A little over a week ago, the 性视界传媒 Eagles finally leapfrogged the Langley Chiefs into second place in the BC Hockey League鈥檚 Coastal Conference.

With that task accomplished, the Peninsula squad went to work last weekend putting some distance between themselves and their Lower Mainland rivals.

The Eagles won three straight over the weekend 鈥� including two against the Merritt Centennials, 4-1 Friday at South 性视界传媒 Arena and 7-2 Saturday night at the Cents鈥� Nicola Valley Arena.

On Sunday, 性视界传媒 showed little sign of fatigue despite travelling home from Merritt the night before, beating the visiting Cowichan Valley Capitals 5-1.

鈥淚t was obviously a good weekend. We executed in all areas and were able to get three wins,鈥� Eagles coach Matt Erhart said.

鈥淲e continued our good defensive streak, and outscored (the opposition) 16-4. Anytime you can do that, you鈥檙e going to be happy with your weekend.鈥�

With just nine games to go before playoffs, Erhart was also pleased to open up a five-point gap on the Chiefs, and an eight-point lead on the fourth-place Victoria Grizzlies.

The first-place Powell River Kings still hold a 14-point lead over the Eagles and are just a few wins away from clinching the division title.

鈥淎t about the 20-game mark our goal as a team has been second place in the conference. We鈥檝e been playing well and we control our own destiny now 鈥� if we want to stay in second place, we just have to worry about our own games and we don鈥檛 have to scoreboard watch (other games),鈥� said Erhart.

鈥淎nd the little bit of a cushion (on Langley) is nice, too.鈥�

Karel St. Laurent was between the pipes Friday, stopping 25 shots en route to his first shutout of the season; on Sunday, he turned away 29 of 30 shots.

鈥淚t鈥檚 nice to see him get the shutout. Karel had two starts at home before that game where he probably deserved to get one,鈥� Erhart said.

Rookie backup Andrew Hunt took over in Merritt Saturday, between St. Laurent鈥檚 appearances, and helped his team to a 7-0 lead until the Cents potted a pair of late goals 鈥� the first coming with two minutes left in the second period, and the second with seven minutes left in the third.

On Friday, forwards Robert Lindores and Jeff Vanderlugt each had a goal and two assists, with linemate Michael Stenerson also chipping in with one helper.

鈥淭hat line 鈥� Vanderlugt, Stenerson and Lindores 鈥� really carried us Friday,鈥� Erhart said. 鈥淭hey really stepped up and, five-on-five, were probably our best line all night.鈥�

Beau Orser and defenceman Linden Saip also scored for the Eagles.

In Saturday鈥檚 seven-goal outburst, six Eagles scored, with blue-liner Mitch Jones leading the way with a pair. Brad McGowan 鈥� the BCHL鈥檚 leading point-getting with 81 鈥� had a goal and an assist, and added three more helpers against the Capitals.

McGowan鈥檚 three assists aside, Daniel Gentzler was the star Sunday, potting a hat-trick, with Vanderlugt and Brandon Morley also finding the back of the net.