It took Jonas Bergqvist a couple games to get going. He hadn't played in a long time. It took Jim Leavins 29 minutes to make a contribution.
Largely because of their new, veteran Scandinavian connection, the Eagles have matched their longest win streak of the season and have taken back-to-back shootout victories over teams who stand higher than them on the IHL ladder.Tuesday, it was a 3-2 double-shootout win over Fort Wayne.
Thursday, the Eagles spotted red-hot Kalamazoo the first three goals, then came back to go up 5-4 and beat the Wings 6-5 in a Salt Palace shootout.
Their fourth straight win has them thinking optimistically. First-place Kalamazoo, after all, was 18-2-1 of late with a 10-game road-win streak.
"We pulled ourselves out of the lower echelon of the league," said Coach Bob Francis, "and put ourselves in the middle echelon, and we wanted to show we could play with the upper echelon."
After a bad first period, they did.
"That's a character builder; that's when a team comes together," said Randy Bucyk, who centers a line with Bergqvist and Rich Chernomaz.
Bergqvist scored the Eagles' second goal in a four-goal second period, then had a shootout goal. Bucyk scored Salt Lake's third goal, to tie the score at 14:19 of the second. Chernomaz had assists on both goals plus the shootout goal that won the game.
Bergqvist, the Swede sent down by Calgary for conditioning on March 9 and due to go back soon, has a four-game scoring streak with a goal each game. He's 3-for-3 in shootouts and helped the in two shootout wins this week with identical fade-to-the-left moves.
"I make the same move all the time. There's no reason to change," said Bergqvist, 27, a former World Cup competitor for Sweden who joined the Stanley Cup-champion Flames last summer but hasn't been able to crack that talented lineup.
"He's a guy I love playing with," says Bucyk. "He's got all the tools."
Leavins, 29, is back from Finland for his third hitch with the Eagles. The last two seasons, he's returned when European campaigns ended. Tuesday, he had an assist less than 29 minutes into his first game, and his goal forced a second shootout. Stephane Matteau's shot produced victory.
Thursday, the puck-handling defender assisted Matteau's goal at 1:47 of the second that started the Eagle comeback; then Leavins assisted Bergqvist's goal. His passes kept the offense moving. "Leavins was outstanding," said Francis. "He is so cool back there it's scary."
The last four Eagle goals were all the result of extra effort, three coming immediately after they missed an easier shot. Leavins was denied, but a Chernomaz shot rebounded high, Bergqvist caught it, put it down and shot over two fallen Wings.
Bucyk missed an open net 2-on-1 with Chernomaz, but they kept the puck deep, and Chernomaz threw it out of the corner to Bucyk, who didn't miss again. "You swear to yourself a lot," Bucyk said. "I didn't want to come off until I scored. I almost gave myself a heart attack."
Kalamazoo's Gary Emmons won a faceoff, followed the puck and scored unassisted at 15:22 to put the Wings up 4-3, but Marc Bureau tied things 4-4 at 17:19, getting his own rebound after just missing an easier shot. Bureau, with a goal, assist and shootout score, has a 12-game scoring streak.
Tim Sweeney gave the Eagles their only regulation-time lead, 5-4, at 12:06 of the third when he dragged a defender from the blue line to below the faceoff circle and sent a changeup in.
Mario Thyer forced overtime, scoring for Kalamazoo at 15:22 when Scott Robinson bounced off the wall to center the puck after a Brian Glynn check.
That line--Thyer, Robinson and J. F. Quintin -- pleased Wing Coach John Markswith intense play. He was not happy with the other seven forwards, and the lost 3-0 lead fueled a lecture session. "We blew a 3-0 lead. We're better than that," he said. "We fell asleep, thought the game was won. We haven't blown a 3-0 lead in months."