It was a hero’s return for Sam Frandina as the Express made the trek to Chilliwack and came away overtime victors. For the fourth time in six games Coquitlam ventured beyond regulation to decide the fate of a contest and tonight it would bode well for them as they secured the extra point in dramatic fashion.
In the first period the Chiefs started with the advantage on dictating pace and spent a decent portion of the beginning frame in the Express zone. Coquitlam battled back and were able to break through off the stick of Jake Manfre. Frandina let a shot go from the blueline that floated through traffic and was expertly redirected past Vladimir Nikitin to come away with the opening tally.
Chilliwack would answer with a point shot redirection of their own at 17:12 with Caleb Elfering providing the coercion of the puck. The play was reviewed for some time by the officials due to the placement of Elfering’s stick near his shoulders, but it was ultimately deemed a good goal for the Richland, WA product.
The second period was a track meet that saw neither side able to make headway past the netminders. Coquitlam outshot the Chiefs 10-8 but nearly gave away the go-ahead goal to Olivier Beaulieu. He was right at the back door off an Adam Manji save and somehow shot the puck wide of the open cage much to the chagrin of the Chilliwack faithful. He would make amends for that mistake later in the frame as he saved a puck off his own goal line after a nice tip play in front of Nikitin nearly trickled across.
The compete level took no shifts off in the third with both teams digging in and executing the gameplan. This game’s second star Brendan Ruskowski cashed in off an Express turnover when an errant pace came up the middle and right onto his stick. Manji stood no chance on the point-blank giveaway.
I mentioned a hero’s return for Sam Frandina. Well, he already assisted on the opener for the Express. Now it was time for him to take things a step further.
Coquitlam earned a powerplay 9:25 into the third and a mere 10 seconds into said special teams tour of duty, Frandina would step into an absolute missile from the blueline that powered past Nikitin. The St Lawrence commit notched his third of the season on his first game in over a month recovering from injury. Credit to Joseph Odyniec on this goal because the big man muscled a puck out of the faceoff tie-up pile and freed it up for Frandina to tee off.
Now into the overtime frame we go as 60 minutes once again solved nothing for these two teams. Parker Murray had an incredible opportunity with 7:38 to go as the Chiefs caught Coquitlam changing and sent a stretch pass to him as he waited at the Express blueline. The pride of Manhattan Beach streaked in on Adam Manji and let a wrister go that the Burnaby Brick Wall fought off and held on to. Manji would stand on his head several more times in OT including stopping a hard charge from the goal line by Willyam Gendron, halting a great solo effort by Olivier Beaulieu, and then with 1:06 remaining slid across to stonewall a 3-on-1 that ended with a wicked shot from Gendron again.
That trifecta of saves from Manji set up the penultimate conclusion as following the latter of those stops Ty Campbell was issued a roughing minor for his hack of the Coquitlam netminder’s pads and subsequent scuffle with Kasper Walther-Sneve. The ensuing powerplay saw the Express hem Chilliwack close to their netminder with less than a minute to go in overtime. Sam Frandina controlled the puck after a great play by Joseph Odyniec kept the special teams in the offensive zone. Frandina then let a wrist shot go from the high slot to beat Nikitin and cap off a seismic return to the lineup.
A fantastic game all around for the Express was finished off with a momentum boosting moment that will hopefully fuel the defenders of the Train Station for some time to come. Jacob Bonkowski had two points in his debut for the Express and played a physical two-way game like he is known for. Joseph Odyniec was huge on the special teams providing chances for his teammates through shrewd control of the puck and fighting for possession tooth and nail.
Chatting with Associate Coach Jeff Wagner it was clear to see that this was an Express side that competed from start to finish and bought into the system wholesale. He also had rightful praise for the play of Adam Manji who came away from this one with 30 saves and a pedigree of important saves to give his team the opportunity to win.
There aren’t enough good things to say that can fully encompass Sam Frandina in this game. The dynamic presence he affords that blueline does not go unnoticed. “Franny was electric tonight,” said Coach Wagner. And that right there is just about all you need to know to wager a guess at how much his teammates and coaches missed him.
The Express have earned a much deserved few days off before they host the Powell River Kings on Monday Afternoon for the FREE Family Day game! Admission is no charge for this one so bring the entire clan down to the Poirier Sports and Leisure Complex for the noon puck drop.
FORTIS BC ENERGY PLAYER – Tucker Shedd
MARINER BREWING 3 STARS
3rd – COQ – Jake Manfre – 1G
2nd – CHWK – Brendan Ruskowski – 1G
1st – COQ – Sam Frandina – 2G 1A
– Ian Wilson
