Tonight, the Coquitlam Express host the Langley Rivermen for their fourth meeting since Halloween night! Puck drop is at 7:00pm.
The Rivermen have gotten the better of the Express in all three of their meetings so far this season, outscoring them 15-3 in the process. The Express were in those games through 20 minutes in all three of the meetings, being either up or down a goal at the break, but they were outscored 9-0 in the other 40 minutes over the same trio of contests. This has been part of an eight-game losing streak for the Express.
However, in their previous two games last weekend, the Express have seemingly turned a page in terms of their play. This is a group that is playing with a lot of intensity and emotion that is on the brink of a breakthrough game. General Manager, Tali Campbell liked what he saw in those two outings,
“From my prospective, this wekend was a statement weekend. We had a lot of conversations this week about accountability, effort, and playing as a family. We did that this weekend. We didn’t get the results that we wanted, but I am proud of our guys.”
The Express lost both of those games but really did deserve a better outcome. The Express fired a collective 81 shots at the net over the two outings and were controlling the majority of play. In their most recent game against the Salmon Arm Silverbacks, the Express gave up three powerplay goals on four opportunities and ultimately lost the game 4-3 in a shootout – the Silverbacks found all of their goals in the hockey game on the man advantage.
The Express have been the better 5-on-5 team in their past few outings and if they can maintain that tempo and also remain disciplined, they’ll have a real shot at snapping this losing streak.
The Express will be without the services of veterans Alek Sukunda and Christian MacDougall, who are both out with injuries. Darren Beattie will be making his debut on the Express’ back end tonight – the ’02 product will be skating on the second pairing with James Bohn. His aquisition via trade was announced back on the 4th. Connor MacKenzie will be in the crease once again for the Express.
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