A 26-shot barrage in the third period was not enough for the Surrey Eagles to overcome a slow start, as they fell 3-2 to the Powell River Kings Monday at South Surrey Arena.
Powell River now leads the best-of-seven Coastal Conference finals 2-1.
The teams split the first two games of the BC Hockey League series on the Sunshine Coast on the weekend. Game 4 was played Tuesday after Peace Arch News’ deadline.
Powell River – the BCHL’s top team in regular-season play – jumped out to a 3-0 lead Monday, and Surrey didn’t responded until the third period, when Steve Koshey wired home a shot on the power play. Eleven minutes later, Richard Vanderhoek made it 3-2, but the home team couldn’t beat Kings’ netminder Michael Garteig again before the final horn.
The Kings opened with a 4-2 win Friday at Hap Parker Arena, but the Eagles rebounded Saturday night when a Daniel Gentzler goal 40 seconds into overtime gave the visiting Birds a 2-1 victory.
On Friday, the Kings jumped on the Eagles early, and led 3-0 after the first period, on goals from Brendan Hawryluk, Andrew Pettitt and Chad Niddery, but Surrey responded in the middle frame when forwards Jeff Vanderlugt and Hayden Trupp found the back of the net, bridging the gap to 3-2.
The Eagles pressured for the equalizer in the third period, but Powell River held on for the win, and made it 4-2 when Matt Garbowsky scored into an empty net with seven seconds left on the clock.
Saturday was a much more defensive-focused contest, with just two goals in regulation time – Grabowsky scored for the Kings in the first period and Brad McGowan tallied a power-play goal for Surrey in the second.
Eagles netminder Karel St. Laurent earned first-star honours stopping 40 of 41 shots, keeping his team in the game despite the fact they had just 18 shots on goal of their own.
Gentzler – just a week removed from signing a scholarship agreement with Colgate University – gave the Eagles the win just 40 seconds into overtime, with assists to Tyler Morley and Richard Vanderhoek.
