Game one left Langley Chiefs head coach Harvey Smyl fairly happy.
Game two, not so much.
The Chiefs stole home-ice advantage from the Surrey Eagles with a 4-3 victory in game one on Monday night at the South Surrey Arena, with Darnell Dyck snapping a tie with less than eight minutes remaining in regulation.
But on Tuesday night, the Eagles came out flying, leading 3-0 after one period and coasting to a 6-1 win to even the best-of-seven series at a game apiece.
“For the most part, I was happy with the split,” Smyl said on Wednesday.
“(But) disappointed in our play in game two.
“We didn’t play well at all and credit to Surrey, they played well.
“We didn’t provide any sort of push back and they (Surrey) are too good of a team (for us) not to be at our best.”
The teams faced off for game three of the BCHL Coastal Conference semifinal series last night (Thursday) at the Langley Events Centre, with game four scheduled for tonight (Friday), also in Langley.
Game five is back in Surrey on Sunday at 4 p.m.
Matt Ius had a goal and two assists in game one, while Josh Myers and Tim Daly had the others.
In game two, Austin Plevy was the lone Chief to solve Karel St. Laurent.
For the Eagles, it was a pair of Langley Minor Hockey Association doing some damage as both Brad McGowan and Josh Monk had three assists apiece.
McGowan also had a goal and an assist in game one and he leads all post-season scorers with 14 points, one ahead of Ius.
Surrey also went 3-for-9 on the power play in game two.
“We believe we can put up a better fight,” Smyl said.
“We had some defensive breakdowns in our zone and we didn’t have very good communication.”
After making 32 saves in game one, Chiefs goalie Wyatt Galley was pulled after two periods on Tuesday.
Galley made 27 saves on 32 shots before getting the hook in favour of back-up Cole Huggins for the third period.
For a recap of game three, visit www.langleytimes.com.
