Rookie Nic Rasovic's late 3rd Period goal broke a 2-2 tie en route to a 4-2 win over the Chilliwack Chiefs in the front half of the home-&-home.
Chilliwack showed early that despite their record, they were going to make the Express earn everything they got on this night. They proved that point by opening the scoring less than 3 minutes in as Carter Cochrane cut to the goal and slid it past Gordie Defiel at 2:52.
Canon Pieper pulled the Express even as he snapped a shot through the legs of Josh Halpenny at 7:39. The goal was Canon's 25th of the season, tying him with Ryan Rosenthal for the team lead.
Josh Halpenny and Gordie Defiel had overall strong 1st Periods, with some fine saves at both ends of the ice. Defiel’s best came on the denial of Andrew Silard on a 2 on 1 opportunity where he moved cross crease to make a kick save with his right leg. Halpenny answered by kicking out bids by Joey Santucci and Corey Mackin in quick succession.
The intensity level of this game picked up a few notches in the middle frame. Jace Hennig opened the 2nd Period by scoring for a 3rd straight game and 4th time in the last five games. Matthieu Tibbet drew Chilliwack even when he stole the puck off Zach Hodder at the blue line, walked in on a breakaway, and slid home his 17th of the season. There were plenty of penalties consumed in the period. That included a 5 on 3 for the Chiefs’ powerplay, but neither team was able to break through on the power play, as both squads finished 0 for 5 on the night. This improves the Express penalty kill to 95.5% since the calendar turned to 2014.
The Express 4th line of Jackson Cressey, Daniell Lange and Nic Rasovic did what they do best and provided energy to their teammates early in the 3rd. They spent a good chunk of ice time in the offensive zone and were rewarded when a lucky bounce sprung Rasovic on a breakaway for the game-winning goal with just 2:24 remaining. Cody Boyd sealed the 4-2 win by scoring his 3rd of the season into an empty net with 1:05 left.
Scotiabank 3 Stars
- Canon Pieper, COQ
- Carter Cochrane, CWK
- Nicholas Rasovic, COQ
The Express completed the weekend sweep with a 6-3 win in Chilliwack on Saturday night. It was the 2nd time this season that the Express swept a home-&-home against the Chiefs.
Canon and Bo Pieper each scored a pair of goals, with Canon adding a pair of assists for a 4 point night. The Pieper brothers got their night started when Canon found a pinching Zach Hodder. His shot rebounded to Bo who found the back of the net at 6:56.
Pierce Dushenko got the start between the pipes for the Express and looked cool as a cucumber for while turning aside 36 of 39 shots. Dushenko made a key save on a Mason Boh breakaway late in the 1st, and the Express were able to harness that momentum to strike at 17:23 to make it 2-0. After working the puck around the zone, Cameron Marks unleashed a wrist shot through a screen for his 3rd goal of the season.
Chilliwack caught a break to get on the board in the 2nd Period. The puck was thrown to the crease area from behind the net. It hit the stick of Dushenko and Kyle Westerlingh poked it home to cut the Express lead to one. Jace Hennig restored the 2 goal lead on the powerplay with his 5th goal in 6 games.
The game was cruising along in the 3rd Period until Ben Butcher snapped a shot over the glove of Dushenko to cut the lead to 3-2 at 5:47. Butcher's goal gave his team some life in a game that seemed to be all but over.
Bo Pieper momentarily curbed Chilliwack’s momentum when he scored his 2nd of the night midway through the 3rd, extending the lead to 4-2. The plucky Chiefs wouldn't go down without a fight as Mathieu Tibbet scored for a second straight night on the powerplay setting up a tense finish with less than 4 minutes remaining.
When Adam Rockwood was called for hooking with 2:17 remaining, it set the stage for an exciting finish. Any notion of a comeback was extinguished when Canon Pieper broke away from the Chilliwack defense and scored a huge shorthanded goal, the 15th for the Express on the year. Canon added his 6th shorthanded goal of the season into an empty net, sealing the 6-3 victory. Canon is now one shorthanded goal away from tying Kyle Turris' franchise record for most shorthanded goals in a season that he set in 2005-06.
Scotiabank 3 Stars
1. Bo Pieper, COQ
2. Canon Pieper, COQ
3. Ben Butcher, CWK
Fortis BC Energy Player of the Game: Blake Gober, CWK
