EXPRESS STREAK HITS HALF A DOZEN

Alex DiPaolo celebrates his goal - Photo courtesy of Damon James

The Coquitlam Express posted their 6th straight win by defeating the Prince George Spruce Kings 3-1 Sunday afternoon. The 6 game winning streak is the longest since a 6 game run in February 2012. Click here for boxscore

Forward Alex DiPaolo is the early candidate for the Cy Young award for the Express. He scored his 5th of the season to open the scoring after Regan Kimens' pass off a won face-off bounced to the net where DiPaolo was there to bury it. All 5 of DiPaolo's points have all been goals so far this season.

Chase Danol's really found his scoring touch during this Express run. He scored for a 5th straight game by snapping his second shorthanded goal of the season from the off wing past the blocker of Bradley Cooper for a 2-0 Express lead.

Sunday's game marked the first game back in Coquitlam for Sam Kozlowski. He was traded to the Spruce Kings just prior to the regular season. He played 110 games in an Express uniform over most of the previous two seasons.

Chase Danol scored for a 5th straight game - Photo courtesy of Damon James

His return came with mixed emotions. He let a wrist shot go from the right point that was tipped by Chong Min Lee to cut the Express lead to 2-1. But on the play Kozlowski was knocked to the ice and was immediately favouring his right knee. Thankfully Kozlowski returned before the end of the 2nd period.

Late in the middle frame two separate Spruce Kings infractions led to two minutes of 5 on 3 time for the Express. The first unit had good puck control creating chances and hustle to retrieve the puck back. Then late in the two man advantage with the second unit on the ice Pito Walton tees up a Drew Cooper one timer that found the back of the net for his first BCHL goal for a 3-1 Express lead.

Sunday was the second straight outing that the powerplay had struck twice. The penalty killing remains air tight killing off all 4 Spruce Kings powerplays. The Express have killed off 15 straight opposition powerplays dating back to last Sunday's meeting with Salmon Arm.

Kolby Matthews made 9 saves in the third period to finish with 22 while posting his 4th straight win. In front of him the Express played a tidy game with strong effort to pursue the puck and spend time controlling the play in the Spruce Kings end of the ice and lock the game down.

The victory combined with Chilliwack's 6-0 loss in Victoria Sunday has the Express tied for first place in the Mainland division with Chilliwack with 14 points after the first month of the BCHL season.

The Express return to action Wednesday vs. Surrey. 

RIVERMEN @ EXPRESS HIGHLIGHTS

Highlights of the Express 5-2 win over Langley Friday.

Highlights produced by Eddie Gregory.

EXPRESS EXTEND WINNING STREAK TO 5

The Coquitlam Express have now won 5 games in a row following their 5-2 victory over the Langley Rivermen Friday night. Click here for boxscore

A strong night on special teams was key to the Express victory. They went 2 for 7 on the powerplay while killing off all 7 shorthanded situations.

Friday saw Express new comer Nicholas Wildgoose make his Express debut after he was acquired from the Vernon Vipers earlier this week.

He found the scoresheet picking up an assist on the Express first goal of the night. He was involved in a scrum with Christian Sanda digging for the puck below the goal line and Chase Danol came in and dug out the puck then roofing it over the shoulder of Alex Rolfe for a powerplay goal with one second remaining in the man advantage.

The goal for Danol was his 5th of the season and it was the 4th consecutive game he found the back of the net.

Josh Bruce and rookie Danny Pearson had been giving the Express valuable minutes in recent games,  Friday their strong play resulted in contributions on the scoresheet.

They worked the puck in the Langley zone. Then got some help from defensemen Drew Cooper who pinched down to keep the attack alive. Then Bruce found Pearson who was alone in the slot and he snapped home his first BCHL goal for a 2-0 Express lead after 20 minutes.

