The Express picked up 3 out of 4 possible points this weekend afterfalling 4-3 in overtime to the Surrey Eagles Saturday night. Thatresult comes 24 hours after a dramatic 5-4 win for the Express overVictoria Friday.
Burnaby has now picked up points in 3 of theirlast 4 games. The only game in that span where the Express didn't pickup points was last Sunday vs. the Cowichan Valley Capitals.
The red hot Rich Manley opened the scoring on one of the most beautiful goals you will see this season in the BCHL.
Withthe Express shorthanded, Brad Reid broke away with Manley, Reid camedown the left wing lost his footing as he entered Surrey's zone, he wasstill able to dish the puck across the puck to Manley who knocked thepuck out of the air and past Vinny Lessard.
The goal forManley was his 5th in his last two games. That goal comes afterManley's first career 4 goal game in junior 24 hours earlier vs.Victoria.
Reid's helper extended his point streak to 4 games. (4G, 4A) And in Reid's last 7 games he has 6G, 4A, 10PTS.
Burnabyopened the 2nd period with a 2 man advantage for a full 2 minutes withSurrey being assessd a roughing penalty to Wes Vannieuwenhuizen and abench minor at the 20:00 mark of the first period following some roughstuff at the horn.
Jimmy Geerin added to Burnaby's lead on thepowerplay as he blasted home his 4th of the season to give the Expressa 2-0 lead just 39 seconds into the second period.
The goalfor Geerin extended his point streak to 4 games. (3G, 2A). Furthermore,Geerin has 3 goals and 6 assists for 9 points in his 11 games.
Surrey cut into Burnaby's lead midway through the 2nd period as Jason Grecica chipped the puck over Nick Enegren at 11:15.
Thenin the final minute of the 2nd period the Eagles pulled even. ChrisSantiago jammed the puck under Nick Enegren who was lying on the icebut behind his goal line and the powerplay goal saw the two teams headto the third period tied at 2.
It didn't take long for theEagles to take their first lead of the game in the third period. MikeKrgovich came down the left wing and put a perfect pass on the tape ofGrant Toulmin who had a tap in on a 2 on 1 break to give Surrey a 3-2lead just 36 seconds into the third period.
The goal didn'trattle the recenlty resiliant Express. James Bettauer pulled theExpress even less than 4 minutes later as his blast changed directionson Vinny Lessard and dribbled in to tie the game at 3.
The Express have now erased a third period deficit in 3 of their last 4 games.
Forthe 2nd straight meeting between these two teams at the Bill CopelandSports Centre, Vinny Lessard was the difference between the Express andvictory. He stopped 34 of 35 Express shots in a 2-1 Surrey win onOctober 17th. On this night, Lessard stopped 39 of 42 Express shotsthrough 60 minutes as the teams went to overtime.
The extrasession didn't last long as the Eagles controlled the puck in theopening minute of overtime in the Express zone, they bided their timeand Adam Basford found Cole Gelly pinching in and the Eagles defencemanmade no mistake picking the top corner on Nick Enegren for Gelley's 1stgoal of the season on the only shot of overtime at 1:03 to give Surreythe 4-3 win.
The encouraging sign for the Express is the amountof rubber they've directed towards the oppostion goal the last 2 games.42 Saturday vs. Surrey and 49 Friday vs. Victoria for 91 total shots ongoal in the last 2 games.
It's also encouraging to see theExpress show the ablity to come from behind in the third period for the3rd time in the last 4 games.
In the race for the playoffs,the Express did fall one point back of Cowichan Valley as they knockedoff the Prince George Spruce Kings 3-2 Saturday night. The Caps willwrap up their northern road trip Sunday afternoon in Williams Lake.
Theexpansion Timberwolves will be Burnaby's next opponent as they will paya visit to the Bill Copeland Sports Centre Wednesday night. Then thepre-christmas schedule will wrap up for the Express Friday night whenthe Express host Jacob Verheyden and the Quesnel Millionaires.
