After a busy stretch last week that saw the Surrey Eagles play four games in six nights – winning twice – the BC Hockey League team is back on the move this weekend.
On Saturday, the Eagles travel to Vancouver Island for a road tilt against the Nanaimo Clippers, after which they’ll board a ferry home in order to face off against the visiting Alberni Valley Bulldogs Sunday afternoon at South Surrey Arena; puck drop is 4 p.m.
The Eagles were on the road last week, too – first for a Jan. 17 game against the Powell River Kings that they won 4-0, and a day later, in Victoria, for a game against the Grizzlies, which the home side won 8-5.
After two days off, the Eagles lost a 4-1 decision to the Langley Rivermen at South Surrey Arena on Jan. 21, but exacted a measure of revenge a day later, with a 5-1 win over their nearby rivals.
In the victory, Surrey peppered Langley netminder Jameson Kaine with 34 shots on goal, and staked themselves to a 4-0 lead before the Rivermen got on the board with a goal of their own.
Jacob Slipec unleashed a bullet to open the scoring on Saturday in our 5-1 win over Langley. His snipe is your @uptownbusmach play of the game! #SoarWithUs pic.twitter.com/VjZbuTUPzD
— Surrey Eagles (@SurreyEagles) January 26, 2022
In the first period, Jacob Slipec, Ante Zlomislic and Primo Self each scored for the Birds, and Michael Abgrall – the team’s leading scorer – scored just 1:11 into the second period to extend the lead. Andrej Kovacevic scored a power-play goal for Langley to make it 4-1, but Abgrall added his second of the game, and his 19th of the season, four minutes later to re-establish the Eagles’ four-goal cushion, which stood until the final buzzer.
“I thought we played a complete game. We had four lines which were contributing in a way where you couldn’t really tell which line was which,” Surrey head coach Cam Keith said.
“Everyone was playing a safer style of game where we kept pucks to the outside and played honest hockey. It’s the type of hockey we need to play moving forward which will gear us up for playoffs.”
After the 4-1 loss the day before – in which Grayden Slipec had the Eagles’ lone goal – Keith said the game came down to one team capitalizing on its chances, and other not.
“One of those games where a bounce one way or the other could’ve gave the other team an advantage. We didn’t capitalize on our chances and they did,” he said.
After this weekend’s two games, the Eagles are back at home for three to begin the February portion of their schedule – they’ll host Langley Feb. 4 and the Nanaimo Clippers on Feb. 5 and 6.
sports@peacearchnews.com
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