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Game Day! Coquitlam Express vs Surrey Eagles (11/19/21)

The Coquitlam Express are safe and sound and back in town after a productive but prolonged road trip to the interior – the team won both of their games but were caught in the middle of the terrible flooding & landslides that are currently plaguing southern BC. Tonight, they are set to take on the Surrey Eagles at the Train Station! Puck drop is at 7:00pm.

The Express are 3-0-1 in their last four outings and are currently on a three-game winning streak. They’ll look to continue the streak with another victory tonight over an Eagles team who has lost in three of their last four games.

The team has really come together nicely, getting contributions throughout their lineup. The backbone of this squad has been their goaltender, Connor MacKenzie, who has gone 2-0-1 in his last three starts and posted a remarkable .968 SV% over that stretch, accompanied by a 1.25 GAA over the same trio of games. When you have a goalie playing as well as MacKenzie is, it gives the group in front of him a lot of confidence – this is illustrated by the recent offensive emergence of Jayden Sison, who has chalked up three goals and two helpers in the last three games. In fact, eight of his 11 points this season have come in the last five games.

Surrey has gone 1/17 on the powerplay in their last four games and have struggled offensively as of late, averaging 1.25 goals per game in those aforementioned four outings. In comparison, the Express have amassed four goals per game over their last four contests. Additionally, the Express’ man advantage went 4/21in those four games, operating at a respectable 19%.

Where the Express have truly been shining lately is at 5-on-5 – they’re doing a terrific job at clogging up the neutral zone and causing headaches for their opponent’s defenders with a relentless forecheck. Protecting the lead was a problem area for this Express team in the early stages of this 2021-22 campaign, but because of the previously mentioned forecheck and neutral zone trapping, that table has since turned. Beyond that, the Express are winning those pivotal battles for loose pucks and open ice and look like the team that wants it more game in and game out.

The keys to tonight’s game remain the same: control the 5-on-5 play with sound defensive decisions and a heavy forecheck, stay out of the box, and keep executing on the man advantage. It also wouldn’t hurt to keep the goaltending as strong as it is!

We’ll see you at the Train Station!

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#AllAboard | #WeAreAllExpress