CANMORE – A bounce-back win against the Camrose Kodiaks for the Eagles has knotted the first-round series at two wins apiece.
The Eagles’ could not have asked for a better start to game four when Zach Carlson buried a back door play set up by Alex Young just 18 seconds into the Thursday (March 5) game.
“It felt good to get the first goal so quickly, especially since I didn’t have the game I would have liked yesterday, being kicked out,” said Eagles’ forward Zach Carlson. “It was not the best play on my part to take a little bit of a liberty on that guy yesterday, but coming into the game today I just wanted to hit the refresh button.”
Head coach Andrew Milne was quick to praise Carlson’s impact in game four.
“Carlson is an emotional player and he wanted to make amends for letting his teammates down yesterday,” said Milne.
Getting his first playoff start in the AJHL, on Thursday evening was Kadin Kilpatrick, in relief of Devin Chapman who made the three previous playoff starts. A miscue behind the net by Kilpatrick led to the Kodiaks’ equalizer into an empty net just after the six-minute mark.
“I was excited to get the start. It’s been a while since I’ve started but I approach every game the same way whether I’m starting or not so I was ready to go,” said Kilpatrick.
The Eagles physically dominated the first 20 minutes, and much like game three, controlled the pace of even strength play.
Eagles’ captain Connor Lyons scored his fourth goal of the series off a snap shot from the top of the face-off dot after barreling down the left wing.
On the powerplay, Lane Paddison gave the hosts a two goal cushion, scoring his first goal since Nov. 15.
“It felt great. It’s been a long time since I’ve scored,” said a jovial Paddison. “We entered the zone and when I was driving to the net Chinner [Cameron Chin] put the puck on net and I was able to redirect it.”
A quick start to the second, saw the Eagles double up on the Kodiaks, thanks to Michael Spafford. The Kodiaks started to push back in the middle frame, scoring a pair of goals tying the game at four heading into the final period.
Third time was a charm for the Eagles as the hosts scored another early goal to start the period. Jarred Bowman’s point shot somehow found the back of the net through a screen of five players, which was the eventual game winner.
“We bent there a little bit in the second but we didn’t break and we came back and scored on in the third to win the game. That’s playoff hockey,” said Milne.
The Eagle's coach was pleased with his team’s response after a disappointing game three on Wednesday (March 4).
‘I’m really happy for the guys. They earned the win tonight. You know from the beginning we set this series up as a seven game series and it’s looking like it might go the distance. We are feeling good about where we are right now,” Milne said.
The series will shift once again to Camrose for game five on Saturday. Regardless of the result in game five, the teams will return to Canmore for game six on Monday (March. 9).
