PHOTO: Jeremy Gordon had the overtime winner to propel the Eagles to a 4-3 overtime victory over the Okotoks Oilers on Thursday night.
NEXT HOME GAME: FRIDAY, NOV. 15 – GRANDE PRAIRIE STORM – 7 PM
It may have been a long time coming, but Canmore Eagle Jeremy Gordon couldn’t have picked a more opportune time to score his first Alberta Junior Hockey League goal on home ice as his solo effort and overtime goal at 4:12 of extra time lifted the Eagles to a thrilling 4-3 victory over the visiting Okotoks Oilers Thursday night at the Canmore Recreation Centre.
With the teams playing three players aside as per AJHL overtime rules, Gordon collected the puck at centre-ice and went solo into the Oiler end, went full circle around the net and headed back out towards the blueline. When the Oiler defenders started drifting towards their bench for a desperately needed line change, Gordon calmy cut back into the middle of the ice to find himself all alone in front of the Okotoks net where he fired a high wrist shot into the top left-hand corner to give the Eagles their seventh win in their last eight games.
“Believe it not, I was thinking offense when I got the puck and things couldn’t have turned out any better,” said a jubilant Gordon afterwards. “It’s a great feeling to contribute and finally score a goal on home ice.”
With the two points gained in the Southern Division standings, the Eagles now sport a record of 13-11-1 and find themselves in third-place, just four points back of the first-place Oilers and Brooks Bandits.
Jordan Revie, who missed the previous three games with an upper body injury, had a goal (6th) and an assist, while Bryan Arneson (8th) and Simon Philp (9th) had the other Eagle goals.
Canmore rookie goaltender Ryan Ferguson improved his overall record to 8-5 stopping 35 of 38 Oiler shots as the Eagles were outshot 38-27 on the night.
Canmore has now defeated the Oilers (13-8-5) three straight times this season, all by one goal margins.
“We weren’t exactly at our best tonight, but we managed to keep it close and we took advantage of our opportunities,” said Eagles Head Coach and General Manager Andrew Milne. “Jeremy has been a real workhorse for us of late, playing both defence and forward, so I’m very happy for him that his hard work has finally paid off. That was a big goal for our hockey club and the two points that we gained in the standings might just make a huge difference for us at the end of the season.”
The Eagles will wrap up their current four-game home-stand on Friday night (Nov. 15) when the Grande Prairie Storm (12-12-2) pay a visit to the Canmore Recreation Centre. Canmore lost to the Storm 4-3 in an overtime shoot-out back on Oct. 19 in Grande Prairie. Game time is 7 PM.