Hockey
Capital Denial
Saturday’s game was a write-off, so now it’s time to focus on moving forward given the tight proximity of the top three teams in the Mainland Division and the Eagles have their sights set on moving up.
Given Friday’s performance of Cavaliere two days prior managing a shutout over the Rivermen one should expect him to be in stellar form facing a tired Capitals squad, who have managed a split winning in PG and dropping one to the Vipers.
Also out of the line-up for the Eagles would be Captain Jordan Robert, Cory Babichuk and Ty Schultz, but Wesley takes up his place on the number one line of Westgard and Burgart.
With the 4 pm start fans were lining up after 3ish in hopes of taking in the
While some were still entering the building, the Eagles got off to another impressive start throwing the puck in the right corner with Burgart sending it behind the net to Wesley who sent a one-timer out front to Westgard who threw it on net that saw it take a strange bounce off a Cowichan “D-Man’s” stick giving the Eagles the first of the game a short 33 second from the opening draw.
With the return of Wesley it was only a matter of time that he notched one in and with his finesse he somehow manages to find open ice and this time it was on the left side of the goal nearest the face-off dot.
Norton kept it on side tipping one to Sundquist who threw a tape to tape precision pass to Wesley who pounded in his 30th of the season putting the Eagles up by a 2-0 margin on the PP at 4:04 bringing the fans to their feet.
The Capitals pressed getting quality shots on Cavaliere only to have them turned aside giving the Eagles more zone time hammering shot after shot on Pichette did what he could to keep the Eagles off the board, but it simply wasn’t enough.
As if playing five on five wasn’t hard enough the Eagles were given a PP opportunity and while playing shorthanded White broke in on the left side getting a shot on Pichette that saw the puck bounce to Sundquist who simply tapped it in on the right side giving the Eagles a 3-0 lead at 8:28 of the opening period.
With the face-off in the Capitals zone in the right corner Stewart won the draw pulling it to the right side that saw Campese send a quick one-timer at the point to Schiavon who delivered a low shot past a shocked Pichette putting the Eagles up by a 4-0 tally at 14:08.
The first ended with the Eagles narrowly outshooting Cowichan by a narrow 15-14 margin keeping the confidence building as they were set to enter the second.
The Eagles first goal in the second wasn’t nearly as quick as the first one in the first and while on yet another PP the hammered shot after shot after a startled Pichette who at times seemed shocked at the amount he was facing, but he did what he could, but never had much to work with.
Sundquist stole the puck deep in the right corner off a defender managing to send it to Norton at the point who took a quick look hearing Wesley tapping his stick on the ice as if to call for it sent an exceptional cross ice pass as everyone watched him slide it through the 5-hole collecting his 31st of the season while on another PP.
Many were speculating that after the fourth the Capitals might have changed “tenders” but it wasn’t happening quite yet, but soon.
The Capitals continued to press, but were unable to pierce the armour of Cavaliere who continued to impress everyone with his acrobatics on display throughout the contest.
Next up saw the Eagles explode out of their zone with a two on two breakout that Merriman slide a pass to the trailing Sterzer who tipped one on net that created a rebound on the right side to Danol who notched his 8th of the season ending the night for Pichette.
Corson played in PG and Vernon on the trip and was now forced to take over with Pichette having a TOI of 32:53 minutes stopping 23 of the 29 shots faced also ending the period with the Eagles outshooting the Capitals in the second by a 19-13 tally.
The third saw Cowichan pretty much go shot for shot with the Eagles, but on this day it simply wasn’t enough fire power for the struggling Capitals squad.
The score remained 6-0 and it wasn’t until the 14:30 mark of the third that would see the Eagles collect goal number seven.
The best chance of the game came at the 9:37 mark of the third when Wilson sent one in allowing Benger to “rip” one close in on the right side of the net that saw an impressive if not shocking two-pad stack, bringing Greg out of his chair.
Stops like this quite often motivate any team and this was no different that saw the Eagles get chance after chance only to be denied by Corson.
The seventh and final goal of the game for the Eagles saw Schiavon send one to Westgard who fed Burgart driving straight up the ice.
Using his speed and talent, he broke through both “D-men” faked a one-timer then when to his backhand simply sending it “topshelf” giving the Eagles goal number seven grabbing his 17th of the season while on another PP.
With the game coming to an end the Capitals had one last end to end rush getting a shot on goal as the buzzer went only to be turned aside by Cavaliere – again.
Two games – two shutouts for “Super-Mario” as Greg and I have named and within a span of three days.
The first shutout against the Rivermen by a 5-0 score followed by this impressing outing with all of the 1139 watching his remarkable showing.
Capitals starting “tender” JJ Pichette faced 29 shots managing to stop 23 playing 32:53 (TOI), while Corson stopped 14 of the 15 shots faced through 27:07 minutes of ice time.
Surrey were 3-9 on the PP, while the Capitals were 0-5 in the special teams through 60 minutes of play.
Game officials (Trevor Beaton and Bryan Bourdon) had a relatively easy night with one exception after the Eagles had scored a goal, only to be overturned after some discussion.
Reason given – Capitals player had iced the puck while the officials had a delayed call, but due to the deep Ref being blocked, he never saw the puck shot down the ice.
It’s all about positioning – other wish well officiated!!
FORTISBC PLAYER OF THE GAME
Owen Norton (2 Assists)
Three Stars:
1st) Mario Cavaliere (SA 43/SV 43)
2nd) John Wesley (2 Goals/1 Assist)
3rd) Connor Sundquist (1 Goal/2 Assists)
The Eagles next hit the ice Wednesday January 17th in a cross-town rematch against Coquitlam at the rink on Porier with the face-off set for 7 pm.
This is followed by a return match against the Express on home ice Friday January 20th at 7 pm.