The second period is where the Express penalty killing really helped win the game for the home team. They were shorthanded for a full two minutes on three separate occasions in the first 13 minutes of the period. The penalty killing units did a great job of limiting time for the Rivermen to set up on the powerplay. Then pressuring the puck up ice and forcing turnovers and at times ragging the puck to kill more time off the Rivermen advantages.

Christian Sanda was one of the better penalty killers on the night using his speed all over the ice to create problems for the Rivermen powerplay.

Alec Capstick did cut into the Express lead sliding the puck under Kolby Matthews at 7:03.

But the lead was back to 2 just over 3 minutes later after a quick pass up the middle found Josh Wildauer at the Langley blueline, Regan Kimens joining the rush stretched his leg as far as he could to stay onside then he took a pass from Wildauer and roofed his second of the season for a 3-1 Express lead.

Drew Cooper's physical play has opened some eyes from the backend this young season.

In the 2nd period he delivered a solid and clean check on Chase Pletzke. Rivermen defensemen Jake Livingstone didn't see the hit that way and rushed to the defence of his teammate and dropped the gloves with Cooper. It ended up being the end of the night for both players following the automatic ejections after the evenly fought tilt.

Livigstone ended up with the extra penalty for instigating giving the Express a 4 on 3 powerplay. It didn't take long for the Express to strike as Dallas Farrell zipped a pass across to Alex DiPaolo who scored his 4th of the season for a 4-1 Express lead after two periods.

At the other end Kolby Matthews had made 18 saves by the end of the second period. His best to that point came on a breakaway for Daneel Lategan.

Garrett Daly cut the Express lead to 4-2 just over three minutes into the third period with a snapshot from the right point past the glove of Matthews. But that would be the final puck to get past Matthews who finished with 25 saves to post his third straight win.

Danny Pearson and Josh Bruce capped off their solid night to help set up Cooper Connell who snapped home his 3rd of the season at 13:27 past Braedon Fleming. The veteran Langley goaltender came in for the third period after Alex Rolfe was relieved after 4 goals on 10 shots through 40 minutes. It's the second straight game the Express have chased the opposition's goaltender.

The win kept the Express tied with the Chilliwack Chiefs for first place in the Mainland division with 12 points.

The Express will host the Prince George Spruce Kings on Sunday afternoon. 

EAGLES @ EXPRESS HIGHLIGHTS

Highlights from Wednesday's 8-0 Express win over the Surrey Eagles.

Highlights produced by Eddie Gregory.

EXPRESS ROMP EAGLES

Kolby Matthews made 36 saves for his first BCHL shutout,  Christian Sanda and Dallas Farrell each scored twice as the Express exploded for a 8-0 win over the Surrey Eagles. Click here for boxscore

The win was the 4th straight win for the Express. Meanwhile Surrey fell to 1-6 on the season.

Matthews was busy early on as the Express were called for three penalties within the first 8 minutes of the game. His strong play set the tone for the rest of the night.

On the second penalty kill of the night for the Express, Christian Sanda pressured Eagles goaltender Daniel Davidson who coughed up the puck to the Express forward who took the gift and stuffed it in the open net for a 1-0 Express lead at 5:06.

The three Surrey powerplays were killed off by the Express and then the offence took over for the rest of the night.

Regan Kimens set up Dallas Farrell in the slot and he ripped home his second of the season past glove of Eagles starter Daniel Davidson.

Things didn't get much better for the Eagles goaltender who was beat by a Cole Edgerton defection of a Jordan Schulting point shot for his second of the season and a 3-0 Express lead after 20 minutes.

Davidson was pulled following the Edgerton goal after allowing three goals on 10 shots.

Cayden Bailey faced the Express onslaught the rest of the night. It took a while for the Express to get to the Eagles goaltender and when they did, the dam burst wide open.

Pito Walton went D to D to Jack Cameron whose point shot was tipped home by Alex DiPaolo at 17:39.

That was followed 1:08 later by Dallas Farrell setting up Josh Wildauer in the slot who scored his 4th of the season.

