The Chase Heat went from lukewarm to smoking in back-to-back games over the weekend versus the Sicamous Eagles.
On Friday, Feb. 14, the Eagles gave a Valentine to their fans with a home-ice 5-2 win.
Eagle Devin Gerun was first on the board with a power-play conversion late in the first period, assisted by Nicholas Astasiewicz and Kurtis Coburn. This goal was quickly followed by an unassisted marker by teammate Bradley Whitehead. Sicamous ended the period with a 3-0 lead following a goal at 1:18 by Stephen Hawco, assisted by Colin Blake and Jameson Stoski.
In the second period, the Heat and the Eagles each had 13 attempts on net, but neither team found the back of the net.
Chase’s Connor Venne converted a power play at 15:35 in the third period to put the Heat on the board. However, Eagle Curtis Whitney was able to score on the rebound, assisted by Matthew Maetche and Coburn. Seconds later, the Heat did the same, making the score 4-2 for Sicamous. With 10 seconds left in the game, Gerun sealed the win with another power-play marker, this time from Darien Head and Jayce Davis.
Sicamous goalie Chris Joyce stopped 22 out of 24 shots on net.
On Saturday, it was the Heat’s turn to host the Eagles in what would turn out to be a barn-burner for the home team.
The first frame belonged to the Eagles, who potted three before the Heat could reply with a single. Sicamous’ goals were by Arlyn Semeschuk (unassisted), Owen Rowsell (Head, Riley Jepson) and Hayden Orton (Derek Miskiman, Rowsell).
The Eagles managed to maintain the lead in the second period, with a power-play goal by Hawco preceding a Heat marker near the halfway mark.
Whatever happened or was said in the Heat locker room to inspire the team prior to the third period worked, and worked well. The team hit the ice with a vengeance and was able to score five goals before the final bell, while Chase netminder Jacob Mattes was successful in making sure Sicamous could do no more damage. The end result was a 7-5 win for the Heat.
While the Eagles, with 47 points, sit below the Heat in the Doug Birks Divsion, they have clinched a spot in the playoffs.
Regular season play continues for the Eagles with their next game scheduled for Feb. 19 in Sicamous versus the Kamloops Storm. On Feb. 21, they’ll be in Revelstoke to battle the Grizzlies.
