It’s game day!
The Coquitlam Express are scheduled to play the Surrey Eagles for their third meeting of this POD season in a matinee at Scotia Barn. Puck drop is 1:00 pm.
The Express are coming off of a difficult overtime defeat at the hands of the Powell River Kings on Friday night. The boys watched the Kings climb out of not one, but two two-goal deficits in the third period and then go on to end the game just 16 seconds into the extra frame. It was a gutting loss, but it needs to fuel the Express’ fire and not smother it.
On the flip side of this afternoon’s coin, the Eagles are coming off a massive 8-1 victory over the Kings on Saturday. Holden Katzalay had himself a big night for the Eagles with two goals and a helper to his name – he’s now up to seven points in five games and 10th in BCHL scoring. Keeping him and his line off the scoresheet is a key ingredient in this afternoon’s recipe for success.
Another key for the Express will be to keep the power play hot. To date, the Express are boasting the best power play in the Coquitlam POD with a 30% kill rate – it’s third in the BCHL behind the Vernon Vipers (35.3%) and the Victoria Grizzlies (33.3%). A major part of this early success can be attributed to the play of Ryan Tattle and Alek Sukunda. Tattle is leading the BCHL in power play goals (4) and Sukunda is leading the league in power play assists (5).
Another statistic to note is that the aforementioned Sukunda is tied for the league lead in scoring amongst defencemen with Eagles blueliner Jimmy Darby. They play a similar style of game and a lot of offence on the man advantage flows through these two players. Look to them to be contributors this afternoon for their respective squads.
The season series is currently split at 1-1.
Get off the tracks – a train is coming through!
#AllAboard