The Express capped off their run of 3 goals in 1:41 to end of the second period on Christian Sanda's second of the night rushing in from the right wing and sliding home his 5th of the season and a 6-0 lead after two periods.

The finishing touches of this romp was completed in the third period on Chase Danol scoring his second goal in as many games against his former team at 7:37.

Then Farrell added his second of the night following a won face-off in the Surrey zone for a 8-0 Express lead.

Matthews only needed to make 5 third period saves to finish off his first BCHL shutout.

Jordan Schulting (3A) and Dallas Farrell (2G, 1A) each paced the Express offensive attack. All told 5 players finished with multi point nights.

The Express will host the Langley Rivermen in their next game on Friday night. 

EXPRESS ACQUIRE WILDGOOSE FOR FULLER

The Coquitlam Express have acquired forward Nicholas Wildgoose (99) from the Vernon Vipers in exchange for defenceman Landon Fuller (99).

Wildgoose, a Raliegh, North Carolina native is a St. Lawerence University committed forward, this season with the Vernon Vipers he had two goals and one assist in six games.

Last season he led his Avon Old Farms Prep School team in scoring with 25 points in 25 games (10G, 15A).

During the 2014-15 season he played with the Carolina Jr. Hurricanes U16 program where he was teammates with former Express' Riley Johnson and Colby Pederson. Plus Skyler Brind'Amour of the Chilliwack Chiefs and Perry Winfree of the Surrey Eagles.

Fuller was brought back by the Express last week after he was one of the final cuts from the Lethbridge Hurricanes of the WHL, but he never dressed for a game. He had one goal and three assists for four points in 38 games with the Express last season.

The move clears up a log jam on the Express defence that had 9 defensemen on their 23 man roster. It now stands with 13 forward, 8 defencemen and 2 goalies.

Welcome to the Express Nicholas. 

FARRELL PLAYS LAST SECOND HERO TO GIVE EXPRESS A SHOWCASE SWEEP

Dallas Farrell's first BCHL goal couldn't have come at a better time than with 4.1 seconds left in the third period to give the Express a 2-1 win over the Cowichan Valley Capitals. The win completed a two game sweep for the Express at the 2018 Bauer BCHL showcase and it evened their record to 3-3.



There was some drama in the first period before the teams settled into a tight contest leading up to the dramatic finish.

Chase Danol opened the scoring for the Express with a powerplay goal deflecting a Troy Robillard shot for his second of the season past Capitals starter Matthew Waite.

Saturday's game was the Capitals debut for Waite who spent last season with Moncton of the QMJHL.

His debut didn't last long however, as he left the game midway through the first period leaving in a fair amount of discomfort. Jack Grant stepped in to relieve his fallen comrade.

Dallas Farrell entered this game with 4 assists in his first five games in an Express uniform. The shifty winger has shown some flashes in his first few games. And he's been very consistent and generating some quality scoring chances and he just had no luck getting one of his chances to find the back of the net.

In the first period he had one of the better Express chances but ripped a shot over the Caps goal.

Cowichan evened the game on an odd man rush with a goal from Lucas Vanroboys whose original shot was stopped by Clay Stevenson, but he couldn't grab the rebound at 13:16 of the first period.

That would be the only puck to get past the Express starter who was solid with 20 saves to post his second win of the season.

Now in a 1-1 tie, these teams really settled into a close game.

The Express had a few scramble chances in the second period but were unfortunate that they weren't able to get the puck to dribble in for them or have a player in the right spot to poke the puck home.

Troy Robillard also had one of the better Express chances of the second period lifting a shot over the net rushing in from the left wing.

In the third period the Express just stuck with their game looking to get their first puck past Jack Grant who had settled in nicely after reliving Waite in the first period.

