The Express saved their best for last in Alberni Valley tonight. Coquitlam came into this one looking for consistency and commitment to keep the ship steered in the right direction. Find it they did, as a third period for the ages would send the Bulldog faithful home from the Dog Pound scratching their heads and wondering how it all fell apart so quickly.
The first two periods yielded end to end action accompanied by grit and a whole lot of determination on both sides. The first 40 would end 3-1 Alberni with Jimmy Lyver, Jacob Terpstra and Fischer O’Brien lighting the lamp for the Bulldogs. Jake Manfre had the lone tally for Coquitlam, who stays red hot with 6 goals in his last 5 games, and it’s a streak to boot.
The third is when both teams kicked things up a notch. Joseph Odyniec was able to use his shooting strength to power one through the short side of former Port Moody Panther Callum Tung for his 9th of the season. Mason Croucher than would answer 10 minutes later to restore the Bulldogs 2 goal advantage. Just shy of the 5 minute mark left in the third, Coquitlam came unchained. Drew Garzone sprung free down the left wing and blasted home a one timer on a silky smooth feed from Jake Manfre. Following that, Noah Dziver continues to be the shining example of hard work paying off. Not even 15 seconds later after Garzone rippled the twine, Dziver would tip a Kasper Walther-Sneve shot home into the top side of the goal. And if he hadn’t already done enough damage, guess who found the puck in his feet around a net front scramble, had the poise to kick it to his stick, and the mettle to bury it past a sprawling Callum Tung. Dziver came away with his first multi goal BCHL game with his 3rd and 4th of the campaign enroute to 1st Star honours.
Then to add a little salt to the wound, James Shannon does what he does best and terrorized the Alberni powerplay. A steal and a quick move at the blueline around the gambling defender sent him on a crash course with Alberni’s netminder. A few quick moves was finished with a wicked wrister glove side to put this one out of reach shorthanded.
Evan Hammond on the FloHockey broadcast praised the Express for their work ethic throughout the contest, and it paid off in droves with the three goals in 1:54 seconds. Coquitlam has been desperate for offensive conversions this year and to find them at the rate they did tonight against a tough Coastal Conference rival, is a great sign of tidings to come. Tip of the hat as well to the blueline and Adam Manji, who came up big when it mattered most. The importance of managing one’s own end when going up against the second highest scoring team in the league is imperative. There’s a few more I’m sure they’d like back, but at the end of the day, the Express defence saw a team that put up 10 goals the night before and held the line. With the Surrey game still fueling some momentum, and another big win in the books, December could be quite lucrative for your Coquitlam Express.
A quick turnaround for the boys as they will head to Nanaimo for a Sunday afternoon matinee, 2pm the puckdrop. You can catch all the action on FloHockey where Dan Marshall will have the call.
FORTIS BC ENERGY PLAYER OF THE GAME – Lucas Buzziol
MARINER BREWING 3 STARS
3rd – COQ – Logan Morrell – 2A
2nd – ALB – Fischer O’Brien – 1G
1st – COQ – Noah Dziver – 2G
– Ian
