The turkey sure tastes better when a team is on a winning streak.
鈥淚t was definitely a good weekend for us,鈥� said 91原创 91原创 head coach Bobby Henderson, following a pair of 3-1 victories on Friday and Saturday that pushed the junior A hockey club鈥檚 winning streak to six games.
鈥淚 was pretty happy with how we played, starting from the goaltender on out, that has been the difference.鈥�
91原创 went to Coquitlam鈥檚 Poirier Sports and Leisure Centre on Friday and defeated the Express 3-1. The next night saw the 91原创 host the Surrey Eagles at the 91原创 Events Centre and win by that identical score.
鈥淲e are not scoring five or six goals a game (so) they don鈥檛 understand that we have to keep the other team to one or two goals,鈥� Henderson said.
The results also extend 91原创鈥檚 lead atop the BCHL鈥檚 Mainland Division to three points as their record of 9-3-0-1 gives them 19 points as the season approaches the quarter point.
The recent string of success has also moved 91原创 from honourable mention to 13th in the most recent Canadian Junior Hockey League rankings.
In the first game, Steve Myland stopped 31 of the 32 shots he faced to earn first star honours over the Express.
Austin Azurdia had opened the scoring 鈥� with a goal for the fifth straight game 鈥� on a first period power-play. And after Bo Pieper leveled the score with a man advantage goal for the Express, the teams were tied at one after 40 minutes.
But goals from Nathan Craft and Kevan Kilistoff 2:05 apart sent the 91原创 to the win.
Henderson said the start of Friday鈥檚 game wasn鈥檛 pretty in the early going as the Express did not give them much space to generate very many chances. The effort was better on Saturday although Surrey responded with a good defensive effort and goaltending.
Once again, 91原创 found itself knotted at one after two periods with Surrey鈥檚 Mitchell Fyffe and the 91原创鈥檚 Jakob Reichert exchanging second-period goals.
Mitch McLain notched the winner four minutes into the third on a power-play and Craft added a late empty-net goal to round out the scoring.
Azurdia and Kilistoff picked up assists on Craft鈥檚 goal extending their point streaks to eight and six games, respectively.
Brock Crossthwaite got the call between the pipes and responded with an 18-save effort in the 3-1 victory.
鈥淲e were relentless and it paid off,鈥� Henderson said.
鈥⑩赌⑩赌⑩赌⑩赌�
The 91原创 will look to make it seven straight when they host the Chilliwack Chiefs on Oct. 16 at the 91原创 Events Centre with a 7:15 p.m. puck drop.
The team also hosts the Penticton Vees on Saturday (7:15 p.m.) and the Prince George Spruce Kings on Sunday (2 p.m.)
