The Innisfail Eagles found the extra gear when it mattered most.
After a heartbreaking overtime loss to Bentley two nights before, the Birds dug deep at home during their last game of the season on Feb. 7 to beat the Fort Saskatchewan Chiefs 1-0. The win earned the team second place in the Chinook Hockey League regular season standings.
The Eagles also secured home ice advantage when they face off against the third-place Chiefs this coming Friday (Feb. 14) in the first round of the provincial AAA playoffs.
ìWe're pretty pumped. We wanted home ice against those guys and we got it,î said team captain Tylor Keller, who scored the lone winning goal in the game.
The Birds came into the evening with 30 points with their last regular season game against the Chiefs while Fort Saskatchewan had 29 points with two games remaining. The scenario created a tense action-packed game between the two evenly talented teams.
But the Eagles, stung by their disappointing loss against Bentley, played inspiring hockey and dominated the first two periods, outshooting the Chiefs 35-16. Both goalies were outstanding, but the Chiefs' Jim Watt kept his team in the game with several key sensational saves.
But Eagles captain Tylor Keller finally found a way to beat Watt and broke a scoreless tie at 4:09 in the second period. Wyatt Hamilton pulled the puck out of the corner and shovelled it into the slot and Keller blew it past Watt to give the Birds a 1-0 lead.
ìI didn't aim. I just wound up and shot as hard as I could,î said Keller.
The Chiefs found their own extra gear in the final frame and actually outshot the Eagles 7-6. With 1:20 remaining in the game, Watt was pulled to give Fort Saskatchewan the extra man advantage and the Chiefs pressed. With 32 seconds remaining in the game the Eagles' Jeffrey Macphee was called for slashing and the Chiefs had a two-man advantage.
But strong checking by the Eagles for the remaining 32 seconds kept the Chiefs from getting a serious goal scoring opportunity and the Birds held on for the 1-0 victory.
ìWe were in control. We played the way we needed to play to win. We outshot them and we're ready to play them another seven hard games but hopefully less,î said Keller. ìEvery game against them this year has been tough but we know that team. We know what we have to do to beat that team and we are going to beat that team.î
Eagles coach Brian Sutter said the regular season-ending win over the Chiefs was a ìgoodî game, considering the disappointment of losing against Bentley, the reigning Allan Cup champions, earlier in the week.
ìWe had four lines and six defencemen and the goaltending was good. We had a whole team. We kept it simple and didn't beat ourselves,î said Sutter, adding his squad took far too many penalties against Bentley but was more disciplined against Fort Saskatchewan. ìIt was a good hard game. It's second place and something to be proud of.
ìIf you believe in something and you are committed to it things are going to work out your way,î added Sutter. ìWe didn't beat ourselves all night and we earned everything we got. We knew what we had to do tonight and how to do it. We didn't beat ourselves.î
