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.
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.
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