Surrey's Comeback Falls Short in Penticton

Despite a valiant comeback attempt, the Surrey Eagles fell 3-2 to the Penticton Vees in double overtime at the South Okanagan Events Centre on Saturday evening. Brady Shaw had both goals for the Birds in the loss while Troy Stecher had a pair, including the game winner, for Penticton.

The Vees had the better of the chances in the first, firing 13 shots on Michael Santaguida's net while the Birds only managed six shots at the other end of the rink. Penticton's best opportunity came when Michael Rebry was robbed by Santaguida as the Surrey goalie made a save with the paddle of his stick on the goal line, keeping the game scoreless. Later in the period, Brad McClure nearly gave the Vees the lead when a rebound found him at the top of the crease, but his shot went wide of the left post.

Surrey got an early power play in the second and generated a number of high quality scoring chances, the best of which came when Drew Best found himself alone in the high slot but missed the net with a hard wrister. A few minutes later, Shaw had a good opportunity when he walked out of the right corner and tried to stuff the puck into the net, but Penticton net minder Nic Renyard made the save. Sam Mellor had a great chance for the Vees later in the frame as he rung a wrist shot off the cross-bar from the right wing, but despite his missed opportunity, Penticton took the lead before the end of the stanza when Santaguida came out to play the puck and turned it over to McClure who netted his 20th of the season on a wrap around.

Stecher extended the Penticton lead at 11:29 of the third period when his pass attempt from the right point took an odd bounce and ended up in the Surrey net. But for the second straight evening, the Eagles mounted a comeback. Shaw pulled the Birds to within one goal when he scored with a snap shot right off an offensive zone face-off at 14:02, and with just 12.4 seconds remaining in the third and Santaguida on the bench for an extra attacker, Shaw rippled the mesh again, hammering a slapper past Renyard to force overtime.

The game remained tied at 2-2 after the first extra frame, but Stecher ended the game in the 3-on-3 period, scoring his second of the evening after stripping Michael Stenerson of the puck and beating Santaguida with a high wrist shot on a breakaway.

Both teams went 0-for-4 on the power play while the Vees out shot the Eagles 31-27. The two teams will meet again on January 11th at the South Surrey Arena.

Official 3 Stars:
1. Troy Stecher - Penticton
2. Brad McClure - Penticton
3. Brady Shaw - Surrey

My 3 Stars:
1. Troy Stecher - Penticton
2. Brady Shaw - Surrey
3. Brad McClure - Penticton