Back on even terms

The Canmore Eagles, fueled by the frustrations of an opening night loss and the absence of their lead scorer for Game 2, willed their way to a 3-2 victory over the Calgary Canucks on second night of the Alberta Junior Hockey League playoffs.

Tavynn Hamilton tip-in goal with 51 seconds to play in the second period snapped a 2-2 tie. Then he and his teammates locked down the defensive zone in the third period en route to tying this best-of-seven South Division semifinal series at one win apiece.

Around the league, the similarly positioned Whitecourt Wolverines posted a decisive 7-1 victory on Saturday (March 21) over the Fort McMurray Oil Barons. Both the Eagles and Wolverines are the top seeds in their respective divisions but lost that home-ice advantage in Friday’s first games, with the Eagles losing 5-1 and Wolverines losing 5-3.

Also in the South, the No. 3 Camrose Kodiaks went up 2-0 on the No. 2 Drumheller Dragons with a 2-0 victory. The Kodiaks completed a road sweep with a 2-1 win in Game 1.

In the other North Division series, the hometown Grande Prairie Storm needed overtime again to get past the Lloydminster Bobcats with the 2-1 win giving the No. 2 team in the North a 2-0 lead in the series. Game 1 was a 3-2 overtime victory.

In Canmore, the Eagles entered Game 2 without Cohen Daoust. A 75-point man during the regular season and lone goalscorer in Friday’s loss was given a one-game suspension after being assessed a major penalty for a checking from behind in the final minutes of the loss.

The Eagles grabbed the quick lead when Ryder Dembo tipped in a point shot by Quinn Keeler 70 seconds into the contest. Reid Larson then wired a shot from the left point that sailed into the goal for a power-play marker at 5:11.

Calgary rallied back in the second period with a pair of long-shot goals that beat Canmore goaltender Alex Scheiwiller on his glove side. The first came just 39 seconds into the period from Josh Kelly with the puck flying in over the goaltender’s glove. The second came on the power play at 15:01 from Max Sullivan with the puck dipping under the goaltender’s mitt.

That would set the scene for Hamilton, who was a buzzsaw all game, and worked his way to the front of the net on this shift. Szabo took his time at the left point to measure his shot and put the puck neatly onto Hamilton’s stick and deftly up and over the Calgary goaltender Dimitri Fortin’s right shoulder.

Scheiwiller would stop all 16 shots he faced in the third period and the Eagles held on for a crowd pleasing – with another sellout in the books – victory to even up the series.

Canmore outshot Calgary 34-33, while on the power play, the Eagles went 1-for-5 and the Canucks finished 1-for-4.

Game 3 of the series goes Tuesday, March 24 in the Ken Bracko Arena at the Max Bell Centre. Game time is 7 p.m.

Around the league:

Carter Capton stopped 19 shots and Liam Payne scored both goals as Camrose won both games played in Drumheller. The Kodiaks goaltender has faced only 36 shots over two games and given up just one goal.

Brendan Ruskowski scored four goals with the last three combining for a natural hat trick as Whitecourt evened up its playoff series. Spencer Claerhout had three assists. The back half of this game devolved into a messy affair that took nearly three hours to complete and resulted in 175 total penalty minutes with Fort McMurray taking 122 minutes.

Will Harris scored both Grande Prairie goals, including the game winner at 9:45 of overtime and a 2-0 lead in the series. During the regular season three of six games played between these two teams needed overtime or a shootout to decide a winner – and each time it was the Storm.

All series resume Tuesday.

Game 1 – Calgary 5 at Canmore 2

Game 2 – Calgary 2 Canmore 3

(The series is tied 1-1)

Game 3 – Canmore at Calgary, Tuesday, March 24 (Ken Bracko Arena, 7 p.m.)

Game 4 – Canmore at Calgary, Wednesday, March 25 (Ken Bracko Arena, 7 p.m.)

Game 5 – Calgary at Canmore, Friday, March 27 (Canmore Recreation Centre, 7 p.m.)

(if necessary)

Game 6 – Canmore at Calgary, Sunday, March 29 (Ken Bracko Arena, 5 p.m.)

Game 7 – Calgary at Canmore, Tuesday, March 31 (Canmore Recreation Centre, 7 p.m.)

All games are available for viewing through a Flohockey subscription available online at flohockey.tv or through your Prime Video account.