A four-goal outburst in the second period carried the Surrey Eagles to a 5-1 rout of the Merritt Centennials in B.C. Hockey League action at South Surrey Arena Sunday afternoon.

The win gave the Eagles yet another split of weekend games following a disappointing 4-1 loss to the visiting Prince George Spruce Kings on Friday night.

After 10 games, the Eagles find themselves in last place in the BCHL's Mainland division with five wins, four losses and one overtime loss.

Sunday's game may have been a breakthrough moment for the young Birds as they scored a pair of power-play goals and held Merritt off the score sheet until the third period.

"That was our best 60-minute effort of the year," said Eagles coach Matt Erhart. "We had a little chat after Friday's game and then gave the guys Saturday off to think about it. They all came to the rink Sunday prepared to play and it showed on the ice.

"Merritt is a really good team and they only had one loss coming into the weekend. We stuck to the game plan, corrected some of the mistakes from Friday night and played a solid 60 minutes of hockey."

The Eagles led 1-0 after 20 minutes on a goal by Stefan Burzan. The Eagles finally took flight in the middle frame with a pair of power-play goals less than two minutes apart by Trevor Cameron and Michael Stenerson. That success spurred the Eagles' attack as both Cameron and Stenerson scored again before the end of the frame to effectively put the game out of reach.

Surrey goalie Michael Santaguida's shutout bid was spoiled with a third-period power-play goal but he finished the game with 34 saves and first star honours.

Surrey's power play was significantly more problematic on Friday against the Spruce Kings. Trailing by one midway through the final frame, the Eagles came up empty on a long five-on-three power play. The successful kill sparked the Spruce Kings, who netted two more goals to skate away from Surrey with two points in the standings. Devon Toews scored the lone Surrey goal.

The Birds now head north to one game in Prince George Saturday.