Following back-to-back home wins over the Chilliwack Chiefs, the Coquitlam Express are now taking their talents on the road to take on the Coastal Conference-leading Langley Rivermen! Puck drop is at 7:15pm.
The Express have been playing very strong hockey over the past two weeks, as they’ve posted a 2-2 record and only lost by one goal in each of their two losses. Their success can largely be attributed to their strong special teams play – in their last four games, their powerplay has gone 5/15 (33.3%) and in their aforementioned back-to-back wins, they went 4/8 (50%) on the man advantage. This recent surge has been paced by newcomer Mateo Dixon, who was just named the BCHL’s First Star of the Week for burying back-to-back hat-tricks, including four powerplay markers.
Tonight, the Express prepare to take on the Rivermen, who are winners in three of their last four outings and currently sit atop the Coastal Conference. The Rivermen have been dominant on home ice this season, posting an 11-3-0-1 record at George Preston Arena, good enough for the second-best home record in the BCHL. Curiously, the Rivermen have found this success despite owning the second-worst powerplay (16.1%) in the Conference. Additionally, they have given up the fewest goals in the Conference (81) and scored the sixth-fewest goals (104) – this is a strong indicator of a very good 5-on-5 hockey team that wins games by close margins.
In order for the Express to continue their winning streak tonight, the Express will need to continue their strong 5-on-5 play, maintain their special teams prowess, and ideally jump out to an early lead to force this low-scoring Rivermen team to play catchup.
Carter Woodside will be between the pipes again tonight as he looks for his third consecutive victory as a member of the Express!
#AllAboard | #WeAreAllExpress
