The Calgary Canucks rallied for four unanswered goals in the final 30 minutes of last night’s Alberta Junior Hockey League game at the Max Bell Arena to hand the Canmore Eagles a stunning 4-3 loss before an announced crowd of 224 fans.
Canmore came out flying to take a seemingly commanding 3-0 lead by the 14 minute mark of the first period and held leads of 3-0 after 20 minutes, and 3-1 after two periods.
The comeback by the Canucks marked the first time this year that the Eagles have lost a game in regulation when leading after two periods.
With the loss, the Eagle’s record falls to 22-16-3, while the last-place Canucks improve their record to 11-26-2.
“Last night’s game was a very harsh and an embarrassing lesson,” said Eagle's Head Coach and General Manager Andrew Milne, whose club will play in Drumheller on Thursday (Jan. 9) and entertain Drayton Valley on Friday (Jan. 10). “I have absolutely nothing good to say about the game. I can’t remember the last time that we had the entire team play, from top to bottom, that poorly and selfishly. A quick turn-around is probably a good thing for us, as we don’t have much time to dwell about it. We must move on and prepare for a tough weekend ahead.”
Ryley Risling (2nd), Brett Radford (2nd) and Luke Simpson (15th) had the Eagle goals, while goaltender Cam Barnes (7-9-1) took the loss stopping 33 of 37 Canuck shots. Canmore outshot the Canucks by a margin of 38-37.
