CANMORE – A second shutout in their opening playoff series has the Canmore Eagles heading to the second round.
The Canmore Eagles blanked the Lloydminster Bobcats 5-0 in Game 6 on Sunday (March 24), earning them a spot in round two of the Alberta Junior Hockey League playoffs.
“Top to bottom, 60 minutes, with a great effort. Special teams were outstanding – penalty killers, great power plays – it was awesome. I think the goaltending was great. That's how you win playoff games,” said Andrew Milne, Canmore Eagles head coach and general manager.
The win was back-to-back shutouts on home ice for the Eagles, with Canmore holding the Bobcats to 24 shots in Game 6. Matthew Malin held his own, finishing the series with a pair of shutouts, a .910 save percentage and a 2.16 goals against average.
“It felt great. Everyone pitched in at the end there. We all did it right to the very last buzzer,” said Malin.
“Going after that [last] game, I think that was a response game and we gave them the response we wanted.”
Logan Ziegler opened the game with a lightning fast goal 35 seconds into the first period.
Rookie forward Carter Coutu netted the only goal of the second period at about the midway point.
The Eagles' offence exploded for three goals in the final period, starting with Rhett Dekowny on another fast goal 57 seconds in. Midway through the period, Owen Jones put the score to 4-0, which was followed by Zach Coutu’s fourth goal of the series with about 10 minutes left in the game.
“Obviously, we weren't pleased with the way Game 5 ended. We had a 3-1 lead into the third and then having a situation where we maybe lost momentum pretty quickly, so I think our guys were pretty eager in this one. They didn't want to head back to Lloyd and I thought our guys played a great game tonight,” said Milne.
The Canmore Eagles win 5-0 against the Llyodminster Bobcats, taking the Eagles to round 2 of the AJHL playoffs. pic.twitter.com/hCwOVDdnOP
— Matthew Thompson (@Matthewthomp_) March 25, 2024
The Eagles will be taking a well-needed rest after the six hard-fought games against the Bobcats.
Going into the second round, the Canmore Eagles will be facing off against the Whitecourt Wolverines who won the first round 4-1 against the Camrose Kodiaks. The winner of round two will advance to the AJHL championship series.
The Eagles went 1-3 against Whitecourt in the regular season. In October, Whitecourt beat Canmore 7-0 and 6-1. The Wolverines won the third game of the season series 4-2 in January and Canmore won their last meeting 3-2 on home ice.
“I think for us, first and foremost, is take a rest,” said Milne. “We've been going pretty heavy up in Fort Mac [Fort McMurray] and then back down and to Lloyd for a couple of trips, so the travel is going to be a bit of a challenge. So, I think for us, preparation would be rest first and then we'll start preparing later in the week.”
Round two schedule
- Game 1 on March 29 in Whitecourt
- Game 2 on March 30 in Whitecourt
- Game 3 on April 2 in Canmore
- Game 4 on April 3 in Canmore
- *Game 5 on April 5 in Whitecourt
- *Game 6 on April 7 in Canmore
- *Game 7 on April 9 in Whitecourt
- *If needed
On the other side, the Calgary Canucks and Drumheller Dragons advanced to the second round of playoffs. The Canucks won round one 4-2 against Grand Prairie Storm, and the Dragons swept the Bonnyville Pontiacs 4-0.