They couldn't use two third period powerplays to break the deadlock. The Express finished 1/7 on the powerplay. The penalty killing had another strong game killing off all 3 Capitals powerplays. They've killed off 25 of their first 28 shorthanded situations in their first 6 games.

As the third period ticked down the Express were forcing the Caps into icing the puck on multiple occasions leading to Express offensive zone draws.

Off another offensive zone draw for the Express, the Caps won the face-off and executed their assignment well following a time out to clear the puck out of the zone off a face-off win. But the Caps didn't get the puck deep and the Express quickly rushed back up the ice in the dying seconds of the third period.

Regan Kimens powered the puck to the net on a wrap around and Dallas Farrell following the play buried the rebound to give the Express the 2-1 lead with 4.1 seconds left and doing so with not enough time for the Caps to threaten with one last chance.

For Cowichan Valley, it was their second straight heart breaking loss at the showcase. They dropped their first game 4-3 in overtime to Chilliwack Friday night after letting a 3-0 lead slip through their hands.

After starting the season with 6 consecutive games away from home ice the Express finally will play their home opener Sunday afternoon vs. the Salmon Arm Silverbacks. And they'll do it feeling pretty good about themselves with two wins this week at the showcase. 

SHOWCASE: EXPRESS VS. KINGS HIGHLIGHTS

Highlights from the Express 6-3 win over the Powell River Kings Thursday at the Bauer BCHL showcase.

Highlights produced by Eddie Gregory. 

BCHL FIRSTS SHOWCASE EXPRESS SKILL VS. KINGS

Alex DiPaolo, Connor Gregga and Cole Edgerton all scored their first BCHL goals, and the Express struck four times in the second period in a 6-3 win over the Powell River Kings at the Bauer BCHL showcase. Click here for boxscore

The victory was the second of the season for the Express.

Cooper Connell opened the scoring for the Express just under 4 minutes into the game taking a quick pass at the top of the left circle and snapping a shot over the glove of Mitch Adamyk.

Penalties were a theme for the Express in the first period. It started with a double minor high sticking penalty assessed to Josh Wildauer. Later in the period penalties were assessed to Hunter Alden who made his Express debut and Jonathan Sheardown and the penalty killing rose to the occasion each time keeping the Express in the lead. The Express entered the game with the second best penalty killing in the BCHL this young season.

The Express had chance to take a two goal lead into the second period with Dallas Farrell ripping a shot just high off the wing then on a breakaway. Cole Edgerton put a shot on a shorthanded breakaway just over top of the net.

The chances started to fill the net for the Express in the second period. Jonathan Sheardown walked down the wing and got the puck to the net where Alex DiPaolo found a loose puck in the goal crease and poked it home for his first BCHL goal.

1:02 later Chase Danol stole the puck behind the Kings net and set up Christian Sanda in front of the Kings net for a 3-0 Express lead.

Kolby Matthews got the start in goal for the Express. He was solid with 7 first period saves. And he finally got his first goals of support in front of him in his 3rd start of the season.

Powell River got their first goal past the Express netminder on a powerplay thanks to Neal Samanski scoring from the slot to cut the Express lead to 3-1.

Just 1:11 later the Express were back up by three thanks to Josh Wildauer scoring off the rush for his second off the season on a set up by Dallas Farrell.

Powell River momentarily cut the Express lead to two for a second time on the first BCHL goal for former Express AP Christian Buono deflecting a Matt Rickard shot.

Connor Gregga late in the middle frame was the second member of the Express to score his first BCHL goal Thursday. Goaltender Kolby Matthews raced up out of his net to move a Kings clearing attempt up ice as they changed to Regan Kimens. He then dropped it to Dallas Farrell whose shot was tipped home at the edge of the crease by Gregga.

The four goal second period was powered by 20 Express shots in that frame.

Ben Thomas early in the third period pulled the Kings within two for a third time jamming the puck past Kolby Matthews. But that would the final puck to get past the Express netminder who finished the game strong to kill the Kings come back hopes. Matthews finished with 24 saves for his first win in an Express uniform.

