For the Innisfail Eagles last weekend read like a line of Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities – the best of times, the worst of times.
On the worst side, the Eagles were hammered 7 -1 on the road in Lacombe on Oct. 25 by their archrivals the Bentley Generals. On the best side, the Birds thrilled their hometown fans the night before with a gutsy, character-building, come-from-behind 7-6 shootout win.
The defending league champion Generals had the clear edge on the Eagles from the start of their home game in Lacombe. They led 1-0 after the first period on a power-play goal and then built a 4-0 lead after two periods. Bentley outshot the Eagles 33-12 after 40 minutes.
In the third period, the Generals' Kyle Steen scored his second of the game at 18:58 to put Bentley up 5-0. Innisfail got one back at 13:57 but the Generals got two more to put the game on ice for a 7-1 victory.
It was a different story the previous night in Innisfail, except for the first period.
The Okotoks Drillers built up a 4-0 lead after the first period and it looked like the Eagles were facing a rout.
But the Birds found their wings and came back with two unanswered goals by Ashton Reinboldt and Andrew Bergman. The Eagles outshot the Drillers in the second by a margin of 19-11, and after two periods the hometown team was back in the game.
The Birds came out flying hard in the third with two quick goals in the first minute of play. Travis Dunstall scored a power-play goal at 19:23 and 12 seconds later Chad Ziegler scored an unassisted marker to tie up the game.
But there was still plenty of life left in the Drillers. On a power play at 15:37 Mike Kneeland put Okotoks back in front 5-4, and 30 seconds later Clinton Pettapiece notched his second of the game to once again put the visiting team up by two goals.
However, the Eagles were not done either. Peter Vandermeer scored on the power play at 6:21 and just over a minute later Ziegler tied it up with his second unassisted goal of the game. It was all even at 6-6 after regulation and the final score was decided in a shootout.
The Drillers got one but the Eagles answered with two by Peter Vandermeer and Mike Wirll to claim the come-from-behind 7-6 win. Wirll was chosen as the Eagles star of the game.
