Much like game two, where the Surrey Eagles raced out to an insurmountable lead on their way to a blowout victory, Thursday night's game three started out the same way.
The visiting Eagles led 3-0 after one period against the Langley Chiefs at the Langley Events Centre in game three of the junior A B.C. Hockey League Coastal Conference semifinal series.
And after Langley Minor Hockey Association product Richard Vanderhoek made it 4-0 with a power-play goal while the Chiefs were two men down, it looked like it was game, set and match.
To the Chiefs credit, they made a game of it, unlike in game two, when the final score read 6-1. But the end result was still the same, a 4-3 Eagles victory, which helped Surrey re-claim home-ice advantage in the best-of-seven series.
Game four goes Friday (March 11) at the Langley Events Centre, while game five is scheduled for Sunday at 4 p.m. at the South Surrey Arena.
Josh Myers got the Chiefs on the board a few minutes after Vanderhoek made it 4-0, and then captain Trevor Gerling cut the lead in half 4:11 in the third period, re-directing the puck past Karel St. Laurent.
And then with just over half a period remaining, Myers made things interesting, stealing a pass at the Langley blue-line while short-handed and then racing the length of the ice to bury a beauty on the breakaway.
But any momentum from that huge goal was short-lived as Surrey was ruthlessly efficient in controlling the rest of the game, only allowing one or two serious Langley chances to tie the score over the game's final 11 minutes.
Myers finished with two goals and an assist, while Vanderhoek scored twice— both on the power play — and Jeff Vanderlugt and Brad McGowan had the others.
McGowan, another Langley Minor Hockey alum, leads all playoff scorers with 16 points (six goals, 10 assists) while Vanderhoek leads in goals, with eight.
A big story in the series continues to be the Surrey power play which has now gone 6-for-20.