The Coquitlam Express start 2022 with a home game against the visiting Nanaimo Clippers! Puck drop is at 3:00pm.
Coming off of a big victory to close out 2021, the Express are looking to carry those winning ways over into a brand new year. It was tough sledding in December for the Express as they went 1-3-1 and had difficulty stringing together a full-60. A series of trades in the latter parts of 2021 left the Express with some new pieces trying to get climatized to their new team’s systems and culture and it left the team looking somewhat disjointed at times. To start 2022, it’s much of the same as the Express have made more dealings and brought in some new faces – one of whom will be Mateo Dixon, who will be making his debut this afternoon against his former team.
The Clippers are coming off of a much busier December schedule as they went 4-4 in the month. They fell short in their final two contests of 2021 and will look to right the ship this afternoon. Currently, the Clippers are third in the Coastal Division (17-10) and just three points back of the conference-leading Langley Rivermen. A large contributor to their success this season has been their special teams – their powerplay is the second-best in the conference, rolling at 26.7%, and their penalty kill boasts the same ranking, shutting down 80.2% of the powerplays in front of them. Sean Donaldson is leading the way for the Clippers offensively, as the 2001-born forward currently sits fourth in BCHL scoring with 23 goals and 37 points in 25 games.
For the Express to come away with a victory here tonight, they’ll need to win the special teams battles. Their powerplay was on the right track in December as they operated at 23.5% in the month and looked considerably more dangerous than previous months. Their penalty kill was also solid, as they killed off 20/25 attempts against them in December.
Connor MacKenzie gets the nod for the Express tonight – he finished 2021 with a record of 6-8-3 and he’ll look to claw back to .500 as January carries on.
January is a very home-heavy month for the Express as seven of their nine games are going to be played at the Train Station. So far in this 2021-22 campaign, the Express have been a better road team, but this month stands as a terrific opportunity to turn that around.
#AllAboard | #WeAreAllExpress
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