Cole Edgerton completed a hat-trick of first BCHL goal scorers for the Express scoring from the left circle to finish off the scoring. Jordan Schulting picked up his first point of the season on the goal.

Five players had multi point games for the Express, Wildauer, Sanda, Farrell, Gregga and Chase Danol.

The Express will play their second game at the showcase Saturday afternoon vs. Cowichan Valley. They will finally play their home opener the next day vs. the Salmon Arm Silverbacks. 

EXPRESS ADD ALDEN AND BRING BACK FULLER

The Coquitlam Express have made two moves to their roster. They have brought back defenceman Landon Fuller (99) and added forward Hunter Alden (98).

Fuller returns to the Express after playing 38 games with the Express last season. He had 1 goal and 4 assists for 5 points. The 6'5 defenceman also had 1 assist in 4 playoff games.

Alden comes to the Express where he played one game this season with the Wenatchee Wild and 13 games with them during the 2015-16 season.

Last season he played with the New Jersey Junior Titans of the NAHL. He finished the season tied for the team lead in scoring with 10 goals and 37 assists for 47 points in 60 games. He also led the team in penalty minutes with 113. He's been a very productive point producer at various levels of hockey in the past.

Welcome back Landon, and welcome to the Express Hunter. 

EXPRESS WEEKEND HIGHLIGHTS IN PRINCE GEORGE

Friday 5-3 loss.

Saturday 3-0 loss.

Highlights produced by Eddie Gregory.

EXPRESS @ RIVERMEN HIGHLIGHTS

Highlights from the Express 2-0 loss in Langley Saturday night.

Highlights produced by Eddie Gregory.

RIVERMEN PREVAIL IN EPIC GOALTENDING DUEL BETWEEN MATTHEWS AND FLEMING

Express goaltender Kolby Matthews and his counterpart in the Langley Rivermen crease Braedon Fleming went toe to toe in a epic duel that saw the Rivermen netminder prevail in a 2-0 win over the Express. Click here for boxscore

Both teams entered Saturday's contest coming off opening night wins the night before.

It didn't take long to realize that this game was going to be a battle of the goaltenders.

Kolby Matthews made his first start of the season for the Express after being acquired just prior to training camp from the Calgary Canucks. He saw 10 shots sent his way in the first period turning them all away. His best save of the first period was a backhand chance off the rush from Alec Capstick.

At the other end the Express warmed up Braedon Fleming with shots, but a number of them were right in his crest that didn't result in rebound opportunities.

The best chances for the Express in the first period saw Danny Pearson take a pass from behind the Langley net from Christian Sanda, but the chance from the slot was shot down from Fleming.

Minutes later off the rush Alex DiPaolo set up Regan Kimens who snapped off the pass right away, but Fleming was on the mark coming to his left to make his best save of the first period.

After outshooting the Rivermen 12-10 in the first period, the Express started to pull away in the second.

They opened up an 10-2 advantage in shots by the midway mark of the second period. But Fleming was still unflappable. He denied Dallas Farrell on a redirection in the slot, a chance in tight for Chase Danol and Cole Edgerton at the edge of the Langley crease.

Kolby Matthews was just as strong at the other end with some of his best saves of the period coming in the latter half of the middle frame. He stopped Tanner Verlius in the slot. That was followed with a save off Ethan Leyh off the rush.

At the end of the second period with game still scoreless both goaltenders passed each other as they went to their respective dressing rooms and gave each other a tap on the blocker knowing how well their counterpart had been playing up until that point.

Langley started the third period with a powerplay after Dallas Farrell came to the defence of Alex DiPaolo who was levelled with a hit at the end of the second period.

The deadlock was finally broken moments after Farrell's penalty came to an end.

William Stromp cut in front of the Express net and in the process was able to get Matthews to open his pads and slid home the game's first goal at 2:27 of the third period.

