Reece Klassen held the fortress until the Surrey Eagles mounted their offensive horses.
The Eagles’ goalie stopped 35 shots all but five of which came in the first to periods, and was flawless the rest of the way in a 3-0 win Friday over the visiting Prince George Spruce Kings.
The 20-year-old former Swift Current Broncos puckstopper, a native of Cloverdale acquired by the Eagles in a deadline deal with the Fort McMurray Oil Barons of the AJHL, earned his first BCHL shutout in his sixth game since the trade was made.
The Eagles are 4-1-0-1-0 with Klassen in net. He had to be sharp as the Kings pounded him with 19 shots in the second period and came out of it with a 2-0 lead.
Christophe Tellier scored first on a Surrey power play 6:35 into the period and Hassan Aki banging in a rebound at even strength less than five minutes later. Hudson Schandor closed the deal in the third period with a goal set up by Tellier.
Tellier ranks fifth in league scoring with 54 points and a team-leading 25 goals (second in the BCHL). He has 12 points in five games this season against the Spruce Kings. The Eagles have won four of those games.
The loss ended a modest two-game winning streak for the Spruce Kings (16-25-2-3-0), who remained fifth in the Mainland Division, eight points behind the third-place Eagles (19-20-3-4-0).
The Spruce Kings’ power play went 0-for-6. Surrey finished 1-for-2.
The Kings, who started their trip Wednesday with a 4-3 win over the league-leading Coquitlam Express, will play the Chiefs Saturday in Chilliwack. The Chiefs (2-14-5-4-0) lost 4-3 Friday in Coquitlam.
