The pendulum continues to swing back and forth for the Express as they drop a 5-2 decision on home ice to the Nanaimo Clippers.
The scoreline is slightly deceiving as the Clippers did add two empty-netters at the end of this game. Never let it be said that Coquitlam are afraid of a challenge as they continued to play and persevere with the extra attacker after the first goal went in. At this stage in the season, you might as well take the opportunity to work on every aspect of your game.
Coquitlam opened the scoring in the second period with a nice turn and shoot play in front of the goal by Co-Captain Michael Rubin. The Blauvelt, NY product found the puck on a nifty through-feed that slowed after contact with the defence but managed to still make it to Rubin’s stick.
The Clippers answered right back off a very familiar stick as former Express Emmett McHardy tipped a point shot from Andrew Brown. The puck went down to the ice and proceeded to ricochet off the skate of an Express defender through the legs of Adam Manji.
Drew Garzone kept the goal trade going with a nice toe-drag wrister from the right faceoff circle a mere minute later to restore the lead. The Princeton Tiger commit now has 18 on the season and grabs it on his debut as an Alternate Captain.
Luke Buss finished off a crisp passing play to tie the game again at the 9:21 mark and this was probably the most concerning play the Express let in on Manji. Mike Murtagh broke away behind the defence to get great inside position and his tap in opportunity just grazed the outside of the opposite post before Luke Buss was able to clean up for his 21st of the year.
Fast forward to Chase Hull giving the Clippers their first lead of the game at 16:08 into the second, it was another play where a man was left unchecked around the goal. Manji made a valiant effort on the initial stop only to have Hull waiting to mop up afterwards.
The third period saw a great push back by the Express with several key possessions down in Nanaimo territory. They just couldn’t find a way to solve Chazz Nixon. Coquitlam threw the kitchen sink at Nanaimo in the end but the #4 seed sent it right back with not one but two empty net goals. Emmett McHardy iced the game for his second of the night to finish off a great team defensive effort for the Clippers, keeping the 6-on-5 at bay. Mike Murtagh added the second.
Luke Vardy earned Fortis BC Energy Player honours with his continued ability to lead by example. Early in the contest the Clippers bared down on the Express with two power play chances. Both were rebuked by the dogged work of the penalty killers including the first kill that saw Vardy have about three blocked shots himself. Putting your body on the line is one thing, doing it effectively and at the most poignant moments is another. Joseph Odyniec was also contributing to the shot block department, following the lead of his captain.
Nanaimo can’t be excluded from the defensive conversation of this game either. They were great in their own zone and applied immense pressure on the back check. To Coquitlam’s credit they managed it well for the most part. Jeff Wagner had particular praise for this post game with the breakout on the powerplay.
Speaking of the special teams, the status quo remained tonight. The penalty kill was perfect, but the powerplay was unsuccessful. The bright side of the situation is the powerplay still looked good and was moving the puck well. They generated good looks that were often a fraction away from going in. Drew Garzone had a one timer during the second that just barely missed the near side post.
The Express are at home once again tomorrow night with the Penticton Vees in town for a 7pm opening faceoff.
FORTIS BC ENERGY PLAYER – Luke Vardy
MARINER BREWING 3 STARS
3rd – COQ – Drew Garzone – 1G
2nd – NAN – Chase Hull – 1G
1st – NAN – Emmett McHardy – 2G
– Ian Wilson
