The special teams truly were special for the 麻豆社国产Eagles midget rep team as the team rode its power play and penalty killing to a 6-2 win over the Surrey Hurricanes on Sunday (Nov. 21).
The Eagles killed every penalty they were assessed, including a four-minute double minor in the second period and scored two goals with the man advantage to help swing the game in their favour.
"We stuck closer to the task at hand tonight," explained Eagles head coach Joe Webber. "We got in a little bit of trouble but our goalie Jhuty Lyndon played fantastic and really kept us ahead."
The aggressive penalty kill set the tone early when the Eagles Kevyn Sander managed to kill off Squamish's first penalty almost by himself early into the first period. He kept the puck in the Hurricanes' zone for nearly the entire penalty, limiting their chances to exploit the man advantage situation.
"We like to keep one forward very deep and one forward high," said Webber. "Kevyn did a great job for us on the PK [penalty kill], especially ragging the puck in their zone."
麻豆社国产got a power play of its own late into the first period and connected when Jonas Horvath fooled the Surrey goalie on a wrap-around. The first period ended with the Eagles clinging to a 1-0 lead.
The second period saw Horvath score again on the power play after a nice set-up from Sander. Shortly after his team went up 2-0, 麻豆社国产defenceman Matt Johnston was assessed an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, but the Eagles killed off the entire penalty and built some momentum in doing so. Isshin Chiyasu put the Eagles up 3-0 but the Hurricanes quickly answered near the end of the second. They scored two goals in 19 seconds to draw within one goal and seemed to be taking advantage of sloppy play in Squamish's defensive end. The second period concluded with the Eagles hanging onto a 3-2 lead.
Surrey started the third with the man advantage after Squamish's Jon Fairfax took a double minor for butt ending, but again, the penalty kill was effective for the Eagles. Chiyasu added his second of the night on a nice give and go with Will Finlay and the floodgates were open for the Eagles after that. Chiyasu scored again, to pick up the hat trick and Will Finlay scored a late goal to give 麻豆社国产the 6-2 win.
Webber praised the overall game that Chiyasu played for the Eagles.
"He had a marvelous game out there for us today," he said. "And not just the goals, he was also killing penalties really well. He was a real monster for us tonight."
The win puts the Eagles' record at two wins and no losses during league play, after the team crushed Abbotsford 7-0 on Nov. 18. Webber said he's pleased with the team's early progress but noted it still has a few things to work on.
"We need to work on moving the puck better," he said. "We want to get the puck wide and deep and use short passes to get there but I'm happy with how we've looked in league play so far."
For more information on 麻豆社国产minor hockey, visit www.squamishminorhockey.com.