Now with a one goal lead to work with Fleming remained locked in the Rivermen crease.

Dallas Farrell couldn't bury a chance off the rush snapping a pass that found his stick from Regan Kimens.

Even two third period powerplay wasn't the tonic the Express needed to get their attack to convert. They finished 0 for 3 on the night. The penalty killing kept Langley in check on both of their opportunities.

Trying to make one final attempt to get the equalizer with Matthews on the bench, the Express got their signals crossed at the blueline on a offside forcing them to dump the puck in the Langley zone and Carter Stephenson fired it into the empty net to put Langley up 2-0 with 30 seconds left.

Braedon Fleming finished with 32 saves to post the shutout. Kolby Matthews was very strong in his own right with 29 saves on 30 Langley shots sent his way.

The loss for the Express wasn't from a lack of effort. They simply ran into a goaltender that was ever so slightly better than their goaltender. After 40 minutes when the game was scoreless, you knew that whoever was going to lose the game was going to be disappointed knowing how well their goaltender had played up until that point.

The Express will be in Prince George for a pair of games next week. 

EXPRESS @ EAGLES HIGHLIGHTS

Highlights from the Express season opening 4-2 win in Surrey.

Highlights produced by Eddie Gregory. 

DANOL SCORES IN DEBUT AS EXPRESS DOUBLE EAGLES

The Coquitlam Express got the 2018-19 season off on the right foot with a 4-2 win over the Surrey Eagles. Click here for boxscore

This game had extra attention attached to it following the trade that saw the Express acquire Chase Danol from Surrey with Eric Linell going the other way. And both guys left their mark on the scoresheet.

The Express wasted next to no time getting their attack going. Right off the opening face-off the Express dumped it into the Surrey zone where netminder Seth Eisle came out to play the puck, only to have trouble handling it and Josh Wildauer scored on a loose puck just 12 seconds into the game.

Dallas Farrell came close to extending the Express lead to 2-0 on a crafty give and go play with Regan Kimens but was denied by Eisle who had begun to settle into the game.

Surrey's best chance of the opening period came late in the first period on a feed to Aaron White who got a half step behind the Express defence and cut to the backhand and slid the puck wide of the net by Clay Stevenson. The Eagles game operations staff were a little quick on the trigger with a pre-mature blast of the goal horn.

Early in the second the two pieces involved in the trade left their mark on the scoresheet.

First it was Eric Linell racing in on a two on one and beating Clay Stevenson with a wrist shot from the right wing past the stick of the Express goaltender to briefly even the game at 1.

56 seconds later Chase Danol who came to the Express in that trade responded by powering the puck to the net and jamming home his first Express goal to re-store the Express lead at 2-1.

Jason Chu evened the game at 2 for Surrey scoring from pretty much the exact same spot of the ice that Linell did with a shot from the right wing that also beat Stevenson to the stick side.

Christian Sanda came close to putting the Express in the lead for a third time in the game with a shot from the right wing on a two on one break but clanged it off the goal post.

Friday's game marked the Express debuts of Juliano Santalucia and Kabir Gill on the blueline after they were signed by the Express earlier in the week.

Gill was the captain of the Valley West Hawks last season. He found himself on the ice on a late second period powerplay and took a pass from behind the net by Josh Wildauer and snapped home his first BCHL goal through the legs of Eisle for the third Express lead of the night at 3-2. Josh Wildauer finished with 1 goal and 1 assist.

The Express locked the game down in the third period. Josh Wildauer came close to giving the Express some insurance cutting to the net and putting his shot off the post.

Both teams played with a good amount of animosity towards each other through the night. Dallas Farrell wasn't afraid to get in the face of Eric Linell and try to get under his skin.

At the other end Clay Stevenson was rock solid. He finished with 32 saves to post the victory in the Express crease.

