The Express played the quintessential road game from start to finish in Alberni to earn the road split and come home to the Train Station with a 1-1 series.
The Bulldogs were feeling strong at the start of tonight’s contest. Riding the high of the Game 1 overtime victory they dictated the pace and found success on the scoresheet through the first 20 minutes. If you thought the crowd was impressive on Friday, was it ever packed in there for Saturday night Hockey at the Dawg Pound.
Hayden Stavroff rewarded the fans for their feverish support with an absolute bullet into the top corner of the goal. Coquitlam tried to clear the puck to the half wall and it deflected off the reigning BCHL goal scoring king, he then settled it down at the high slot, turned and fired to find the opener.
Coquitlam survived the resulting adrenaline rush for the Bulldogs as they peppered Adam Manji with some more opportunities from various areas of the zone.
Carrying their momentum over to the second period, Alberni Valley kept up the pressure but the Express stood their ground. Through the first 12 minutes of the frame it was mostly Bulldogs and they poured it on. Adam Manji was ready for the challenge as the Burnaby Brick Wall pulled out a string of three key saves on the same play that could have easily made the game 2-0 and truly seized momentum for the home side.
To repay his efforts, the Express proceeded to rattle off three unanswered goals.
Kasper Walther-Sneve parked himself in front of the goal and found a puck on a centering feed to send it past Callum Tung while the Norwegian was falling down. James Shannon scored on the powerplay to keep the good times rolling for the special teams. It was a quick sweep of a rebound that managed to get past Tung and trickle over the goal line. And if one Canadian Tire Powerplay goal wasn’t enough, how about two? Drew Garzone netted his third goal in his last two games with a rip from the left faceoff circle. A beautiful shot that nearly blasted the goalkeeper’s water bottle to the heavens.
The second period came to a close 3-1 and Coquitlam carried all the momentum in the palm of their hands. However, the Bulldogs were not about to go quietly into the night.
Braden Blace opened the third period with a bang as the veteran blueliner took a seeing eye shot from the right point that found its way to the back of the goal. The roof nearly came entirely off the Multiplex as the fans came back to life and pumped energy into their team once again.
The real test began as Alberni Valley tried to forge their comeback and got a little help from two powerplay opportunities. Coquitlam held the line and improved to 4 for 5 on the penalty kill through the first two games. Despite not scoring on the special teams chances, Alberni built forward momentum and nearly broke through but the defence and Manji held. The deal was sealed when Drew Garzone broke free off a clearing attempt and iced the game with an empty netter for his fourth of the playoffs.
Adam Manji and Callum Tung had 30+ saves each again for the second night in a row as the former minor hockey teammates showed out again. Tung stopped 35 of 38 for second star honours while Manji had a whopping 38 saves on 40 shots for the first star nod.
The Express can leave Hockey Valley proud after this game. Despite giving up the goal less than 30 seconds into the third period, they did not fold up shop. It can be so easy to lose motivation when something like that happens but the Express kept working and stayed together. That coupled with the special teams showcase on the road is a sign of a very good trend. The next test will be to see how this carries over to Games 3 and 4 on home ice.
Coquitlam come home to defend the Train Station Tuesday and Wednesday, both games scheduled for a 7pm PST opening puck drop.
FORTIS BC ENERGY PLAYER – Lucas Buzziol
MARINER BREWING 3 STARS
3rd – COQ – Michael Rubin – 1 Assist
2nd – AVB – Callum Tung – 35 Saves on 38 Shots
1st – AVB – Adam Manji – 38 Saves on 40 Shots
– Ian Wilson
