Josh McQuade’s goal 51 seconds into the third period turned out to be the game winner, but the Eagles would add three more in the final frame for the 6-2 win, their conference-best 20th of the season.
The Sugar Kings, who followed a three-game winning streak with an overtime loss against Waterloo on Saturday, appeared to be giving Brantford a strong test early on.
Following a scoreless first period, Michael Therrien pushed one past Brantford goalie Daryl Borden to give the Sugar Kings the first lead of the game. It was short-lived though, as 52 seconds later, Eagles forward Mike Mazurek found the mesh behind netminder Brandon Gorecki to knot the game at 1-1.
Both teams continued to move the puck well throughout the period, with Elmira once gain grabbing the lead halfway through the second period.
Defenceman Shane Smith caught the Eagles on a bad change as he threw the puck up to Therrien, who skated in alone and beat Borden high on his glove side to make it 2-1.
This time it took 54 seconds, but Joe Vanni took advantage of a crowd in front of the net to slip one past Gorecki and tie the game at 2-2.
The Sugar Kings had some good chances during a power play to close out the second period, but couldn’t beat Borden again.
A promising game quickly turned south in the third period as four different skaters scored for the Eagles. After McQuade, Mike Ryan, Kyle Steckley and J.D. Monague beat Borden, who played a stronger game than the final score would indicate. The Kings goaltender stopped 40 shots in the loss.
Elmira’s Brennon Pearce and Brantford’s Ryan Moore both received game misconducts following a fight in the game’s final minutes as tempers flared.
Vanni and McQuade each added an assist for the Eagles, while defenceman Jeff Lynch had three helpers of his own. Tyson LeBlanc, Riley Sonnenburg and Shane Smith each had a point for Elmira.
The Sugar Kings will look to rebound when they head to Listowel on Nov. 27 for a 7:30 p.m. start, while the Eagles will host the Kitchener Dutchmen on Nov. 28.
