Milne lifts Eagles into South Division lead

Digging into Canmore’s coal-mining past, one local-born Canmore Eagle gave his team a valuable boost on Saturday night.

Rookie Easton Milne – yes, the son of the Alberta Junior Hockey League team’s general manager and head coach, Andrew, so now we have that out of the way – not only recorded his first junior A-level goal but also a hat trick in mining his team a much-needed 5-2 victory over the visiting Camrose Kodiaks.

Camrose had taken Friday night’s opening act of this annual weekend doubleheader at the Canmore Recreation Centre 5-4 in overtime.

All three of Milne’s goals merited heritage-inducing recollections, digging through the rundle rock of bodies in front of the net to poke at the coal-coloured puck and light the lamp. In the process, the 17-year-old secured his team a bountiful three out of a possible four weekend points, ended a four-game losing streak and put the Eagles, who improved to 7-6-1-0 for 15 points, into first place in the South Division.

The Eagles were able to reach first place in the division after forcing overtime on Friday, overcoming a 4-1 deficit in the third period, only to lose out on the win when the Kodiaks scored a power-play goal 40 seconds into the extra period.

It is a tight divisional race after the opening six weeks, with the Eagles a single point ahead of the Calgary Canucks (7-5-0-0), Drumheller Dragons (6-4-0-2) and Camrose (7-7-0-0).

Canmore next plays Saturday, Nov. 1 in Calgary, 5 p.m., Max Bell Arena.

Despite a quick start and a third-period rally, Canmore had to settle for single point – and first dropped point at home after three wins – on Friday night.

John Szabo (5th goal) scored just 13 seconds into the contest but then the Eagles gave up four consecutive goals to trail 4-1 after 40 minutes.

Camrose got first-period goals by AJ Schaaf (9) and Tyson Murray (3), then added two more goals in the second period on shots by Liam Payne (5) and Junshi Hideshima (7).

The Eagles rallied to tie the game in the third period. Szabo (6) scored his second goal at 4:55 followed by Keegan De Sa with his first goal of the season at 10:55. Aidan Tkachuk (8) knotted the contest at 16:40 when he got to rebound off a Cohen Daoust shot.

A slashing penalty in the final few seconds of regulation time to Owen Mastroianni provided Camrose a man advantage to start the five-minute overtime. Bowen Grycan scored with a long shot under the crossbar just 40 seconds into the five-minute session, giving the visitors the victory.

Canmore outshot Camrose 48-42, putting up season-high shots for the first and third periods of 16 and 18, respectively. Even the 14 shots the Eagles took in the third period were a season high against for the Kodiaks for a middle period and repeated on Saturday. The 48 shots also tied the Eagles’ season-high output with the other season-high performance coming in a 9-4 win over the Olds Grizzlys on Sept. 23.

In goal for the Kodiaks – and keeping his team in this game through the opening two periods – was Connor Knorr (2W-3L/4.74GAA/.865S-Pct.). In goal for Canmore was Hudson Sedo (3-2/3.79/.886).

On the power play, Canmore was 1-for-5 and Camrose went 2-for-4.

Despite playing at the same time as the Toronto Blue Jays opening World Series game, the Eagles had 779 fans in attendance.

Milne had the hat trick and Daoust ended his four-game scoreless skid with two goals to go to 12 on the season, including four game-winning goals, and into second in league scoring with 21 points.

Milne had the lone first-period goal then added to the Eagles’ lead with a power-play goal 8:53 of the second period. Doust would then score twice in the period – the first coming on the power play as the Eagles led 4-1 after 40 minutes.

Alex Schweiller (4-5/3.34/.905) lost his shutout bid 17:45 of the second period when Tyson Murray (4) placed a low shot short side, off the right post during a 2-on-1 rush.

Milne completed his hat trick with another power-play goal at 7:48 of the third period.

The Canmore power-play had been sputtering during their four-game (three regulation losses and the overtime defeat) losing skid – going just 3-for-19 – went 3-for-7 in Saturday’s victory.

Adrien Fox (3) got one more goal back for the Kodiaks at 13:29 of the third period.

Canmore outshot Camrose 36-27 with Spencer Michnik (5-4/3.60/.882) in goal for the Kodiaks.

Camrose, which boasts the league’s best power play (38.9 per cent entering the game) was held off the scoresheet on four chances.

Camrose’s Junshi Hideshima saw his 13-game points streak (15 games if last-season included) ended in the loss. He had recorded seven goals and 14 assists since the start of the season. Tullikopf had his seven-game points streak (6G-1A) come to an end with his early dismissal game misconduct for a fight with Eagles defenceman Landon Scott midway through the third period.

It was another great crowd at the Canmore Recreation Centre with 730 fans in attendance.

This was the 27th doubleheader weekend between the two teams and 11th split, with each team having swept the weekend set eight times.

OVERTIME: The first of two games in Banff this season takes place Wednesday, Nov. 5 versus the Grande Prairie Storm, 7 p.m., Fenlands Recreation Center. It is the Eagles’ next home game. … Whitecourt Wolverines (10-3-0-0) top both the North Division and overall standings, but one of their losses was a 3-1 home defeat to last-place Olds Grizzlies (3-10-0-0) on Saturday. … All AJHL games can be viewed with a flohockey.tv subscription. … The Canmore Eagles are in need of more volunteers – including internet broadcast camera duty – to assist 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.