EXPRESS ROLL TO 3RD WIN OF EXTENDED CAMP

The Express improved to 3-0 in this extended training camp, and for a third straight game they put 6 on the board on the Langley Rivermen. This time winning by a 6-0 score. Jack Watson posting the shutout for the Express.

Coquitlam survived some loose play in their own zone in the first period that created some chaos in front of their net in the first half of the first period. 

Like a week ago the powerplay began to leave their mark on the game. On a two man advantage Jackson Hughes buried a Danny Pearson pass from behind the net to open the scoring for his first of the night. 

Jackson Hughes @j3hughes01 potted his first of two on the night on a 5 on 3 in the 1st period for @BCHLExpress pic.twitter.com/XRFSEOG6oH

— Eddie Gregory (@EddieGregory81) October 10, 2020

Jack Watson's best save of the 22 he made on the night came in the opening moments of the second period when he kicked out his left leg to deny Keaton Oakley. 

Jack Watson made 22 saves for the shutout for @BCHLExpress

This save in the second was his best of the night. pic.twitter.com/E00PbOS0Xh

— Eddie Gregory (@EddieGregory81) October 10, 2020

Shortly thereafter Matthew Campbell jumped into the play at the other end and buried a hit shot past Jakob Gullmes for a 2-0 Express lead. 

Matthew Campbell jumping into the play give @BCHLExpress a 2-0 lead. pic.twitter.com/7w6UA9NJI4

— Eddie Gregory (@EddieGregory81) October 10, 2020

Penalties were problematic for Langley in the second period. Hughes struck for his second of the night with a shot off the wing with Ryan Helliwell in the box for tripping. 

He would then add his second off the rush in the middle frame for @BCHLExpress pic.twitter.com/CqYkPscbU5

— Eddie Gregory (@EddieGregory81) October 10, 2020

Greg Lapointe found the back of the net for a third straight game in the third. He rushed the puck up ice after Cole Crusberg-Roseen squeezed off a Langley rush allowing Lapointe to go the other way and snap home his 6th goal in 3 games. 

Lapointe then fed Cooper Connell for a tap in for the 5th Express goal of the night. Lapointe finished with 1 goal and 2 assists. Connell meanwhile had 1 and 1. 

Cooper Connell finished off the prettiest goal of the night for @BCHLExpress pic.twitter.com/mgoFIKKTx6

— Eddie Gregory (@EddieGregory81) October 10, 2020

Ryan Tattle rounded out the scoring in the final minute of the game burying a loose puck on a scramble play. The Express finished 3 for 7 on the powerplay. They killed off both Langley powerplays on the night. 

The teams will meet Saturday night in Langley. 

EXPRESS OPEN EXTENDED EXHIBITION WITH WIN OVER LANGLEY

Fans or no fans, @BCHLExpress always salute those who come out to support them folllowing a win. pic.twitter.com/M7u6ReATfb

— Eddie Gregory (@EddieGregory81) October 3, 2020

It was 212 days since the Express last played a game. Friday night, like 212 days ago the Express were victorious as they defeated the Langley Rivermen 6-1 to open the extended exhibition. 

Greg Lapointe who led the Express in scoring a year ago, opened the scoring with a snap shot from the right wing through the pads of Brandon Milberg. 

Greg Lapointe picked up where he left off a year ago for @BCHLExpress pic.twitter.com/ZbxLWgMpui

— Eddie Gregory (@EddieGregory81) October 3, 2020

The game really began to break open in the second period. Ryan Tattle took a feed from Jackson Hughes and extended the Express lead to 2-0 with their second poewrplay goal of the night. 

.@RyanTattle shows his quick hands on the powerplay for @BCHLExpress pic.twitter.com/Xwh4xLDSiD

— Eddie Gregory (@EddieGregory81) October 3, 2020

Dante Berrettoni broke in from the right wing snapping a wrist shot past the pad of Milberg for a 3-0 lead. 

