The Stony Plain Eagles faced off against the Lacombe Generals in round two of the NCHL playoffs, reigniting the rivalry between the teams and the communities this past weekend.
Game 1 was held in Stony Plain on Saturday night! The Eagles came out flying generating high danger scoring chances and breakaway in the first half of the period, but Generals goaltender Mackenzie Engel stood tall allowing the Generals to weather the storm and score 2 goals late in the 1st period to take a 2-0 lead into the first intermission.
The second period provided back and forth action with the temperature beginning to rise as the teams settled into a hard fought second period. Both Lacombe’s, Engel and Eagles goaltender Wyatt Hoflin made many key saves in the second frame to keep the score at 2-0 for Lacombe heading into the third.
The third period saw the Eagles control the play and create numerous scoring chances in a bid to even the score. With 4:48 to play, the Eagles finally got one passed Engel with Dylan Kelly slipping one under the pads off of a short handed face off to get the Eagles within one goal.
With the goalie pulled the Eagles threw everything at the net almost tying the game, however with 48 second left Lacombe’s Jamie Johnson found a loose puck in the defensive zone and caromed the puck off the wall into the Eagles net, giving the Generals the insurance goal they needed to secure a game 1 victory in the best of 5 series.
It was a great turn out of fans for the games and they were treated to a highly competitive, physical playoff style game between two good hockey teams.
The series then shifted to Lacombe for game two on Sunday with the Eagles looking to even the series on the road. The game started like it finished the night before with feverous action, physicality and scrums after the whistle. The Eagles struck first when Eagles forward Travis Dunstall fired a bullet of a one time from the point on the power play to beat a sliding Engel low to the glove side. A few minutes later the Generals evened the score with a powerplay marker of the their own. Four minutes later, the Generals converted a goal off a short handed rush to take the lead. The 1st period saw 9 penalties called between the two teams in a feisty period of hockey.
The Eagles came out firing in the second period scoring twice in the first 3 minutes of the period. Scott Glennie tied the game on a tremendous individual effort, rushing into the Generals zone short handed, wiring a hard wrister post and in high to the glove side for his 5th marker of the playoffs. Under 2 minutes later it was Glennie creating offense again laying a perfect backhand pass into the slot from behind the net for first year forward Nick Leyer to deposit in the net on his 3rd goal of the playoffs, giving Stony Plain a 3-2 lead early in the second period.
The parade to the penalty box continued in the second with each team taking 3 minor penalties per team and tempers really starting to flare. Neither team could convert on their powerplays. With 7:23 left in the 2nd, Lacombe deflected in a goal mouth scramble to even the game at 3. 30 seconds later in a swing of momentum, Lacombe took the lead and held it, ending the period with a 4-3 lead.
The 3rd period started how the series had played out, high intensity with lots of altercations and scrums after the whistle, especially when Lacombe’s Taylor Mulder took a vicious 5 minute major cross checking penalty on a defenseless Kruise Reddick, knocking Reddick out of the game and the series after sustaining a major injury. After the dust was settled and Mulder was ejected, the Eagles had a 3 minute power play where after some close calls, the Generals killed off the penalty. The Eagles were then handed 3 straight penalties in the latter half of the period. With 3:51 remaining, the Generals scored on the powerplay to take a 5-3 lead. The Eagles pushed until the bitter end, forcing Lacombe’s Engel to make multiple highlight reel saves to keep the game in favour of the Generals, giving them a 2-0 series lead.
The powerplays in the game were 10 to 5 in favour of the Generals in a game where every inch of the ice was hotly contested.
The series now takes a breather until Friday night at 8:45 pm in Lacombe for Game 3 as the Eagles look to fend of elimination in hopes of bringing the series back to Stony Plain for a potential game 4 at 7:45 pm at the Glenn Hall Arena.
