The Bentley Generals took on the Innisfail Eagles in the first game of the Chinook Hockey League AAA finals Saturday night (March 8) and skated away with a convincing 3-0 victory.
The Birds played Bentley at the Red Deer Arena, the Generals' home ice for the finals, and the visitors were out played, out passed, and out scored in front of a nearly sold out crowd of 1,650 hockey fans. While not a close game on the score sheet, the contest was one of missed opportunities by the Eagles, which could have turned the game into a nail biter.
Right off the face off, the Eagles came on strong, playing with an urgency to notch the first goal and exerting pressure on the Generals to keep the puck in their defensive zone. Setting the tone of the game early, the Generals laid a good hit on Aaron Boyer and served notice the game was not going to be easy.
It was not.
The Generals assumed control of the game with tight passing, good puck control, and excellent zone coverage, limiting the Eagles to only four shots in the first frame compared to 13 for the Generals. Skating strongly, the Generals kept the puck out of their end and put Eagles' netminder Jonathan Larose to the test time and time again.
At 11:02 in the first period, the Generals' Shawn Germain scored from Jason Stefanishion to tally what would become the game winner.
The Eagles were continually pushed back by the General's aggressive defense, which turned the game into a chippy affair near the end of the first with a scuffle erupting near the Eagles' net.
Eagles forward Micheal Kneeland escaped the throng of Generals on a breakaway and shot high with seconds left on the clock.
“I had the breakaway, looked up at the clock and thought I saw two seconds then shot quickly,” said Kneeland. “It turns out I had five seconds left but you only have a split second to decide. I wish it would have turned out differently.”
The second and third periods were no different, with the Eagles falling prey to the Generals' tight defense, stopping their offense before it had any chance to develop. Power play opportunities were few for the Eagles but even with a man advantage the Generals turned them away.
Bentley's Kyle Sheen scored unassisted at 15:15 of the second period to put the team up 2-0 and again at 12:37 of the third on a power play from Scott Kalinchuk, making the game 3-0.
At 17:20 of the second period during an Eagle's power play, the team played tic-tac-miss as two perfect passes opened up a hole in front of the net but no goal resulted from a last second blocked shot.
Towards the middle of the second period, the Eagles tallied more shots on net finding their on-ice rhythm as Travis Yonkman kept the Generals in the game with excellent goaltending.
The Generals were simply too much, taking the first game in the Chinook Hockey League final 3-0 while ultimately outshooting the Eagles 30 to 20.
“We did not have a good start tonight,” said Eagles' coach Brian Sutter. “But we did a lot of good things with not so good results. Every game is the same. You have to figure out how to play your opponent. We did not do that tonight.”
Sutter noted his team did get their legs back as the game wore on but they could not put the puck in the net.
“No matter how ugly the game gets, you can't make mistakes and cough up the puck,” added Sutter. “Our older guys have to dig in and provide leadership and speed on the ice. (Jonathan) Larose played well in net, and kept us in the game.”
He added that newcomer Michael Kneeland was a steady contributor on-ice, creating offensive opportunities every time he was on shift. He also mentioned Jason Nopper's strong defensive play as being vital for the team.
The Eagles' Larose and Bentley's Sheen were named game stars.
Game two of the series goes Friday night (March 14) at the Innisfail Arena.
