games contested at the CRC. The games are Tuesday, April 21, and Wednesday, April 22, with 7 p.m. start times.

Game 1 – Canmore 3 at Whitecourt 1

(Canmore leads series 1-0)

Game 2 – Canmore 3 at Whitecourt 2

Game 3 – Whitecourt at Canmore, Tuesday, April 21 (Canmore Recreation Centre, 7 p.m.)

Game 4 – Whitecourt at Canmore, Wednesday, April 22 (Canmore Recreation Centre, 7 p.m.)

(if necessary)

Game 5 – Canmore at Whitecourt, Saturday, April 25 (JDA Place, 7 p.m.)

Game 6 – Whitecourt at Canmore, Tuesday, April 28 (Canmore Recreation Centre, 7 p.m.)

Game 7 – Canmore at Whitecourt, Friday, May 1 (JDA Place, 7 p.m.)

OVERTIME: The eight-game winning streak by Canmore is the longest such streak in franchise history – regular season or playoffs – since Jan. 31 through Feb. 9, 2017.  If there is a longer winning streak for this franchise, the information is not currently available. … The Eagles are now 10-2 in these playoffs. … Lutic leads all playoff scorers with 15 points (6G-9A). … Scheiwiller has been in goal for all 10 of Canmore’s victories and has a 2.30 goals-against average and a .934 save percentage as well as two shutouts. … Playoff tickets and 50/50 draw tickets are on sale on the Canmore Eagles website: canmoreeagles.ca. … You can also join the crowd at Patrino’s restaurant for game day watch parties or follow the Canmore Eagles at home throughout the playoffs with your local broadcast team – Russ Ullyot (play-by-play) and Zach Amin (analyst) – at flohockey.tv.