The Coquitlam Express were in Langley Tuesday night to take on the Rivermen but fell short 6-1.
The first period was a very evenly matched period with chances going for both teams. The story for this frame was special teams – every goal scored came on a powerplay. The Rivermen opened the scoring on the man advantage but the Express responded in short order with a powerplay goal of their own, courtesy of Christian MacDougall on the doorstep. With that being said, the Express surrendered a late powerplay goal in the period following an undisciplined penalty by the aforementioned MacDougall. Coming off of a suspension, MacDougall was thoroughly engaged in this period and was probably the Express’ most effective forward in the frame. The Rivermen would carry a 2-1 lead into the break.
The Rivermen came out hot in the second period with a goal just 39 seconds into the frame. That would be the only goal of the period, but the Express’ Shane Lavelle did have a disallowed goal. The Express would get two looks on the powerplay, including a four-minute one, but they just couldn’t execute despite numerous chances. Near the end of the period, MacDougall was called for kneeing and sent the Rivermen to a four-minute powerplay of their own that saw the majority spill over into the third period. The shots were 27-22 in favour of Langley after 40 minutes of play.
The third period was a tough one for the Express as the carryover penalty time really came back to bite them as the Rivermen would add another powerplay marker. The Express would not be able to stop bleeding from that point on. Langley would go on to add another pair of goals on the way to a 6-1 victory. The Express looked very deflated for this period and just had no bounce-back at all following the 4-1 goal.
The Express had their chances Tuesday night, as they chalked up over 30 shots and had seven powerplay looks. They managed to find one on the man advantage, but the lack of execution on the rest was a major factor in this hockey game. Langley would end up going 2/4 on their opportunities.
The Express are back in action on Friday night as they host, you guessed it, the Langley Rivermen at the Train Station!
#AllAboard | #WeAreAllExpress
