The Coquitlam Express visited the Surrey Eagles Saturday afternoon at Scotia Barn and found their two-game winning streak snapped in dramatic fashion. The Express statistically played their worst game in franchise history, giving up a staggering 13 goals and ultimately losing by 12.
The Express came out flatfooted and quickly found themselves down and chasing the game. Turnovers were abundant, their urgency was nonexistent, and the team’s execution took a hiatus for the afternoon. One has to wonder just how much fatigue played a part in this poor effort – this contest was the Express’ third game in four days.
With that being said, the Express took on a very deep and experienced Eagles team that is seemingly starting to find their stride. The birds have tallied 22 goals in their last two outings and their offence proved to be too much to handle this afternoon.
Something to keep an eye on is the injury status of the Express’ Ryan Tattle. The Port Moody product left the game in the second period and did not return – at the second intermission, he could be seen taking some strides on the ice and seemingly testing out upper body rotation. We’ll keep you posted on Tattle’s status as he joins Christian MacDougall and Colten Kovich on the Express’ injury list.
Perhaps the only bright spot for the Express this afternoon is the fact they took only one penalty in the contest, which is by all accounts impressive for this heavily penalized group.
It was obviously a very ugly outing Saturday, but the Express will have to put it behind them immediately with only 11 games remaining in this shortened season. They’ll get right back at it Sunday afternoon in a 1:00 PM game against the Powell River Kings – this will be the Express’ fourth game in five nights.
