The Coquitlam Express snapped their 5 game losing streak and picked up just their 2nd win on home ice by dropping the Surrey Eagles 4-3 Wednesday night.
It hasn't been the best of times for the Express in recent weeks trying to re-establish their winning formula from earlier in the season.
In the first period the Express set the tempo for the game at 5 on 5 and on both sides of the special teams battle.
It started with the Express killing off two Surrey power plays in the first 10 minutes. Then the power play which hasn't lit the world on fire began to heat up. Bo Pieper banged home the rebound of an Ben Israel point shot with just 3 seconds left in the first power play of the night for the Express to open the scoring.
Just under 5 minutes after Bo's goal the Express struck again as Corey Mackin poked home the rebound of a Ryan Rosenthal shot past Devon Fordyce.
This game that saw the teams separated by just a point entering the game had it's emotional moments.
Ryan Fraser-Lee was certainly involved in his fair share of some of the physical play in the first period. First he was on the receiving end of a hit by Joey Santucci in the corner that the Eagles defenceman wasn't too fond of. Then he laid out a big hit on Express forward Bo Pieper looking for retribution.
Then late in the first period he hit Jace Henning with a dangerous hit into the end boards. Fraser-Lee was assessed a 2 minute minor for checking from behind, a roughing call and a game misconduct. On the play Eagles goaltender Devon Fordyce got involved with the scrum that involved Cody Boyd and Adam Smith of the Express. As a result the Express got a power play out of it based on the involvement by Fordyce leaving the crease to join the fracas behind his net.
On the ensuing power play the Express struck again as Marc Biega's point shot got past a screened for Fordyce.
It was a perfect first period for the Express on special teams in the first period. They were 2 for 2 on the power play and 3 for 3 on the penalty kill.
The strong opening 20 minutes saw the Express come away with a 18-5 advantage in shots.
Eagles captain Brett Mulcahy cut into the Express lead by re-directing a Nathan Dawson shot past net minder Pierce Dushenko.
Dawson also had a hand in the Eagles second goal as he had another point shot tipped home this time by former Express Mitchell Fyffe.
The Express entered the final period needing to protect a 1 goal lead.
They thought they got some much needed insurance just under 6 minutes in when they appeared to have scored on a scramble. But it was ruled the puck was gloved into the net much to the disagreement by the Express.
Surrey had a strong edge in play looking for the equalizer. But getting another puck past Dushenko was proving to be difficult. He came up with a number of quality saves in the third period. Including a glove save on Danton Heinen with 6 minutes to go in the third period. The Express rookie net minder would finish with 36 saves for his 3rd win of the season.
Joey Santucci got the Express some much needed insurance with just over 4 minutes to go as a Bo Pieper shot bounced off the end boards to him at the side of the net and he poked it home.
Santucci's goal would turn out to be huge as Nic Pierog cut the Express back down to one just 1:19 later. That would be as close as the Eagles would come as Dushenko shut the door the rest of the way.
Heading into a 9 day break on a winning note is much easier to take than the alternative. The Express are back in action a week from Friday for the first of a 3 game weekend when they will play host to the Langley Rivermen.
It hasn't been the best of times for the Express in recent weeks trying to re-establish their winning formula from earlier in the season.
In the first period the Express set the tempo for the game at 5 on 5 and on both sides of the special teams battle.
It started with the Express killing off two Surrey power plays in the first 10 minutes. Then the power play which hasn't lit the world on fire began to heat up. Bo Pieper banged home the rebound of an Ben Israel point shot with just 3 seconds left in the first power play of the night for the Express to open the scoring.
Just under 5 minutes after Bo's goal the Express struck again as Corey Mackin poked home the rebound of a Ryan Rosenthal shot past Devon Fordyce.
This game that saw the teams separated by just a point entering the game had it's emotional moments.
Ryan Fraser-Lee was certainly involved in his fair share of some of the physical play in the first period. First he was on the receiving end of a hit by Joey Santucci in the corner that the Eagles defenceman wasn't too fond of. Then he laid out a big hit on Express forward Bo Pieper looking for retribution.
Then late in the first period he hit Jace Henning with a dangerous hit into the end boards. Fraser-Lee was assessed a 2 minute minor for checking from behind, a roughing call and a game misconduct. On the play Eagles goaltender Devon Fordyce got involved with the scrum that involved Cody Boyd and Adam Smith of the Express. As a result the Express got a power play out of it based on the involvement by Fordyce leaving the crease to join the fracas behind his net.
On the ensuing power play the Express struck again as Marc Biega's point shot got past a screened for Fordyce.
It was a perfect first period for the Express on special teams in the first period. They were 2 for 2 on the power play and 3 for 3 on the penalty kill.
The strong opening 20 minutes saw the Express come away with a 18-5 advantage in shots.
Eagles captain Brett Mulcahy cut into the Express lead by re-directing a Nathan Dawson shot past net minder Pierce Dushenko.
Dawson also had a hand in the Eagles second goal as he had another point shot tipped home this time by former Express Mitchell Fyffe.
The Express entered the final period needing to protect a 1 goal lead.
They thought they got some much needed insurance just under 6 minutes in when they appeared to have scored on a scramble. But it was ruled the puck was gloved into the net much to the disagreement by the Express.
Surrey had a strong edge in play looking for the equalizer. But getting another puck past Dushenko was proving to be difficult. He came up with a number of quality saves in the third period. Including a glove save on Danton Heinen with 6 minutes to go in the third period. The Express rookie net minder would finish with 36 saves for his 3rd win of the season.
Joey Santucci got the Express some much needed insurance with just over 4 minutes to go as a Bo Pieper shot bounced off the end boards to him at the side of the net and he poked it home.
Santucci's goal would turn out to be huge as Nic Pierog cut the Express back down to one just 1:19 later. That would be as close as the Eagles would come as Dushenko shut the door the rest of the way.
Heading into a 9 day break on a winning note is much easier to take than the alternative. The Express are back in action a week from Friday for the first of a 3 game weekend when they will play host to the Langley Rivermen.
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