The Canmore Eagles pumped three first period goals into the back of the Drumheller net, then held on through a rocky second period to defeat the Dragons 5-3 in a family day afternoon AJHL match on Monday (Feb. 16).
The line of Lane Olson, Matt Forchuk and Connor Wilson were extremely effective buzzing the Dragons defence, producing seven points on the way to the win.
Olson opened scoring with a bullet that trickled between Dragons goaltender Curtis Skip’s legs at the 3:41 mark of the first period.
Simon Philp followed that up by unleashing a wicked one timer off a nice feed from Nik Kosman to put the Eagles in the driver’s seat.
Joe Serpico got in on the action on the power play, tipping a shot from Wilson again through Skip’s five-hole to finish out the period.
The Eagles got into penalty trouble in the second period, though, as Drumheller launched a pushback. Wilson scored the Eagles’ lone marker by pouncing on a loose puck at the side of the net, but Dragon Mitchell Cook cashed in on the powerplay with less than two seconds left in the period to make it 4-2.
The Dragons breathed fire early in the third, scoring at the three-minute mark and turning up the heat at 4-3. The Eagles’ defence was strong and goaltender Ryan Ferguson was equal to the task when tested to keep them at bay. Jordan Revie scored an empty net goal to seal the win.
“We did enough to win in the first and shut her down in the third,” said head coach and general manager Andrew Milne.
He praised the play of his top line, which showed grit and scoring touch against the Dragons and said the team succeeded in playing playoff style hockey.
“Forchuk’s been a guy of late who hasn’t been outstanding. We challenged him tonight and tonight I thought he was outstanding. He’s effective. He’s strong off the wall, and you saw on (Olson’s) goal he had two guys on his back. Olson’s got the speed to be elite at this level and Connor’s Connor,” Milne said.
The game was also the end of a brutal stretch for the Eagles, who played seven games in 11 days. They trounced the Dragons 5-0 on Friday (Feb. 13) and lost to the Calgary Mustangs 5-3 on Saturday (Feb. 14). It was the first time the Mustangs have defeated the Eagles in 11 tries.
With the win, the Eagles clinched a playoff berth with four games left in the season. They currently trail the Olds Grizzlys by three points, and the fight for fifth in the division could come down to the last game of the year, when Canmore faces the Grizzlys on Feb. 27.
The Eagles would prefer to finish fifth and face the Drumheller Dragons, who they’ve beaten twice this year. If they finish sixth, they face Okotoks, who they’ve struggled against.
Winning two of three games over a tough stretch gives coach Milne reason for optimism.
“I think we’re happy, but (Saturday) I think we could have had that one if we played better in the second period. Right now we’re taking wins any way we can. Against Drumheller, I think the process is good. We played hard, we played smart. Our powerplay was good, our penalty kill was good. We played every type of structure,” Milne said.
In other AJHL news, Connor Wilson was nominated for the AJHL’s Most Dedicated Player award. Captain Wilson has led the team in scoring for most of the year, and volunteers often throughout the community.
