CANMORE – Owen Jones scored twice and the Canmore Eagles doused the Drumheller Dragons 5-2 on Saturday (March 22) at the Canmore Recreation Centre in Game 2 of the first round.
The Eagles bounced back after an 11-2 loss on Friday (March 21) to even the best of seven playoff series 1-1.
Netminder Alex Scheiwiller (1-1-0) stopped 32 shots in net for his first playoff victory as an Eagle.
Both of Jones’ goals came less than eight minutes into the first period as the hometown junior A club came out flying.
Forward Aidan Tkachuk would add one more in the opening period.
Just seconds into the middle frame, Eagles captain Rhett Dekowny found the back of the net to end Sean Cootes night in goal early. Matthew Kondro filled in between the pipes for the Dragons for the remainder of the game.
Later in the period, Dragons’ Hudson Gainer broke up Scheiwiller’s shutout. A huge moment came halfway through the period when the Eagles killed off a five-on-three to preserve a three goal lead.
In the third, defencemen Jaren Brinson of the Eagles and Will McLaughlin of the Dragons each scored for their clubs. The Dragons weren't without their opportunities in the third, though, with three man advantages in the frame. However, they weren't able to close the gap.
The series heads to Drumheller for Games 3 and 4 on Tuesday and Wednesday (March 25-26).
Game 5 returns to Canmore on Friday (March 28).
