You win some, you lose some – often in the same weekend.
Such was the case for the Surrey Eagles recently, as the team earned an impressive 5-3 victory over the visiting Powell River Kings Friday night at South Surrey Arena, but followed up a day later by losing on the road, 5-3 to the Langley Rivermen.
Friday’s victory brought to an end the team’s six-game losing streak; prior to that, the team’s last win was a 7-1 win over Langley on Sept. 28.
Defenceman Cody Schiavon, who is one of just three returning players from last year’s team, led the offensive charge Friday with a goal and three assists, while Surrey’s top line of Hudson Schandor, Holden Katzalay and Cristophe Tellier provided the rest of the scoring.
Schandor scored a hat trick, Tellier had a goal and one assist, while Katzalay had three helpers.
“They were unstoppable all night,” said Surrey Eagles head coach Cam Keith of the trio.
“Our top line was awesome. They played the right way. They weren’t playing outside the dots, they were inside. They created lots of opportunities, they made smart plays, they were physical.
“Schandor was all over the ice supporting plays. I tried that line earlier in the season, and it was OK at times. But if we’re going to be a team that’s going to be hard to play against, we have to have a top line, and that should be it.”
Between the pipes, Cal Schell stopped 27 of 30 shots to earn the victory.
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Another energizing moment for the Birds – one that won’t show up on the score sheet, aside from the penalty column – came in the second period when rookie forward Kenny Riddett, who is listed at just five-foot-eight, dropped the gloves with former Eagle Dawson McKay, despite the rookie’s substantial size disadvantage. Both were given game misconducts as well as fighting majors.
“Kenny’s been wanting to fight for awhile now, but I don’t know why he got into a fight with a guy who’s got an actual foot on him,” Keith said of his forward, who has played just five games this season due to injury.
“Kenny’s a tough kid… I was disappointed to lose him because I’d been double-shifting him and using him on the (penalty kill). He’s going to be the heart and soul of this team.”
Unfortunately for the Eagles – who sport a 5-10-0-1 record (win-loss-overtime loss-shootout loss) so far this season – they weren’t able to carry over the momentum into Saturday, losing to Langley after a wild comeback fell just short.
The Rivermen outshot the Eagles by wide margins in each of the first two periods – they had a 23-16 advantage after 40 minutes – and led 2-0 going into the final frame.
Just 1:34 into the third, Langley extended its lead to 3-0 on a goal from Brian Scoville, before Tellier and Schandor each scored to cut the margin to one goal. Langley’s Jonathan Stein and Surrey’s Carter King each scored in the final seven minutes, and Rivermen’s Brendan Budy added an empty-netter to seal the deal.
Keith said the lone bright spot for the team was the play of goaltender Tommy Scarfone, who made 28 saves.
“Tommy played great. The score could’ve been a lot worse in the beginning if he didn’t make a couple of those big saves,” Keith said.
“You’ve got to tip your cap to him for battling all the way through, he just didn’t get much help tonight.”
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