The Calgary Canucks and Canmore Eagles treated fans at the Max Bell Centre to an entertaining, fast-paced game on Saturday night, with the visiting team coming out on top with a late third period goal.
The first period saw a lot of chances at both ends of the ice but Eagles goaltender Cam Barnes and Colin Cooper of the Canucks made good saves to preserve a 0-0 tie. Barnes in particular was great making a couple of spectacular saves. The shots were 9-8 in favour of the Canucks at the end of the first period.
The Calgary Canucks got into penalty problems early on in the second period, when Mitchell Rosko was called to serve time for roughing. The Eagles generated a lot of momentum up a man and one second after the powerplay expired Zack Rassell deposited the puck into the Canucks net to make it 1-0 Eagles. The goal came at 6:08 of the second period.
The Canucks got a powerplay of its own, 9:20 into the second period. The Canucks took advantage at 9:53 when Nicholas Plesa's shot was tipped on route by Gui Glasspoole into the net. 1-1 tie.
The Canucks and the Eagles remained tied at 1-1 at the end of the second period. The Eagles had a 12-8 shot advantage in the second period, and a 20-17 advantage through two periods.
The third period started off just where the second period left off, with both teams generating great chances. Zack Rassell converted a chance at 5:58 when he walked out the corner and unleashed a back-hand shot that found its way behind Colin Cooper. The Eagles had a 2-1 lead.
Once again the Canucks responded quickly, when just 2:51 after Rassell scored-at 8:49- Gui Glasspoole threw the puck on net from the right corner and the puck bounced off Barnes into the Canmore net, the game was tied at 2-2.
The game tying goal set up an exciting last ten minutes of the game with end to end rushes, highlight reel saves by both masked men, and heated verbal and physical confrontations after each whistle.
Just when it appeared overtime seemed inevitable, Riley Point of the Eagles drove towards the net on the left side of the ice. His backhand shot was stopped but Stephen Phee scored on the rebound created by the shot. The Eagles had a 3-2 lead with 58 seconds remaining in the third period.
The Canucks attempted to tie the game, even coming close, with Glasspoole fanning on a wide open net, however it was not to be on this night.
The Eagles victory improved its record to 4-1 while the Canucks dropped to 2-4-1.
