CANMORE, AB – With 46 seconds remaining in regulation, the Sherwood Park Crusaders were able to give themselves their only lead in their Friday night visit to Canmore against the Eagles and win their third game in a row by a score of 3-2.
In a relatively quiet first period, the Eagles were the only team to score as Defenseman Jesse Sheen came off the Eagles bench and received a pass from Forward Jake Ashton, putting the puck past Brandon Vogel with nine seconds left in the first.
Things got off to a rocky start in the second period when the Eagles would execute on perfect three on two just 45 seconds into the middle frame, Jake Ashton would give Canmore a 2-0 lead.
In what was a penalty filled game, Sherwood Park was the only team to score on a combined 15 opportunities with the man-advantage.
At 14:36 of the second, Crusader Forward Arjun Atwal tapped in a puck past Thomas Davis as the Crusaders worked things on the right wing side of the Eagles zone. Ty Readman would receive the puck from Dylan Stewart and slide it over to Atwal on the left side of the Eagle goal.
The Crusaders took a late penalty in the second, and best case scenario was to escape the middle period only down 2-1. But some excellent pressure by the Crusaders at the Eagles right point allowed Arjun Atwal to have a short-handed break in the final 30 seconds of the period. Atwal would beat Eagle netminder Thomas Davis through the pads to equal things up at two heading into the third period.
Sherwood Park would carry the play in the third period, outshooting Canmore 19-10. But the timely scoring that occurred earlier for the Crusaders continued into the final minute with the Crusaders having the Eagles hemmed in their own zone, Forward Ryan Cox would score his fourth game winning goal of the season off a scramble in tight on the Eagles goal.
With the win, the Crusaders sweep the season series against the Canmore Eagles, 3-0-0 and stay a point ahead of the Grande Prairie Storm for fourth in the division.
Sherwood Park wraps up their weekend with a visit to the Max Bell Centre in Calgary to take on the Canucks Saturday afternoon at 5pm.
BOXSCORE: Crusaders 3 Eagles 2
VIDEO: Highlights