Power play rallies Eagles past Canucks

The saying goes “Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.”

That is exactly what the Canmore Eagles did Saturday afternoon in Calgary in defeating the Canucks 4-3.

Canmore climbed back within a single point of the Alberta Junior Hockey League South Division leaders in what looks to be a season-long battle for supremacy between these two heated rivals. The Eagles (8-6-1-0) are on 17 points while the Canucks (9-6-0-0) are on 18 points.

There are more adversaries close at hand as the week came to a close. The Camrose Kodiaks (8-7-0-0) and Drumheller Dragons (6-7-0-2) are on 16 and 14 points, respectively. All four teams have played 15 games – which puts the quartet past the quarter-pole on the 54-game, regular-season schedule.

At the Max Bell Centre, the home side got off to a quick start.

Calgary opened the scoring on a breakaway goal by Max Sullivan (3), who deked his way around Canmore goaltender Alex Scheiwiller (5-5/3.31/.905) and tucked the puck just inside the left-side post at 7:19.

Then at 12:31, on the power play, Riley Bracko (4) got in tight and flipped the puck over Scheiwiller.

It was a disjointed first period for Canmore, appearing to be on the back foot much of the period.

The second period started much better for the Eagles. Hudson Landmark (4) poked the puck through a bevy of bodies just 2:12 into the frame and past netminder Noah Nelson (6-3/2.79/.920).

At one point in the period, Canmore had outshot Calgary 13-1 and that edge resulted in a pair of power-play goals, the first at 13:01. Reid Larsen (3) was left alone off the right post and had an open net to deposit the puck during the late stages of a 5-on-3.

The Canucks could not stay out of the penalty box and took six minors in the period, which included serving up two 5-on-3 situations in favour of the Eagles. Rookie Easton Milne (4), coming off a hat trick performance in his last outing, scored on the second two-man advantage, tapping in a centring pass at 15:36 from the right-wing corner made by Daoust – who finished the game with two assists and has a team-leading 23 points (12G-11A).

In the third period, Aiden Tkachuk (9) poked in a loose puck at 9:01 after a Calgary defender gloved the puck down in the crease.

The Canucks pulled their goaltender at the start of a power play with 2:28 to play and after a second minor 68 seconds later had a 5-on-3 on which Grant Reid (8) scored with 31 seconds left in the period.

The Eagles would weather the remainder of the high-pressure situation to hold on for a 4-3 victory.

Canmore outshot Calgary 33-27.

On the power play, Canmore went 2-for-9 while Calgary finished 2-for-6.

Canmore next plays Wednesday, Nov. 5 in Banff, 7 p.m., against the North Division Grande Prairie Storm. The Storm begin a four-game southern road trip in Calgary on Tuesday, Nov. 4.

OVERTIME: Canmore began October with a 5-1 loss in Grande Prairie and went 3-5-1-0 for the month, although 2-0-1-0 in limited home games. … The Eagles will play eight games in November, including four consecutive home games beginning this week. … Game tickets are available at canmoreeagles.com/tickets. … All AJHL games can be viewed with a flohockey.tv subscription. … The Canmore Eagles are in need of more volunteers 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.