Reid Cooper had his second straight stellar outing for the Express. But the finish was different this time around as the Langley Rivermen defeated the Express 3-2 thanks to a Angus Crookshank last minute goal.
Cooper made 37 saves was the sole reason this game went down to the wire and the Express nearly came out of the weekend with at least three points vs. Langley.
The first half of the game was the Reid Cooper show. He was peppered with 18 shots in the first period. The Rivermen were the faster team and it lead to numerous quality chances. But Cooper was proving he was as sharp Saturday as he was the night before.
What stands out watching Cooper is his ability to control his rebounds and keep them close enough to quickly pounce on them all while fighting through Langley traffic.
It was more of the same for Cooper in the second period. At the other end the Express started to generate some chances. Aidan Wagner who two great chances on the backhand and couldn't finish either of them.
Late in the second period Langley finally broke through on Cooper while shorthanded. Sam Kozlowski was knocked to the ice allowing the Rivermen to get the puck in the Express end. Moments later Trevor Ayre beat Cooper on a wraparound to open the scoring at 15:14.
Then came some controversy. With the Express on the power play Jordan Schulting fired a shot that hit the crossbar and bounced down and may or may not have gone in the net. The goal light was turned on, the Express bench thought it was a goal. But it remained a 1-0 Langley lead after two periods.
The Express entered the period only down a goal despite a 34-10 shot advantage for Langley.
Captain Alex Ambrosio pulled the Express even just 35 seconds into the period on his 4th of the season.
The third period saw the game settle into a tight struggle once the Express had tied it.
Ethan Leye broke the deadlock exactly 11 minutes later as he snuck a wrist shot from the left wing through Reid Cooper.
If we have learned anything about this Express team this week is that they have some resiliancy in the room.
Less than 90 seconds later Riley Johnson chipped a Sam Kozlowski pass over the glove of Braedon Fleming to tie the game at two.
In the dying seconds Brendan Budy fed the puck back to Carter Stephenson whose shot was stopped by Cooper, but a rebound squirted to Angus Crookshank who scored with 16.7 seconds left in the third period for what would turn out to be the game winning goal.
Despite the setback for the Express everyone in the building post game was speaking very highly about Reid Cooper's strong play. In the home and home with Langley this weekend he turned aside 79 of the 83 Langley shots sent his way.
Up next the Express host Chilliwack on Wednesday.
Cooper made 37 saves was the sole reason this game went down to the wire and the Express nearly came out of the weekend with at least three points vs. Langley.
The first half of the game was the Reid Cooper show. He was peppered with 18 shots in the first period. The Rivermen were the faster team and it lead to numerous quality chances. But Cooper was proving he was as sharp Saturday as he was the night before.
What stands out watching Cooper is his ability to control his rebounds and keep them close enough to quickly pounce on them all while fighting through Langley traffic.
It was more of the same for Cooper in the second period. At the other end the Express started to generate some chances. Aidan Wagner who two great chances on the backhand and couldn't finish either of them.
Late in the second period Langley finally broke through on Cooper while shorthanded. Sam Kozlowski was knocked to the ice allowing the Rivermen to get the puck in the Express end. Moments later Trevor Ayre beat Cooper on a wraparound to open the scoring at 15:14.
Then came some controversy. With the Express on the power play Jordan Schulting fired a shot that hit the crossbar and bounced down and may or may not have gone in the net. The goal light was turned on, the Express bench thought it was a goal. But it remained a 1-0 Langley lead after two periods.
The Express entered the period only down a goal despite a 34-10 shot advantage for Langley.
Captain Alex Ambrosio pulled the Express even just 35 seconds into the period on his 4th of the season.
The third period saw the game settle into a tight struggle once the Express had tied it.
Ethan Leye broke the deadlock exactly 11 minutes later as he snuck a wrist shot from the left wing through Reid Cooper.
If we have learned anything about this Express team this week is that they have some resiliancy in the room.
Less than 90 seconds later Riley Johnson chipped a Sam Kozlowski pass over the glove of Braedon Fleming to tie the game at two.
In the dying seconds Brendan Budy fed the puck back to Carter Stephenson whose shot was stopped by Cooper, but a rebound squirted to Angus Crookshank who scored with 16.7 seconds left in the third period for what would turn out to be the game winning goal.
Despite the setback for the Express everyone in the building post game was speaking very highly about Reid Cooper's strong play. In the home and home with Langley this weekend he turned aside 79 of the 83 Langley shots sent his way.
Up next the Express host Chilliwack on Wednesday.
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