With Eisle on the bench with just over two minutes to play, the Eagles won a draw in the Express zone, but the Express found a way with the help of Josh Bruce to poke the puck out of the zone and get it to Christian Sanda who took it down the ice and hit the empty net to seal the 4-2 win for the Express.

The shots finished 34-26 in favour of Surrey. The Express were a perfect 6 for 6 on the penalty kill and 1 for 7 on the powerplay.

They will visit the Langley Rivermen in their second game of the season Saturday night. 

KOZLOWSKI TRADED TO SPRUCE KINGS

The Coquitlam Express have traded forward Sam Kozlowski (98) to the Prince George Spruce Kings in exchange for the rights to forward Ethan O'Rourke (99) and future considerations.

Kozlowski made the jump from Junior B with Delta to the Express playing the last two seasons with the Junior A club.

In 110 games in an Express uniform, Kozlowski had 19 goals and 33 assists for 52 points. In 2017-18 he had 8 goals and 22 assists for 30 points. He also dressed in two playoff games vs. the Penticton Vees.

O'Rourke certainly has plenty of size at 6'5, 209 pounds. He's currently in camp with the defending WHL champion Swift Current Broncos. He split last season with the Prince George Cougars and the Everett Silvertips. In 66 games he had 6 goals and 12 assists for 18 points. He also dressed in 18 playoff games as the Silvertips advanced to the WHL final where they lost to the Broncos.

He also dressed for 19 games with the Prince George Spruce Kings during the 2016-17 season putting up 1 goal and 4 assists for 5 points.

The Express would like to thank Sam for his contributions the previous two seasons and wish him all the best with the Spruce Kings.

The 2018-19 season for the Express opens Friday night in Surrey.

EXPRESS SIGN TWO BLUELINERS

The Coquitlam Express have signed defencemen Kabir Gill and Juliano Santalucia for the 2018-19 season.

Gill, (00), spent the previous three seasons with the Valley West Hawks of the BC Major Midget league. During the 2017-18 season the White Rock native served as the captain of the Hawks. In 26 games, he had 4 goals and 16 assists for 20 points.

In 2016, he was a member of the Hawks team that won the BC Major Midget league championship. He was a 5th round draft pick of the Seattle Thunderbirds in the 2015 WHL Bantam draft.

Santalucia, (01), is coming off his first season of junior hockey with the Olds Grizzlys of the AJHL. In 45 games, he had 1 goal and 5 assists for 6 points.

In 2016-17, he played under Express assistant coach Jamie Jackson with the Vancouver Northeast Chiefs of the BC Major Midget League. That season he had 4 goals and 10 assists for 14 points in 40 games.

The Express begin their season Friday night in Surrey.

Welcome to the Express Kabir and Juliano. 

EAGLES @ EXPRESS HIGHLIGHTS

Highlights from the Express 7-3 win over Surrey in Port Coquitlam Saturday to wrap up the exhibition season.

Highlights courtesy of Jorge Parra and Underdog Productions. 

EXPRESS WITH STRONG FINISH TO EXHIBITION

The Express finished the pre-season with three consecutive victories to finish the exhibition with a 3-2 record.

They capped it off Saturday afternoon in Port Coquitlam with a 7-3 win over the Surrey Eagles to complete a 2 game sweep of a home and home.

The visitors delivered an early surprise blow to the Express when Matteo Pecchia scored on a set up from Matthew McKim just 14 seconds into the game.

20 year old veteran Daniel Davidson started in the Eagles cage. He was beaten by Jack Cameron who slid a puck under the Eagles netminder to tie it at 1 at 8:36.

Surrey's quick strike attack showed up again on their first powerplay as Pecchia scored his second of the game snapping a one timer past Clay Stevenson just 12 seconds into a powerplay.

In the final minute of the first period a red hot Express powerplay got their game rolling. Regan Kimens dished the puck down low to Connor Gregga who showed great hockey IQ out waiting Davidson in front of the net and slid a puck past his left pad for a 2-2 tie after 20 minutes.

