Offence was in no short supply for the Surrey Eagles last week, as the BC Hockey League team split a pair of high-scoring games with the Coquitlam Express.
On Wednesday, the two Mainland Division rivals squared off at South Surrey Arena, with the Eagles prevailing 7-5, but the Express evened the score Friday night at the Poirer Sports and Leisure Centre, winning 9-6.
Friday night’s road tilt got off to a rocky start for the Birds, as Coquitlam pumped four games past Surrey netminder Devon Fordyce in the first five minutes of the game, three of which came off the stick of Joey Santucci.
Not to be outdone, however, the Eagles stormed back with three goals of their own before the first intermission.
Braeden Russell – who led the Eagles with a hat-trick in the contest – scored his first of the game on the power-play at 5:56 of the first period, and in the later stages of the first frame, Joseph Drapluk and Russell, again, scored to bridge the gap to 4-3.
In the second, Russell completed the hat-trick and tied the game, but three straight tallies from the Express gave the home team a comfortable lead before the second break.
The third period was much of the same, as the two teams each scored twice more – Nathan Renouf and Nic Pierog for the Eagles, and Jackson Cressey and Canon Piper for Coquitlam.
Somewhat surprisingly, in a game that featured 15 goals, neither team pulled their starting goaltenders from the game, save for the last two minutes, when the Eagles yanked Fordyce in favour of an extra skater.
Fordyce stopped 23 of 31 shots – Coquitlam’s last goal was an empty-netter – while Express starter Gordie Defiel was credited with the win, stopping 27 of 33 shots.
Wednesday’s game was equally as wild, though unlike Friday’s tilt – in which most of the goals came in a wild first period – Wednesday’s decisive period was the third, in which six goals were netted.
Surrey started the game well, taking 3-1 lead into the first intermission after goals from Nathan Renouf, Drapluk and Jonah Renouf.
The second period was relatively quiet, with Adam Rockwood scoring for Coquitlam and Heinen replying for Surrey on a penalty shot. Drapluk scored his second of the game just 20 seconds into the third, and Nathan Renouf added his second just 12 seconds later, but Coquitlam rallied after that with three goals in five minutes.
Then, with the game 6-5 in Surrey’s favour, Heinen tacked on his second goal of the contest into an empty net.
Surrey sits fourth in the BCHL’s Mainland Divison – where they’ve been for much of the season – with a record of 12-17-1-0.
The Eagles are back on the road this weekend, with a game in West Kelowna Friday and Penticton Saturday. They don’t play at South Surrey Arena until a four-game home stand begins Dec. 14.
