PHOTO: Canmore goaltender Ryan Bontorin was outstanding in the Eagle net on Saturday night as the Eagles upset the Camrose Kodiaks 4-2 at the Canmore Recreation Centre. (photo courtesy of Pam Doyle)
UPCOMING GAMES
Canmore at Olds Grizzlys – Tuesday, Jan. 12 – 7 PM
Calgary Canucks at Canmore – Friday, Jan. 15 – 7 PM
Canmore goaltender Ryan Bontorin stopped 46 of 48 Camrose shots to lead the Eagles to a chaotic 4-2 victory over the Camrose Kodiaks in Alberta Junior Hockey League action on Saturday night at the Canmore Recreation Centre.
The victory, before 483 fans, snapped a five-game losing streak for the Eagles and gave them a split in the annual back-to-back home weekend series against Camrose as the Kodiaks took Game One on Friday night by a 6-4 margin.
Both games were fast paced, hard-hitting and penalty filled.
In Saturday night’s Eagle victory, more than 100 penalty minutes were assessed and the teams combined for 21 power-play opportunities. Canmore capitalized for three powerplay goals on 12 opportunities, while the Kodiaks had one powerplay goal on 10 opportunities.
The Eagles were outshot 48-26 on Saturday night and relied on an outstanding performance from goaltender Bontorin and solid penalty killing to upset the Kodiaks.
The victory improves the Eagles overall record to 19-17-4, good enough for fourth-place in the AJHL Southern Division standings with 42 points. The Kodiaks remain in second-place with a record of 28-9-3 and 59 points.
Canmore received their goals from Brett Radford (16th), Ryley Risling (3rd), Logan Ferguson (12th) and Jake Ashton (5th).
“Tonight we had a great effort defensively, starting with our goalie,” said Eagles Head Coach and General Manager Andrew Milne. “The entire defensive crew were awesome tonight. Our special teams and defensive game won the game for us. Overall we played well for five out of the six periods this weekend against one of the best teams in the league and we showed a lot of character. These were two hard fought games and we stood our ground. We should be able to build some positive momentum going forward.”
NOTEBOOK: In his four games since re-joining the Eagles following the Christmas break, forward Ryley Risling has certainly had an immediate impact scoring three powerplay goals and adding an assist. . . After playing five games in eight nights to open the 2016 portion of the schedule, Canmore will play three games in the seven nights with an away game in Olds on Tuesday, Jan. 12 before returning home next weekend for a pair of games against the Calgary Canucks (Friday, Jan, 15) and the Spruce Grove Saints (Sat. Jan. 16) . . . The Eagles have just nine home games remaining on their regular season schedule.