Black Fish offence erupts, snaps Shooting Eagles win streak

Connor Watson and the Black Fish handed the Shooting Eagles a 20-15 loss, ending the first-place Eagles' three-game win streak. Watson finished with three goals and seven points in the victory and was the game's first star. Gary Ahuja photo

It may be the week after New Year’s, but there were plenty of offensive fireworks on Sunday afternoon.

The Black Fish had five players score three or more goals in a 20-15 win over the first-place Shooting Eagles who saw their three-game win streak come to an end. The result improved the Black Fish to 3-4 while the Shooting Eagles saw their three-game win streak come to an end with their record now at 5-2.

“We stayed out of the penalty box for the most part, so we were allowed to play five-on-five and that helps us because I think we have a decent offence,” said Black Fish coach Rod Jensen. 

The Black Fish were down 4-3 after a period but used an eight-goal second to lead 11-9 at the half. The Eagles cut the deficit to 14-13 with a period to play, but the Black Fish outscored their opponent 6-2 to secure the victory.

Jensen said his team was able to overcome some early turnover issues, and once they did, they capitalized on their possessions.

“Once we got some possessions, we started to get some quality looks and were able to put the ball in the net,” he said. “The reason (the Eagles are) 5-1 is because they play four quarters. We have spurts but we don’t do it enough.”

“(But today) I thought we played four quarters and played strong and got through the adversity and our goalie made some great saves.”

Brandon Humphrey finished with 56 saves (a save percentage of .788) as the Black Fish were outshot 71-52.

And while Humphrey was keeping the ball out of his net at one end, Connor Watson (3-4), Ethan M’Lot (4-2), Temeke7 Gottfriedsen (3-1), Chase McIntyre (3-1) and Brian Gillis (3-1) each scored a hat trick or more. Aiden Murphy (1-5), Laszlo Henning (2-2) and Jordan Roberts (1-1) provided the rest of the offence.

Watson and Murphy were the first and third stars, respectively, while the Shooting Eagles’ Garret Winter was the second star following his four-goal, six-point game.

Spencer Bromley and Isaac Richmond both finished with hat tricks and five points apiece while Declan Fitzpatrick (2-1), Ben Gagnon (2-0) and Jacob Dowell (1-0) rounded out the scoring for their team. Brody Harris finished with 27 saves on 45 shots while Tristan Lomas allowed a pair of goals on seven shots in net for the Shooting Eagles.