EXPRESS MIXLR BROADCAST

Thursday, October 31, 2019

EXPRESS SWEEP ISLAND TRIP

The Express took both games of their mini mid week swing through the Island division defeating Nanaimo 5-2 24 hours after taking care of Victoria 5-1. Click here for boxscore

Ethan O'Rourke paced the Express attack with 1 goal and 2 assists and Adam Trotman scored twice.

Those two hooked up for the opening goal of the night with O'Rourke winning a draw in the Nanaimo zone right to Trotman who snapped a shot in off the cross bar to open the scoring just 1:24 into the game.



It didn't take long for Nanaimo to pull even, off a face-off in the Express zone they were able to get the puck to the net and jam a puck under Jack Watson with Steven Agriogianis getting credit for the goal.

O'Rourke in the final minute of the first period gave the Express lead heading to the room. His line along with Tyler Schleppe and Adam Trotman was having a strong shift of puck possession in the Clippers zone. It was capped off with Ethan O'Rourke tipping home a Nick Carabin point shot for a 2-1 Express lead.



The Express didn't have many gaffes on this night. A turnover at the offensive blueline however allowed Josh Bourne and Kyler Kovich to break out on a two on one with the latter converting a feed to tie the game at two.

Steven Belini struck for a second straight night giving the Express their third lead of the night. His pass from the right point intended for Greg Lapointe deflected off a Clipper and into the net for a 3-2 Express lead.



A double minor high sticking penalty to Steven Agriogianis was a great opportunity for the Express to add to their lead. But the Express weren't able to generate many quality chances.

The final two periods saw the Express do a really good job of locking the game down. They held Nanaimo to just 13 shots in the final two periods and just 18 over the course of 60 minutes.

On a third period powerplay Ethan O'Rourke picked up his third point of the night sliding a pass to Tyler Schleppe to give the Express a two goal lead.

Greg Lapointe was whistled for a hooking penalty with just under four minutes to go, giving Nanaimo one last desperate chance to claw back. They had some confusion getting organized and pulling goaltender Zach Bennett. When they finally did, Trotman immediately fired the puck into the empty net for a shorthanded goal and his second of the night.

The win improved the Express to 6-4 on the road and 15-4 overall.

They return home to host the West Kelowna Warriors on Friday night. 

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