Dallas Farrell certainly has shown some promise in pre-season with some of his skill. Saturday he roofed a shot from the short side on the right wing giving the Express the briefest of 3-2 leads.

And by brief that lead only last 5 seconds as right off the draw Brandon Santa Juana surprised Clay Stevenson with a quick shot past his glove to even the game at 3.

It was at this point the Express really started to took over the game. And the scoreboard started to reflect it.

Farrell showed his great ability to make hard and accurate passes dishing a rocket through the seam to Alex DiPalo who snapped home the one timer at the side of the net for a powerplay goal giving the Express a 4-3 lead.

37 seconds later Pito Walton off a won draw in the Surrey zone cut into the slot and snapped a shot past Davidson for a 5-3 Express lead after 40 minutes.

By the third period the Express were humming along nicely. Regan Kimens scored his third goal in two games and the third Express powerplay goal of the night sliding home a great pass by Connor Gregga who showed great patience to find his spot to slide the pass the Kimens. The Express finished 3 for 8 on the powerplay.

With the three goal lead in hand the Express were really pushing the pace of play and were drawing the Eagles into taking penalties. They capped off the scoring with a delayed penalty in effect as Drew Cooper found himself open for a shot at the net and when he snapped it off Christian Sanda creeping behind Davidson got his stick on the shot to make it a 7-3 final.

The shots finished 32-17 in favour of the Express.

Now it's time for the fun to begin as the Express and Eagles will meet again when the regular season opens up Friday night in Surrey.

EXPRESS @ EAGLES HIGHLIGHTS

Highlights from the Express 4-3 OT win in Surrey Friday night.

DANOL PLAYS OT HERO FOR EXPRESS VS. HIS OLD TEAM

I'm sure Chase Danol's excitement would be a little higher if he scored the overtime winner for the Express next Friday when they start the regular season in Surrey. But he'll take getting the OT winner Friday in the second to last exhibition game as a starting point in a 4-3 Express win over Chase Danol's former team the Surrey Eagles.

The win was the second straight for the Express in exhibition play. Both wins have come beyond 60 minutes of regulation time following Tuesday's shootout win over Chilliwack.

The Express got off to a fast start opening a 2-0 lead by the 3:05 mark of the first period. Josh Bruce scored on a set up from Alex Uryga at 1:20. That was followed 1:45 later by Regan Kimens converting a pass from behind the net by Dallas Farrell to put the Express up a pair.

Chase Stevenson who was acquired by Surrey in the offseason from West Kelowna cut the Express lead to 2-1 briefly burying a Eric Linell rebound from a shot off the rush.

Kimens quickly put the Express back up a pair taking a hard pass from Ferrell on his second of the night for a 3-1 Express lead after 20 minutes.

Kolby Matthews went the distance in goal for the Express. The only puck to beat him in the second was a shot from Eric Linell from the right win that found it's way through.

At the other end Regan Kimens had at least two good chances to complete his hat-trick, but a sprawling Seth Eisele did his best to keep the Express forward at bay.

A string of Express penalties gave Surrey plenty of time work with the man advantage in the opening 6 minutes or so of the third period. That included a two man advantage for 1:07. Credit to the Express penalty killers for getting the job done in a key situation.

Eventually the run of penalties did catch up with the Express. Matthew McKim on a scramble play in the Express crease shoveled home the equalizer at 12:40 to tie the game at 3.

In the final minutes of the third period Kolby Matthews made some clutch saves off Chase Stevenson and Corey Clifton to send the game to overtime. Matthews finished with 22 saves in the Express crease.

Three on three overtime only lasted 1:13 and it was Chase Danol who the Express acquired from Surrey pouncing on a loose puck to give the Express the 4-3 win.

The exhibition wraps up Saturday afternoon as the Express and Eagles meet one final time in Port Coquitlam before it counts for real next Friday back in Surrey.