Eagles finish up road trip with two wins

The Canmore Eagles speedily righted the bus after crashing in the opening contest of a three-games-in-three-days road trip to post a pair of 4-2 wins over the Whitecourt Wolverines on Saturday night and the Drayton Valley Thunder on Sunday afternoon.

Casey Black scored twice and assisted on one goal in Saturday’s come-from-behind win, while Aidan Tkachuk scored once and assisted on two goals in Sunday’s victory.

On Saturday, Whitecourt became the last team to lose a regular-season game after posting five consecutive wins to begin the season. It was Canmore’s first road win of the season after starting the campaign with losses in its first three games away from the Canmore Recreation Centre.

With goals in both games, Cohen Daoust continued his hot start to the season and now eight goals in eight games. The third year forward is second in league scoring with 13 points (8G-5A). Among his goal count are three power-play markers and two game-winning goals.

Tkachuck is tied for third in league scoring with 12 points (6G-6A). Will Lutic is also on 12 points (3G-9A) after picking up two helpers in the win over Whitecourt.

Black is tied for the lead in scoring among defencemen with nine points (3G-6A) from six games played after also picking up an assist in Sunday’s contest.

Canmore’s power play continues to light it up with three man-advantage goals in just five chances over the two games and is 10-for-30 (33.3%) through eight games.

Canmore improved its record to 5-3-0-0 and with 10 points from eight games – the most played by any AJHL team – and is second in the South Division, a single point behind the league-leading Drumheller Dragons (5-1-0-1).

Canmore’s has eight days off, and when they do return to action on Tuesday, Oct. 14 it will be against the Dragons, 7 p.m. at the Canmore Recreation Centre.

For two periods it looked like Whitecourt’s typical shutdown game would put it in position to extend a season-opening, five-game winning streak. The Wolverines took a 1-0 lead with a goal by Brendan Ruskowski (2nd goal of the season) at 2:59 of the second period and had allowed the Eagles just 14 shots through 40 minutes.

Then Black happened. The Canmore captain scored twice in the third period: the first on a point shot on the power play at 50 seconds followed by his second goal when he went to the goal and backhanded a rebound into the open net at 4:09. Black wasn’t finished, as just over eight minutes later he once again slapped the puck from the left point at the goal during another power play with Daoust (7) tipping it into the net. The Eagles were now up 3-1 at 12:24.

When Tkachuk (5th goal) scored at 13:47 it produced the second, four-goal third period in the three games by the Eagles – the other was a come-from-behind 6-4 victory over the Lloydminster Bobcats on Sunday, Sept. 28.

Ruskowski (3) would score his second of the game at 15:26 but the Eagles showed off their own shutdown game — goaltender Alex Scheiwiller making several comeback denying saves – over the final few minutes to get out of town with the two points and put the previous day’s 5-1 loss to the Grande Prairie Storm to begin this road trip well in the rearview mirror.

Whitecourt outshot Canmore 35-30 with Elliot Pratt in goal, except for a 5:42 spell midway through the third period when he had to leave the ice to affect a skate repair. Luke McKechnie stepped into the crease and faced just one shot.

On the power play, Canmore was 2-for-2 while Whitecourt went 0-for-2. The Wolverines are perennially among the least penalized squads.

Sunday’s clash featured two teams that used four-goal, third period rallies to stage come-from-behind victories on Saturday, with Drayton Valley taking down the Calgary Canucks 5-2.

Reid Larson (1) scored his first goal as an Eagle just 23 seconds into the contest, with a long shot that squeaked between the pads of Thunder goaltender Kaden Clegg. A three-year AJHL veteran, Larsen scored just three goals in his previous 67 previous games, which included 20 games and one goal with Drayton Valley last season.

The Thunder would tie this contest at 15:56 when Breken Northgrave (1) sent a long floater that caught Eagle netminder Hudson Sedo out of position.

In the second period, Canmore outshot Drayton Valley 23-4 but managed just one goal.

The Eagles’ power play owned the puck on the two opportunities it was afforded in the period, keeping possession in the offensive zone the entirety of the four minutes. When the Eagles did score it came moments after the second man advantage ended. Daoust (8) extended his goal-scoring streak when he grabbed a loose puck from behind the goal and spun to his left putting in a backhand shot with the Thunder goaltender prone at the far post at 10:56.

In the third period, Eagles’ John Szabo continued an unwanted streak, taking a penalty for the sixth consecutive games (seven minors and one misconduct) since entering the lineup in Game 3 of the season. The lone Thunder power play of the game allowed Avery Watson (2) to score the tying goal at 3:47, a high slot, wrist shot that beat Sedo over his left shoulder.

The Eagles would get the game-winner on a power play at 8:57, although it would come on a rush rather than an offensive-zone setup. Tkachuk collected a Black pass and going up the middle shrugged off both defencemen to put the puck past Clegg. Not noted on the scoresheet, Sedo started the scoring play by collecting the puck in his own zone and moving it forward to Black.

In redemption for taking the Eagles’ lone penalty of the game, Szabo (2) would ensure the Eagles came away with two wins on this three-game road trip with an empty net goal at 19:18.

Canmore outshot Drayton Valley 44-35.

On the power play, Canmore finished 1-for-3 while Drayton Valley was 1-for-1.

OVERTIME: Last season, despite missing the playoffs, Drayton Valley won four of six games with Canmore. … Canmore and Drumheller last met on opening night (Sept. 19) when the hometown Dragons posted a 5-3 victory with September’s AJHL player-of-the-month Bradley Gallo registering three goals and two assists. … Following the home game with Drumheller, the Eagles head back out on road for games in Camrose (Friday, Oct. 17), Bonnyville (Saturday, Oct. 18) and Lloydminster (Sunday, Oct. 19). … Summerside, P.E.I. has been selected to host the 2026 Centennial Cup, May 7-17.  The annual event brings the various top tier Canadian junior A league champions together to decide a national champion, won last spring by the AJHL champion Calgary Canucks. … All AJHL games can be viewed with a flohockey.tv subscription. … The Canmore Eagles are in need of more volunteers to help with game day experiences, email info@canmoreeagles.com for more information on opportunities and game-day perks that come with being part of the Game Day Crew.

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