The Coquitlam Express were in Surrey to take on the Eagles Saturday night in what was these two clubs’ second meeting of the 2021-22 season. The Express would take this one, exactly like their first meeting, 7-4!
The opening 20 minutes of play was extremely exciting with six goals being scored – three for each team. The Eagles jumped out to an early two-goal lead, but as we talked about pregame, the Express showed resiliency and managed to battle and get back into the hockey game. Ray Hamlin found a powerplay goal to cut the lead in half and not long after that, Christian MacDougall capped off a terrific shift full of heavy zone time with a wraparound marker. Following that, James Bohn gave the Express their first lead of the game with an unassisted goal as he carried the puck up ice and ripped a shot home. The Eagles managed to knot the game back up at three late in the frame with the final goal of the period.
The Express played a strong middle frame, scoring the periods only two goals. One of which was a shorthanded tally courtesy of Arlo Merritt and the other one was off of Ryan Tattle’s stick for his eighth point of the campaign. They did a great job at limiting the Eagles’ time and space and not letting them establish any momentum. The game was ultimately won in the second period.
The Express’ top line of Merritt, Hamlin, and Tattle picked up where they left in the second and continued their offensive prowess with another goal just 34 seconds into the third period – this time, it was Hamlin finding his second of the contest. Throughout the period, the Express did a terrific job clogging up the neutral zone and maintaining long stints of possession in the Eagles’ zone. The Eagles could not generate any momentum and just looked deflated for the majority of the period – their lone goal in the period came off of an unfortunate bounce in the Express’ zone. Late in the contest, the Express’ big line went back to work as Merritt found his second goal and third point of the night off of a partial breakaway.
The Express’ big guns put on a show in this one as that aforementioned top line combined for five goals and eight points on the night! Tattle (1G, 2A), Merritt (2G, 1A), Hamlin (2G)
The next time to catch the Express in action is on the 20th when they play the Salmon Arm Silverbacks in Chilliwack!
#AllAboard | #WeAreAllExpress
