In 58 seconds on Thursday, the Alberni Valley Bulldogs saw their playoff hopes dim. That’s how long it took the Surrey Eagles to go from trailing Game 4 of the B.C. Hockey League’s Coastal Conference finals to leading the game—and the series.
Surrey struck first when Ty Brassington found the back of the net on the power play at 8:45 of the first period. the Bulldogs’ Matt Kursonis (from Grayson Badger and Hayden Stavroff) tied it up at 14:38 then Ryan Buckley gave the home team the lead at 19:07, capitalizing on a play from Stavroff and Kursonis.
In the second period, Surrey’s Caden Cranston stored at 6:57 to tie it up and Jagjeevan Phangura gave the Eagles the lead for good with his marker 58 seconds later at 7:55.
The game remained 3-2 until Ryan Evenhuis was able to stuff the puck past Bulldogs’ Callum Tung at 18:44 of the third period. Evenhuis scored his second goal and third point into an empty Alberni net at 19:35 to give Surrey a 5-2 win.
After relinquishing the lead in the second period, the Bulldogs were lacklustre in the third. The Eagles outshot the Bulldogs 37-18; the teams were even with six apiece in the third period but Surrey scored twice. The Eagles were 1-for-3 on the power play and the Bulldogs were 0-for-3.
In a post-game interview with team play-by-play announcer Evan Hammond, head coach Joe Martin said the team played well for “five minutes” during the game.
“If we would have won the game tonight we would have been extremely lucky,” he said. While the series moves back to Surrey with the Bulldogs in a do-or-die situation, Martin said the team has to look at winning one game at a time.
The series flips back to Surrey on Saturday, May 11 at 7:15 p.m. The Eagles can win the series with a victory. If the Bulldogs win they will bring the series back to the Dawg Pound—the AV Multiplex—on Monday, May 13 for Game 6. If a seventh game is necessary, it will take place Tuesday, May 14 in Surrey.
ICE CHIPS…If you aren’t one of the diehard fans heading to Surrey to follow the Bulldogs on their playoff run, catch the game with Evan Hammond and 93.3 PEAK FM on the PEAK’s app. The game is also available on BCHL TV with a subscription…Bulldogs’ Callum Tung earned an honourable mention in the BCHL’s 3 Stars of the Week, among a sea of Eagles’ green. Tung had a .933 save percentage (2.22 goals-against average) in the first two games of the Coastal Conference finals.