Smoke Eaters 5 Eagles 3

Bryan Basilico's wrist shot 7:53 into the second period held up as the game winner, as Trail dispatched the Eagles 5-3 Friday night in Surrey.

Basilico rifled a puck into the top corner of the Surrey goal from the high slot, at the time putting the visitors up 4-1 before the Eagles put together a late rally that fell just short.

Sean Davies opened the scoring 1:36 into the game when he was found in the slot on an odd-man rush. He snapped a shot just over the right pad of fellow Albertan Devon Fordyce for his third goal of the year.

Kale Bennett answered for Surrey just under twelve minutes later on an Eagles od-d-man rush when he cranked a shot just beneath the cross-bar after a nifty feed from Anthony Conti.

The Smoke Eaters came out flying to start the second, though, scoring three times inside eight minutes. First, Jake Lucchini fired home a rebound from the right side on a Trail power-play 3:01 in, before Dylan Mascarin found a loose puck at Fordyce's feet, jamming in his second goal of the season less than two minutes later.

Basilico put the Smokies up 4-1 when Surrey began to press harder offensively, eventually beating Trail netminder Adam Todd a second time when Austin Ferguson took advantage of a turnover and efforted home a second-chance puck in the crease

The Eagles continued to press, but were denied by several stellar Todd saves before Chase McMurphy banged a loose puck past his right toe on a Surrey power-play late in the third period.

But despite enjoying a large amount of offensive zone pressure with an extra attacker on the ice, the hosts could not find an equalizer, instead crediting Basilico with his second goal of the game when his shot veered toward the empty net and was called a goal after a Surrey player threw his stick.

The Eagles outshot the Smokies 39-37, and 23-11 in the final thirty minutes of the game.

My Three Stars:
1. Bryan Basilico, Trail
2. Chase McMurphy, Surrey
3. Adam Todd, Trail

Up Next: The Eagles will host the Langley Rivermen to close out the weekend Sunday. Game time is 4:00 at South Surrey Arena.