After a heartbreaking overtime loss to Bentley two nights before, the Innisfail Eagles dug deep at home during their last game of the season on Feb. 7 to beat the Fort Saskatchewan Chiefs 1-0 and claim second place in the Chinook Hockey League regular season standings.
The Eagles also secure home ice advantage when they face off against the Chiefs this coming Friday (Feb. 14) in the first round of the provincial AAA playoffs.
The Birds came into the game with 30 points with the one game against the Chiefs to play while Fort Saskatchewan had 29 points with two games remaining. The scenario created a tense action-packed game.
But the Eagles, stung by their disappointing loss against Bentley, played inspiring hockey and dominated the first two periods and outshot the Chiefs 35-16. Both goalies were outstanding but the Chiefs' Jim Watt kept his team in the game with key sensational saves.
But Eagles captain Tylor Keller broke a scoreless tie at 4:09 in the second period. He drilled a pass from Wyatt Hamilton past Watt to give the Birds a 1-0 lead, which they never relinquished.
The Chiefs rebounded 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 and the Chiefs pressed. Then with 32 seconds remaining 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 chance and the Birds held on for the 1-0 victory.
Eagles goaltender Jonathan Larose was named the player of the game for Innisfail while Watt earned the same honour for the Chiefs.
