Cole Huggins made 38 saves in his second Express start for his first shutout with his new team as the Express won 2-0 over the Langley Rivermen.
The Express came out strong in the first period but couldn't beat Rivermen goaltender Jim Kruger. And when they did beat him, he had the red metal behind him backing him up.
The teams were scoreless after the first period.
Kruger continued his strong play into the second period. Finally the Express broke through midway through the frame when John Siemer from behind the net set up Connor Redmond who scored on a backhand for his first Express goal.
The Express got a break for their second goal three minutes later when Brady Shaw from behind the net centered the puck and it hit a defenceman and trickled through the legs of Kruger. The goal for Shaw was his 7th goal of the season with all 7 of those goals coming on home ice.
Langley opened the third period on the powerplay with Clinton Atkinson seated in the penalty box. That powerplay helped set the tone for the period as the Rivermen pressed to get on the board. That powerplay was followed by a few more but Langley couldn't get a puck past Huggins. The Rivermen sent 19 shots the way of Huggins who posted the first shutout of his BCHL career. Langley finished the game outshooting the Express 38-37. Huggins played last season with Langley when the team was nicknamed the Chiefs.
Jim Kruger was very good at the other end for Langley. He did all he could to keep his offensively challenged team in the game. The Rivermen who are the lowest scoring team in the BCHL have now scored just 30 goals in 16 games this season. They have just 3 goals in their last 5 outings. And they have scored 1 goal or less in 10 of 16 games.
The game wasn't the chiippiest of games in between the whistles, but had a fair number of emotional sckirmishes after the whistle.
Rajan Sidhu made his Express debut on defence after being acquired from Drumheller. Taylor Bourne didn't play but is expected to dress Saturday in Surrey.
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