The Express sally forth in their second three game set of the season as they play host to the Cowichan Valley Capitals for a consecutive weekend. Cowichan comes into the Train Station off a 4-0 defeat at the hands of the Surrey Eagles last night while the Express are parsing through the good and bad of a shootout loss to the Smoke Eaters.
Cowichan looked switched on last night out at the nest as the Caps managed 37 shots against a hard defending Surrey team. They couldn’t beat one of the best goalies in the league in Ajeet Gundarah. Neither could they beat Jaiden Sharma who came in halfway through the game after Gundarah left with an injury and stopped 17 shots. Cowichan will need that level of compete on display this evening as the Express will certainly look to play a much more structured game than last weekend.
The Capitals play hard from whistle to whistle and the Express experienced that in the previous matchup. Coquitlam know their weak points after they were attacked with blistering resolve by the Smoke Eaters just last night. They need to be solid in their defensive end and make sure they push the pace. Both against Trail and Cowichan, the Express got into problems when they tried to slow the game down and win with their feet and hands as opposed to moving the puck around crisply. The puck moves faster than any player ever will and getting the defence tired chasing the biscuit around is a key to take into tonight.
It was Ethan Simcoe in goal last night for Coquitlam so expect a return between the pipes for Adam Manji as he searches for his first win of 2024. Manji has had some solid games during this winless stretch and when you review the tape, its far too often an occurrence that he’s faced 2-on-1 or 3-on-1 opportunities that ended up in the back of the goal. The Burnaby Brick Wall is ready for a comeback performance tonight as Coquitlam has a collective chip on their shoulder the size of a mountain.
If that mountain starts moving, you best get out the way of the landslide.
The Express are snake bitten right now. 2-9 in their last 11 has left them returning to the drawing board again and again as they try to find some of the magic that had them 8-3 heading into the winter break. The new faces are still acclimating, with some slotting in quicker than others but as the season presses ever forward, when will time start to run out?
With 18 games left in the season, Coquitlam doesn’t appear in any danger of missing the post season. That metric truly isn’t that important though if they are destined for another first round exit. The only ones who can control their destiny are indeed themselves. This is the time of the season that momentum is built for the Fred Page Cup. Coquitlam needs to trend in the right direction with haste so they can create that bit of swagger they have missed for a while now. Don’t get me wrong, this team will be fine. Good things come to those who wait and if there’s anything this team has shown this season, it’s to not count them out.
Keep an eye on Jospeh Odyniec tonight. The Washington DC product had a big goal against the Capitals last weekend on the powerplay and was one of the Express’ hardest workers. Sebastian Bradshaw will also be a big piece tonight as the imposing forward has two goals in his last four games, both coming from going hard to the net. If Coquitlam can get pucks to the net front and keep their presence on the front porch lethal, they will do just fine.
Tune in on FloHockey for the broadcast or grab your tickets and come on down to help the Express defend the Train Station!
– Ian Wilson
