The visitors for a second straight night got off to a slow start in the first period. Dexter Dancs and Brendan Persley scored 1:40 apart before the game was 7 minutes old to pace Vernon to a 2-0 lead.
But for a second straight night the Express didn't let the quick start by the opposition phase them.
46 seconds after the Persley goal the Express got on the board with a power play tally by Canon Pieper.
Dancs re-stored Vernon's two goal lead 8 minutes into the second period with his second of the night.
The deeper this Express team travels in the 2014 post-season, we're learning a lot about the heart of this years group of Express. Corey Mackin scored his third goal of the Fred Page cup final 46 seconds into the third period to pull the Express within one.
Then Adam Rockwood scored beating Adam Smith up high with 7:39 remaining to even things up. In addition to his goal in the offensive zone, Rockwood was also a key factor for the Express with some solid plays in his own end of the rink.
In the first two games of this series the Express have showed championship heart battling back from a 3-0 deficit in game 1. They followed it up in game two battling back from 2-0 and 3-1 deficits. It's not really a recipe for long term success, and i'm sure the players and coaches would like to reverse this trend, but it's encouraging to see the way they find a way to respond.
Gordie Defiel had another top notch performance for the Express between the pipes. Especially in the third period as he turned aside 22 Vernon shots to keep his team in a position to complete the comeback. Saves off Liam Coughlin, Michael McNicholas in the final minute of the third period, and another one with one second remaining in the third period sent this game to overtime.
It didn't take long for this one to be decided just over two minutes in Adam Rockwood scored off the rush for his second of the night to give the Express the 4-3 win and the 2-0 series lead.
The Express come home with a firm grasp of the Fred Page cup final where the Express have 6-1 home ice record.
Game 3 is Monday night, with game 4 Tuesday in Coquitlam.
Monday's game will see the return to the lineup of forward Joey Santucci after serving a two game suspension. The Express have now won their last 4 games, all with either Cody Boyd or Santucci serving a suspension.
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