Mario Cavaliere went from sieve to saviour in less than 24 hours.
The 20-year-old goaltender for the Surrey Eagles put in a sparkling 46-save performance to help the visitors grind out a 3-2 victory over the Prince George Spruce Kings on Saturday before 1,311 fans at the Rolling Mix Concrete Arena (RMCA).
“We had a lot of chances that we could have buried on but it wasn’t bouncing our way tonight, that’s all that really happened,” says Dustin Manz, Spruce Kings forward.
The Eagles even up the best-of-seven Mainland Division series at 1-1, forcing a Game Five back in the Northern capital on Thursday.
After a scoreless first period, Aaron White and Desi Burgart put Surrey up 2-0 at the end of 40 minutes, finding a way past Spruce Kings netminder Evan DeBrouwer despite getting outshot 21-11 in the middle frame (and 48-19 in the entire game).
Prince George continued to come in waves against the Eagles who were more than continent to milk the two-goal advantage on the road in a hostile environment after getting kicked 9-1 the previous night.
The hosts didn’t break through until 7:41 of the third period when Ethan de Jong ripped one top shelf over Cavaliere to cut the deficit to 2-1.
Less than five minutes later, former Vancouver Giant John Wesley sealed the deal for the Eagles handcuffing DeBrouwer for a 3-1 lead, restoring Surrey’s two goal edge.
“It’s a tough goal to give up, especially after getting back within one but we have to learn how to battle back in those situations and not allow a goal like that to go in and play better defensively,” added Manz.
Ben Brar scored with one second left to make it a one goal game again but it was too little too late.
The Spruce Kings have outshot the Eagles 99-34 in the first two outings.
Games Three and Four will now be played in Surrey Monday and Tuesday, where the Spruce Kings failed to win in the regular season.
“I don’t think we make very many adjustments here and you know what, it’s the same game and the rink size doesn’t matter so I think we showed the last two games we were the better team out there and as long as we play our game and do what we do best there will be no problems,” says Jarod Hovde, Spruce Kings forward.
Tickets for game five go on sale Monday at Noon.