The Surrey Eagles extended their win streak to six games on the weekend, after back-to-back victories over the Burnaby Express and another over the visiting Trail Smoke Eaters.

Now, with a 12-5-1 (won-loss-overtime loss) record, the Surrey squad finds itself in top spot in the BC Hockey League’s Coastal Conference, two points clear of the second-place Powell River Kings, who they’ll face this Saturday.

League-wide, only the Vernon Vipers – who are an astonishing 14-1 to start the year – have a better record than the Birds, who are a league-best 9-1 in the last 10 games.

“Guys are starting to get used to playing with each other,” Eagles head coach Shane Kuss said. “Early on there were a lot of new faces trying to gel, and now it’s starting to come together. We knew we had guys who could put the puck in the net – it was just a matter of time.”

In their 6-4 victory over the Smokies on Sunday afternoon, the Eagles waited until the final 20 minutes to preserve their winning streak. They scored just one goal through two periods, and trailed 4-1 until exploding for five third-period goals.

Tyler Morley ignited the comeback with a shorthanded tally – he deposited a rebound off Mike Krgovich’s original shot – and Richard Vanderhoek, Neil Blunden, Jason Grecica and Andrew Wallace also found the back of the net. Grecica also scored the team’s first-period goal and now has five on the year.

For the third weekend in a row, Surrey played three games on consecutive nights – perhaps the reason for their slow start Sunday at South Surrey Arena – but the team was better in a 5-3 home-ice win Friday over Burnaby, and a 2-1 victory Saturday on the Express at Bill Copeland Arena.

On Friday, both clubs had troubles beating the opposing goalies – Burnaby’s Harrison May and Barclay for Surrey – in the opening frame, and Express forward Rich Manley finally broke the scoreless tie just 18 seconds into the second period.

The Eagles equalized on a shorthanded marker from Krgovich, but Burnaby’s Matt Ridley restored the visitors’ lead by the second intermission. After Dylan Herold extended the lead to 3-1 just over a minute into the third, the Eagles notched four unanswered goals for the win.

Vanderhoek, Chris Santiago – on the power play – Wallace and Krgovich, with his second of the game, scored for the Eagles, rewarding the home fans for their patience.

On Saturday, Morley and Grant Toulmin scored for the Eagles in the 2-1 victory, and Vinny Lessard stopped 34 of 35 shots to earn the win.

The game was tied at one goal apiece until Toulmin, a Langley native, notched the winner midway through the third period with a highlight-reel effort.

After intercepting the puck in the neutral zone, the veteran forward dipsy-doodled through a pair of Express defenders and, as he fell to the ice, fired a wrist shot that beat May on the glove-side.

The Eagles are back on home ice tonight (Wednesday) against the Westside Warriors.

- Nick Greenizan