The Surrey Eagles scored four straight goals then held on to edge the Langley Chiefs 4-3 Thursday, in Game 3 of the two BC Hockey League teams' second-round series.
Surrey now has a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series, with Game 4 slated for tonight (Friday) at the Langley Events Centre. Should the Eagles win tonight, they'll have the chance to clinch the series Sunday afternoon at home, when Game 5 hits the ice at 4 p.m.
Eagles forward Richard Vanderhoek – who is tied for the BCHL playoff goal-scoring lead, with eight – scored twice Thursday, and Jeff Vanderlugt and Brad McGowan also added goals.
Robert Lindores, who has eight points in seven playoff games after tallying just 21 in 60 regular-season contests – added two assists, as did Colton Mackie. Like Lindores, Mackie has upped his playoff production significantly; the Surrey native has four points in five games thus far, after scoring just six in 51 games during the season.
In the first period, Vanderlugt and Vanderhoek scored 29 seconds apart to stake the Birds to a 2-1 by the 3:38 mark of the first period, and McGowan scored with a minute to go in the frame to extend the lead.
In the second period, Vanderhoek scored his second of the game with his team on a five-on-three power play, at which point the Chiefs mounted their comeback attempt.
Langley forward Josh Myers – who was right in the thick of the action in a penalty-filled Game 2 Tuesday night – scored 2:19 after Vanderhoeks' power-play tally, and in third period, Trevor Gerling made it 4-2 at the 4:11 mark.
With 11 minutes left in the game, Myers struck again, this time short-handed, to bridge the gap to 4-3, but the Eagles were able to hold on to the victory, in large part thanks to the play of goaltender Karel St. Laurent, who made 30 saves en route to third-star honours.
Unlike Game 2 Tuesday – in which the two rival clubs racked up 269 penalty minutes and saw a handful of players from each side ejected – Thursday's game was far tamer, at least until the final seconds when Langley's Mike Tebbutt slashed and injured Eagles' defenceman Steve Koshey. Tebbutt was given a five-minute major and a game misconduct with just two seconds left in the game, and teammate Brandon Thompson was ejected, too. Misconducts were also handed out to Eagles' Daniel Gentzler and Vanderlugt and Langley's Gerling.