by Eddie Gregory
A strong 1st and 3rd period was enough for the Express to post their 3rd straight win by a 5-2 score over the Nanaimo Clippers Sunday afternoon. Click here for boxscore
The win came without the services of Josh Wildauer and captain Troy Robillard. But the Express had Clay Stevenson play his first game since the home opener vs. Salmon Arm.
Right from the drop of the puck the Express went to work on the attack rolling their lines and pushing the pace in the Clippers zone.
Chase Danol broke through for the Express firing a shot from a very sharp angle that found it’s way over the shoulder of Clippers goaltender Jordan Naylor who was down attempting to take away the bottom part of the ice.
Clay Stevenson was tested for rust 7 minutes into the game and showed no signs of it coming to his left for his best save of the night to deny Nicholas Wilson with his left pad.
The Express came out of the first period with only the 1-0 lead, and a 14-6 advantage in shots reflected their strong play that at times Nanaimo had trouble to keep up with.
The tide turned in the second period and it was a little challenging for the Express to find a similar rhythm.
A rebound chance for Ethan Scardina appeared to have been cleared off the goal line by Drew Cooper, that was followed by a lengthy sequence of play and the Clippers argued the puck crossed the goal line. Then after some discussion by the officials on the next whistle Scardina was credited with the goal that tied the game at 1.
Dallas Farrell restored the Express lead just over two minutes later taking a pass from Regan Kimens and ripping a shot over the shoulder of Naylor.
To Nanaimo’s credit they were pesky in the second period and evened the game in the final minute of the second period on a powerplay goal from Gunnar Wegleitner to make it 2-2 after 40 minutes.
The Express emerged for the 3rd period as a re-focused group and started skating again and their play resembled what they did so well in the first period.
The play was interrupted by a surprising fight early in the frame when Dallas Farrell and Devon Mussio decided to tangle just 1:42 in. It was the first game back in Coquitlam for the former Express Mussio who played two seasons with the team.
Once the game settled back in the Express pulled away, Jordan Schulting jumped into the play from the right wing and slid home his first goal of the season.
That was followed just under two minutes later by a goal from Connor Gregga from the slot.
Jason Fortier was forced to tweak some of his forward lines in the third period due to various circumstances including the ejection of Farrell for his fight. But the various line combos that hit the ice continued to execute the system as the game wound down.
Christian Sanda put the finishing touches on the Express third straight win with a late powerplay goal.
The shots finished 38-25 in favour of the Express.
They remain two points back of the Chilliwack Chiefs for first place in the Mainland division after they rallied in the third period for a 3-2 win over Vernon.
Next week the Express host the Prince George Spruce Kings for a pair of games Friday and Sunday.
