It’s game day!
The Coquitlam Express are set to host the Surrey Eagles tonight in a late one! Puck drop is 8:00pm.
Tonight’s matchup marks the seventh meeting of these two clubs. The Eagles have won the last two and outscored the Express 18-1 in the process, so the Express should be eager to secure a victory.
The Express are coming off an overtime loss to the Powell River Kings, but they played a very strong hockey game and it was something to build off of. The Express had an almost fully healthy lineup for the first time in weeks and it showed, as the team’s veterans really showed up. For the majority of that aforementioned game, the Express played with a shortened bench, so the vets saw a lot of ice time. Look to see a similar deployment of the bench tonight against this talented Eagles team.
It seems like this team has cemented its ideal top-six – the first line consists of Keeton Oakley (LW), Ryan Tattle (C), and Danny Pearson (RW), while the second line hosts Christian MacDougall (LW), Sam Marit (C), and Tyler Schleppe (RW). Five of those players make up the team’s top-five point leaders. Each line has found a sense of cohesion and chemistry, while both bringing different looks to the table – the Tattle line is all offence and zone time, while the Marit line plays a very physical and chip-and-chase style of hockey that is very difficult to play against.
The Express had their five-on-five play dialed in for their last outing, but they really need to get their special teams on track to compete with this Eagles team that is one of the top teams in the BCHL. The Express have gone 0/17 on the man advantage in their last five games and given up 10 power play goals in that same stretch – it’s been a major factor in a lot of their recent woes.
If they can win the special teams battle tonight, the Express will give themselves a shot to win this hockey game.
Get off the tracks – a train is coming through!
#allaboard
