The Chilliwack Chiefs will play a do-or-die game on home ice today as they try to stay alive in the BCHL playoffs.
The junior A club lost 4-3 in Surrey Saturday night, taking their first-round best-of-seven with the Eagles to a seventh game that will start at 6 p.m. at the Chilliwack Coliseum.
The good news for the Chiefs is that they’re 3-0 at home in this series, including a pair of shutout wins.
But the South Surrey Arena, that’s been a different story all year. Chilliwack is now 0-7 in the home of the Eagles, counting playoffs and regular season.
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Surrey was full marks for the game six win, out-shooting Chilliwack 46-28.
The Chiefs got off to a fast start in period one, with goals by Ethan Bowen and Brett Willits staking them to a 2-0 lead 9:16 into the match.
Surrey’s Gabe Schovanek cut that advantage in half at 18:14 and Carter King tied the game at 2-2 5:57 into the middle frame.
But when Chilliwack’s Kyle Penney collected his fourth goal of this series at 17:27, set up by Willits, the Chiefs carried a one goal lead into the third period.
The Eagles out-shot Chilliwack 12-5 in the final 20 minutes as they pushed for the equalizer and winning goal.
Schandor provided the first at 4:52 and Christian Fitzgerald produced the second at 16:20.
The Chiefs pulled goalie Mathieu Caron with 1:16 to play, but couldn’t put another puck past Surrey stopper Thomas Scarfone.
The three stars were Fitzgerald (first), Schandor (second) and Willits (third).