For the 2nd time in less than a week, the Canmore Eagles and the Calgary Canucks battled on the ice. Last Tuesday (Dec. 10), the Eagles easily dispatched the Canucks 8-1 at the Canmore Rec Centre. Tonight at the Ken Bracko Arena in Calgary, it was a much tighter game, but the Eagles got the same outcome as on Tuesday as they picked up a 5-2 win. The victory allows the Eagles to improve their record 12-18-4 for 28 points and they also move within 5 points of the Camrose Kodiaks for 4th place in the AJHL South Division. The Kodiaks lost their game to the Sherwood Park Crusaders earlier today.
It was the Canucks who struck first with Christiano Aiello scoring at 6:15 of the 1st period. The Eagles answered back at 10:14 on a power-play goal from 16-year-old rookie Tristan Zandee who?s been hot lately. It was his 8th goal of the season with Lane Paddison and Dylan Witzke assisting. The Eagles had some good chances to take the lead, but they couldn?t find the back of the net and instead, it was the Canucks who regained the lead on a goal from Jason Chu with only 1 second left in the period.
The Eagles didn?t let that goal derail them, as Owen Reith tied the game at 9:28 of the 2nd period. It was his 7th of the season with Mitchell Watson and Brent Schuldhaus assisting. Then at 14:41, the Eagles took their first lead of the game on Max Giangualano?s 4th goal of the season. Cale Lyons and Tayler Miller assisted.
In the 3rd period, the Eagles took control of the game when they added 2 goals both from Defenceman Brent Schuldhaus. His first came at 7:29 from Kazu Prevost and Tristan Zandee and his second was at 11:24 from Connor Lyons and Alex Young. Schuldhaus now has 8 goals and 18 points this season.
The final shots on goal were 43-26 in favour of the Eagles.
?After we gave up that late 1st-period goal, we responded well,? said Eagles Head Coach and General Manager Andrew Milne. “We bent and didn?t break. We did a lot of good things tonight. It?s good to see that different guys contributing to the offence (Zandee, Reith, Giangualano and Schuldhaus) and we can only hope that it will continue going forward.?
It was rookie netminder Devin Chapman who got the start between the pipes and he stopped 24 of the 26 shots he faced. It was his 2nd straight win and he improved his record to 5-7.
The Eagles have now 3 more games to play before the Christmas break.
The Eagles’ next game is a big one, they head to Olds to take on the Grizzlys (7-20-5). The Grizzlys are the team that sits 9 points behind the Eagles in the South Division standings.
The Eagles will also take on the Camrose Kodiaks (15-15-3) on Friday night on home ice, before heading back on the road to take on the Brooks Bandits (33-1-1).