Rookie forward Chad Ziegler recorded a natural hat trick to lead the Innisfail Eagles to a 4ñ3 come from behind victory over the defending Allan Cup champion Bentley Generals.
Ziegler, a Yale graduate, tied up the game at 1ñ1 with his first of the night early in the second period on a power play. The remainder of the second saw the Generals notch two more to take a 3-1 lead heading into the second intermission.
After killing off several penalties to start the third, including a couple of five on threes, Ziegler potted his second of the game at the 14:13 mark, and his third at 9:32.
This set the stage for Travis Dunstall to score the game winner with just over five minutes left in the match.
A near capacity crowd was on hand to see Eagles' goalie Jonathon Larose turn a side 40 shots, several of them spectacular, to pick up his league leading 10th victory and fourth in a row. The Eagles fired 30 shots at the Generals' James Reid.
The Birds went one for four on the power play, while Bentley was one for nine. Ziegler picked up the game star for the Eagles, while NHL veteran Craig Weller took home the honour for Bentley.
These two teams will do it all again on Feb. 5 for a rare Wednesday night game. The Eagles next game will be Feb. 1 as they head to Okotoks to take on the Drillers
