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| Scoring twice on teddy bear toss night takes the pain away for Brendan Lamont - Photo courtesy of Damon James. |
The fantastic finish capped off a very entertaining night of hockey that wasn't worthy of seeing the teams finish tied.
Coquitlam entered the game riding a three game losing streak and looked to begin their final two games before the Christmas break on a positive note.
Brayden Krogfoss got just his second start in nearly two months. He's quietly sat and watched the majority of action since the acquisition of Chris Tai. It was understandable that there was a little rust early, but he quickly shook it off and settled in to play what would turn out to be his best game of the season.
It was teddy bear toss night Friday and the local faithful got their chance to toss their stuffed animals late in the first period when Brendan Lamont scored his first of two goals on the night on a 5 on 3 powerplay as he banged home a loose puck at the side of the Victoria net.
The opening period saw the Express get three chances on the powerplay. Things would quickly be evened up in the second period as the Grizzlies got three powerplays of their own in the first 7 minutes of the period. The man advantages allowed the Grizzlies to test Krogfoss who really settled into the game in the second period.
15 minutes into the second period Brendan Lamont was awarded a penalty shot when he was slashed cutting to the net on a chance. On the free pass Lamont initially took his time then sped up crossing up Grizzlies netminder Michael Stiliadis and Lamont slid a backhand through the five hole for his second of the game and a 2-0 Express lead.
Victoria finally broke through in the final minute as Brett Gruber scored a powerplay goal in finishing off a two on one. The Grizzlies fired 19 shots on Krogfoss in the middle frame thanks in large part to nearly 10 minutes of powerplay time in the period.
Gruber added his second of the night again on the powerplay in the third period to erase a two goal Express lead.
Fast forward to the second overtime that had some memorable moments.
On a offensive zone faceoff Corey Mackin and Brett Supinski teamed up to go straight ahead on the draw then had a quick give and go 2 on 0 chance in front of the net and left everyone in disbelief when Supinski coudn't bury the chance on an open net.
At the other end Krogfoss put the final touches on a great 46 save performance with game saving stops off Kevin Massy and Cole Pickup in the final 90 seconds of the second over time.
Following the Pickup chance, there was an faceoff deep in the Express zone with 7 seconds left on the clock. The Express lined up defenceman Daniel Fritz to take the faceoff and on the drop of the puck he quickly fired the puck forward setting up a two on one with Mackin and Supinski with time left on the clock for a chance. And Supinski scored with less than a second remaining in the game burying a Corey Mackin rebound for the 3-2 Express victory.
It was overtime dramatics that had the feel of a playoff type victory.
There's one final game for the Express before the Christmas break Saturday night vs. the Prince George Spruce Kings.
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