Eagles Edge Spruce Kings in OT Thriller

Brady Shaw scored twice, including the controversial overtime winner, as the Surrey Eagles won their third straight game by a score of 3-2 over the Prince George Spruce Kings on Saturday night at the South Surrey Arena. With the win, Surrey improved to 11-6-0-1 on the season and moved into third place in the Mainland Division.

Neither team scored in the first period as Surrey goaltender Michael Santaguida and Prince George net minder Kirk Thompson stood strong, both making a number of quality saves. The Eagles were ahead 12-11 on the shot clock after 20 minutes.

It was the Birds who struck first in the second period when Demico Hannoun received a cross-crease pass from Michael Stenerson and was stopped on his first attempt by Thompson's right pad before burying his own rebound. Surrey doubled its lead before the end of the frame when Shaw scored on a two-on-one off the left wing after a pass from Joel Gaudet.

In the third, the Spruce Kings rallied and finally found the net at 12:32 when Tyson Witala's wrist shot from the slot snuck past Santaguida to pull Prince George to within one. Cam Lawson would equalize for the Spruce Kings with only 3:21 remaining when he danced into the slot and fired a shot into the back of the Surrey net to tie the game at 2-2.

For the sixth time this season, the Eagles went to overtime, and for the fifth time this year, Surrey skated away victorious. The winner came at 3:55 of the first overtime period when Shaw received a stretch pass at the attacking blue line that initially looked to be offside but was waved off by linesman Ryan Gibbons. Shaw then skated in on a breakaway and scored with a wrister over Thompson's right shoulder. While many thought the goal shouldn't have counted due to the offside, a review of the video replay shows that Shaw still had one skate on the blue line when the puck crossed into the zone (see the screen shot below). The victory was Surrey's third win in as many nights. 

The Eagles fired 35 shots on Thompson's goal while the Spruce Kings managed 34 shots on the Surrey net. Prince George didn't get a power play opportunity in the game while the Birds were 0-for-1 with the man advantage.

Surrey will head out on the road for a pair of games next weekend in Salmon Arm on Friday and Vernon on Saturday before returning home to face the Coquitlam Express on Monday, November 12th.

Official 3 Stars:

1. Brady Shaw - Surrey

2. Michael Santaguida - Surrey

3. Kirk Thompson - Prince George

My 3 Stars:

1. Brady Shaw - Surrey

2. Kirk Thompson - Prince George

3. Michael Santaguida - Surrey

Freeze frame of the close play at the blue line on Brady Shaw's winning goal. The puck, which has already entered the zone, is circled in red while Shaw's left foot is still touching the blue line.