INNISFAIL – The Eagles put on a show of offensive power and speed at home Sunday against the Rosetown Red Wings.
The Eagles downed the Red Wings 5-2 in their third match-up this season.
“It was a big game. We were missing some important parts of the puzzle, but we were good, really good,” said head coach Brian Sutter. “We were solid and for the most part Danny (goaltender Danyon Lorencz) was darn good. He made some big saves.”
Innisfail opened the scoring with a goal from captain Joe Vandermeer just past the halfway mark of the first period. In the dying seconds of the frame, Mike Desjarlais made it 2-0 for the Birds after 20 minutes.
The second period saw things heat up when Eagles forward Chad Robinson scored a short-handed marker to widen Innisfail’s lead to three.
“We just played an all round solid game tonight,” said Robinson. “As for the short-handed goals, they’re just a bonus for us. We capitalized on a couple of mistakes they made."
Like his coach, Robinson praised goaltender Lorencz, who made 32 saves in the win.
“I think Danyon was probably our best player tonight. That’s the best game he’s played for us and he’s really stepped it up as of late,” said Robinson.
Rosetown got on the board in the second frame, scoring their only two goals of the game, six minutes apart.
The Birds ran into some penalty trouble, giving the Red Wings an opportunity to come back with a five-on- three power play with five minutes left in the period.
Innisfail however, had other plans.
Eagles forward Shawn Bates scored his team’s second short-handed goal while killing off the two-man advantage.
“I just happen to be fast,” said Bates. “We got a lot of bigger, stronger guys that win a lot of battles, so if I can get to the loose pucks by being fast, I think I can help us out.”
Kyle Dorowicz netted the Eagles' fifth and final goal of the night, a power-play marker with just 13 seconds remaining in the second period.
Bates said his team is preparing to battle it out this season.
“We have plenty of more games against Stony Plain and Lacombe,” he said. “We had a meeting last week, we know where we’re at and I think we’re refocused on where we want to be at the end of the year.”
Friday’s game against Stony Plain was cancelled and will be rescheduled for later in the season.
With the Fort Saskatchewan Chiefs now out of the Allan Cup Hockey West, Innisfail currently sits in last place in the four-team league, with five points.
The Eagles' next home game is against the Lacombe Generals on Dec. 1. Puck drop is 8:30 p.m.
