by Jacob Lazare |
Staying focused during special event games can sometimes be tricky. The Express proved to have no issues on Sunday as they cruised to a 6-1 victory over the Powell River Kings on Pink in the Rink night. Click here for boxscore. The win moved the Express to 11-3-0 on the season, and got the squad back into the W column following Friday night’s loss.
The Express got off to a quick start, when Steven Bellini picked up a loose puck and found Cooper Connell in the slot who beat Braedy Euerby blocker side only 3:30 into the game.
The Express attack did not stop there. 6 minutes later, Ryan Tattle made an unbelievable area bank pass from his own zone to Powell River’s blue line. Joshua Wildauer won the race to the puck and made a quick move to his backhand to extend the lead to 2-0 with his 1st goal of the season.
Less than a minute later, the Express found themselves on a powerplay for the second time, and they wasted no time with the extra man as Nick Carabin set up Drew Cooper at the point whose low slapper made its way through traffic and beat Eureby five hole. Cooper wasn’t done there, scoring his second of the afternoon only a few minutes later to make it 4-0. The Kings would replace Eureby with Matteo Paler-Chow shortly after. It was Cooper’s second 2 goal game of the second, and his 6th of the season. He scored only 5 times in 46 games last season.
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The 4 goal lead would not hold up for long, as Reilly Moran scored on the powerplay for Powell River, beating Jack Watson. It was the only goal Watson would allow. He was quietly solid making 21 saves in his much anticipated BCHL debut. The goal also concluded all powerplay scoring for the game, with both teams finishing 1 for 9 with the extra man in what ended up becoming a penalty laden affair.
Connor Gregga saw his 4 game goal streak snapped Friday night in Langley, but he didn’t take long to fire up a fresh one on Sunday. In what can only be described as a “you have to be good to be lucky” goal, Greg Lapointe’s wrister rung off the post and bounced off a net crashing Gregga and over the line. It was the only goal surrendered by Paler-Chow before an injury forced Kings Head Coach Tyler Kunz to send Eurby back between the pipes.
The scoring wrapped up 6 minutes later courtesy of Brad Ong, who on a shorthanded rush wound up for a slapshot. It was stopped, but he hustled to grab his own rebound and chipped it into the net to make it 6-1 Express.
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The third period dragged on with both teams unsuccessfully trotting out special teams units, and the Express would easily hold on for their 11th victory of the season. They improved to a perfect 6-0 on home ice a retook 1st spot in the Mainland Division, jumping over the idle Chilliwack Chiefs. The Express are back on home ice Wednesday night for a third matchup in less than three weeks against the Langley Rivermen in what is sure to be a spirited tilt.
