The Surrey Eagles erased a two-goal deficit and captain Brett Mulcahy scored the winning goal 8:43 into overtime to beat the host Summerside Western Capitals 5-4 Monday at the RBC Cup.
The win boosted the Eagles’ record at the national junior ‘A’ tournament to a perfect 2-0; they played the Superior International Junior Hockey League’s Minnesota Wilderness Wednesday afternoon, after Peace Arch News’ press deadline.
The Capitals – who last faced off against the BCHL champion Eagles in 1997, the last time Summerside hosted the RBC Cup – were the first to get onto the scoreboard Monday, taking a 1-0 lead when Chris Caissy’s backhand shot from the slot beat Eagles goalie Michael Santaguida.
The lead lasted just seven minutes, however, until Adam Tambellini scored his first of two goals for Surrey.
The middle frame was a wild one, as the teams traded goals midway through the period. Summerside went up 2-1 when J.P. Harvey scored a power-play goal – tipping a point shot from Danny Chiasson – and Surrey’s Trevor Cameron replied two minutes later when he took a pass from Tambellini and rifled a shot past Capitals goalie Kevin Baillie.
With the game tied 2-2, Summerside retook the lead – again, on the power play – when Mitchell Maynard scored. Caissy made it 4-2 late in the period, to put Surrey in a hole heading into the final 20 minutes.
“In the second period, we came unravelled a bit. From the staff on down, we have to do a better job (of keeping) our composure, regardless of what’s going on in the game,” said Eagles coach Matt Erhart.
“We got out of our game, our of our element. We’re a composed team that plays with speed and discipline, and we weren’t disciplined, we weren’t playing with speed and we weren’t composed, and (Summerside) capitalized.
“They made some good plays, scored some nice goals, so full credit to them.”
In the third, the Eagles rebounded, and Devon Toews brought the British Columbians to within one goal when his power-play shot from the right circle beat Baillie, and Tambellini tied the game with 4:25 to go, batting a puck out of mid-air and into the net.
“I thought (Toews) struggled the first two periods. He was jumping some rushes, he took a couple undisciplined penalties, which isn’t like him,” Erhart said. “But we had a little chat, just me and him, and got him a little composed, and he came out with a real fire in his eyes in the third period.”
In overtime, the teams traded chances, and Mulcahy completed the comeback when his shot from a sharp angle found its way into the top corner of the Summerside goal.
“We told the guys on the bench, ‘throw it on net, throw it on net.’ I think it hit a stick and went under the bar,” Erhart said.
“It feels great to get the win.”
Overtime has been kind to the Eagles since the BCHL playoffs began – the team is a perfect 6-0 this post-season in games that go beyond regulation time.
“We’ve got a pretty resilient bunch. we’re not the oldest team, but we’re a confident team, and we’ve got guys who can put pucks in the net,” the coach said.
“It becomes a mentality. We’ve been down a lot in third periods – especially early in the season – and we’ve been able to come back and win. All that experience prepares you for these moments. Guys don’t tense up, guys don’t squeeze their sticks – they just play hockey, and that’s important when you get into overtime.”
In addition to Tambellini’s two goals, the University of North Dakota-bound centre also added two assists, while Caissy and Harvey each had three-point games for the host squad.
“Adam’s Adam. He had his legs going tonight, had his shot going… he was dangerous when he was on the ice,” Erhart said.
Next up for the Eagles is a game today (Thursday) against the Alberta champion Brooks Bandits, who Surrey beat in the finals of the Western Canada Cup earlier this month.
