The Coquitlam Express opened up the 2022-portion of their season with a home game against the Nanaimo Clippers Sunday afternoon.
The first period was, as expected, a slow start for both clubs as they both looked to get their legs under them following the winter break. Each team took a penalty in the opening frame and neither man advantage looked overly dangerous. The Clippers jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the frame, while the Express had a goal of their own disallowed. After 20 minutes, the Clippers had a 10-8 advantage in the shots department.
The game really opened up in the middle period, but not in favour of the Express. The Clippers outshot the Express 20-9 in the period and potted three more goals to extend their lead to 4-0. This period showcased a lot of emotion and physicality, primarily from the Express, as their frustration started to boil over. It got chippy in the final few minutes and one had to expect the same level of aggression to carry over into the final 20 minutes of play.
The third period was very similar to the second, as the Clippers controlled the majority of the play and added three additional goals to make it 7-0, which would cap off the contents’ scoring.
The Express had trouble getting any sort of momentum going in this one and looked deflated after surrendering the lead. We’ll have to chalk this up to a little holiday hangover, as they simply didn’t have their legs under them Sunday afternoon.
They’ll look to bounce back on the 7th when the Wenatchee Wild come to town.
#AllAboard | #WeAreAllExpress
