EXPRESS OUTPACE EAGLES

Jack MacNab scored his 1st two Express goals.
Photo courtesy of Damon James.

In a game that saw both teams move their feet in a uptempo contest, the Express were able to get the edge on the Surrey Eagles in a 4-1 win Saturday night. Click here for boxscore

Brock Hamm made 17 saves - Photo courtesy of Damon James

The Express got multiple point performances from Jack MacNab, Colby Pederson, Troy Robillard and Jordan Schulting to pace the attack.

In the opening shift of the game there was some concern after a hit involving Josh Wildauer and Surrey defenseman Jackson Ross left the Eagles defenseman lying on the ice with a significant cut on his head. Fortunately for the Eagles blue liner he missed a few shifts after going to the room for repairs.

All night long both teams were moving their feet making for entertaining hockey to watch.

Jack MacNab opened the scoring on his first Express goal taking a pass from Josh Bruce and snapping it past Daniel Davidson at 16:05. For the Notre Dame committed forward it was his 3rd of the season.

Surrey had a two man advantage for over 50 seconds in the first period to pull even, but the Express didn't give Surrey much of a sniff. They posted their second straight perfect 4 for 4 night on the penalty kill.

Jonathan Sheardown - Photo courtesy of Damon James

The second period saw the teams continue to play a track meet of the game, but after the first turn the Express started to distance themselves from their opponents. That speed led to good shifts in the Surrey zone.

Just shy of the 7 minute mark the Express doubled their lead on a Eric Linell deflection of a Troy Robillard for Linell's 21st of the season. The assists for Robillard was just the start of a strong game for him on the blueline.

At the other end, Brock Hamm was his usual solid self in the Express crease. He was getting some good support with the team playing at a high tempo in front of him.

Surrey's fourth power play of the night in the 3rd period didn't result in a goal. But they had good possession of the puck in the Express zone. They were able to carry that momentum when the play returned to 5 on 5. Moments later Jackson Ross surprised Brock Hamm with a quick wrist shot from the right point.

Then Hamm had to really be on his toes, a dump in the Express zone hit an official and caught Hamm out of the net and he raced back to his net and reached back with his stick and narrowly got a piece of the puck to keep it out of the net.

As the third period wound down the Express put the Eagles to bed. Colby Pederson raced into the Surrey zone then fed the puck back to Troy Robillard whose shot got to the net where Pederson followed it to bury the rebound for a 3-1 Express lead. Robillard picked up his 3rd assist of the night on the play. Since November 29th Robillard has not gone more than two games without a point. He has 2 goals and 10 assists for 12 points in his last 14 games.

The final shots finished 28-18 in favour of the Express. The 18 shots allowed is a season low. When the game was on the line in the 3rd period the Eagles were only held to three shots.

The Express will finish up a busy three game weekend with a Sunday afternoon meeting with the Chilliwack Chiefs at 2pm in Coquitlam.