SURREY - The Surrey Eagles continued their better form after beating the Coquitlam Express 4-3 in overtime on Sunday (Oct. 19) at the South Surrey Arena.
Chase McMurphy, captain and the game's first star, scored the winning goal three minutes and 16 seconds into the extra period with Joseph Drapluk getting the assist.
Blaine Neufeld, head coach of the Eagles, said the team has made changes since the tough start to the season.
"We've been working on different things," he said. "Our transition game was better today and working harder offensively and more as a unit has caused the shot total to come down a bit."
Following the win, Neufeld was impressed by what his team showed on the ice.
"We did a good job establishing what we wanted to do," the coach said. "Our mentality was to get pucks in deep and go to work."
The home team started on the front foot, scoring in the opening two minutes of the game from a Darius Davidson goal, but the Express tied it up in the final 30 seconds of the first period via Daniel Fritz.
The game got feisty at the buzzer with Surrey's Brain Drapluk and Coquitlam's Joey Santucci picking up penalties after teams exchanged words in front of the benches.
Neufeld said the second period was very similar to the first with the Eagles scoring first.
Ben Vikich scored his fifth goal of the year and put Surrey up 2-1 with 12 minutes left in the period.
With a second remaining in the frame, the Express equalized on the power play thanks to Daniell Lange.
The third period saw Coquitlam take the lead for the first time after Brett Supinski scored four minutes after the break.
As well as getting the assist on the overtime goal, Joseph Drapluk scored the game-tying goal three minutes after the Eagles conceded.
The Eagles will play the Express at home in their next match on Friday (Oct. 24). The puck drops at 7 p.m. "Whenever you get these back-toback games, you kind of get to know the other team very quickly. It's going to be interesting start Friday night," Neufeld added.
The Eagles Joseph Drapluk and Darius Davidson were named the second and third stars of the game.