Dante Berrettoni displays his shot off the rush for @BCHLExpress pic.twitter.com/Fyet4rGrUm

— Eddie Gregory (@EddieGregory81) October 3, 2020

Lapointe then added his 2nd of the night on a good play to stay onside then finish on a breakaway to make it 4-0 Express heading to the third period.

31 seconds into the final frame Danny Pearson snapped the third powerplay goal for the Express past Ajeet Gundarah who started the third period between the pipes for Langley. 

James Bohn capped off the scoring coming out of the penalty box and taking a Greg Lapointe pass and finishing on the backhand to make it 6-0. Greg Lapointe had two goals and two assists. 

James Bohn with some smooth finish on a breakaway for @BCHLExpress pic.twitter.com/hHJ4XtDDCX

— Eddie Gregory (@EddieGregory81) October 3, 2020

Joe Howe had his shutout bid denied with just over three minutes left in the third period by Ryan Helliwell. Howe finished with 32 saves in the Express crease. 

The teams will meet again Saturday night in Chilliwack for the second game of the extended exhibition. 

BEST OF ROUND 1 VS. RIVERMEN

The best of the Express four game sweep of the Langley Rivermen in the Mainland division semi final.

Video produced by Eddie Gregory.

EXPRESS AT RIVERMEN GAME 4 HIGHLIGHTS

Highlights of the Express 5-4 win in game 4 over Langley to complete the sweep of the Mainland division semi final.

Here's footage of the Express bench for game 4.

Videos produced by Eddie Gregory. Express bench footage courtesy of Jorge Parra and Underdog Productions.

EXPRESS SWEEP RIVERMEN

The Express have punched their ticket to the second round of the playoffs with a 5-4 win over the Langley Rivermen to complete a four game sweep of the Mainland division semi final. Click here for boxscore

Game 4 was similar to the previous night with the teams devoting one period to trade goals back and forth. That would come in the second period.

The opening frame saw the Express push the pace early on looking to get the early jump on the Rivermen. They broke through late in the period when Connor Gregga opened the scoring for a second straight night jamming home a loose puck in the goal crease for a 1-0 Express lead.

The second period saw the Express ramp up their effort level looking to expand their lead. Despite a 5-1 advantage in shots to open the period, it was the Rivermen who got a break to pull even. To open an Express powerplay the Rivermen won the face-off and quickly sent the puck down the ice where Sean Bunting hustled to the puck and then cut to the net and beat Jack Watson with a backhand to pull the Rivermen even.

88 seconds later the Express took their second lead of the night as Massimo Rizzo from the top of the right circle snapping home his first of the night to put the Express into a temporary 2-1 lead.

Ryan Helliwell's point shot 1:11 later eluded Watson to pull Langley even at two on the powerplay.

Earlier in the period Ethan O'Rourke just missed a tap in on an Express powerplay. He didn't miss his second tap in opportunity converting a Will Margel pass for the third Express lead of the night.

Langley's answer to that goal came just less than four minutes later with Tanner Versus burying a rebound of a Ryley Wallack shot to tie the game at 3.

The Express counter punch to that goal came just 26 seconds later with Steven Bellini jumping into the rush and taking a Will Margel pass and snapping a quick shot past the glove of Jonathan Mor to give the Express a 4-3 lead heading to the third period. Will Margel had three assists in game 4 and 2 goals and 5 assists in the series.

Insurance came for the Express midway through the third as Rizzo burst out on a two on one break and decided to keep the puck and beat Jonathan Mor on the stick side to open a 5-3 Express lead. Rizzo had four goals and three assist in this series.

A two goal deficit wasn't going to deter Langley's hopes of keeping the series alive. The Express meanwhile dug in to do the little things right to preserve the lead. Josh Wildauer made two good plays on a penalty kill by getting in the way of Rivermen shots.

Then unfortunately for Wildauer a third shot block attempt of a Ryan Helliwell test deflected off Wildauer's stick from the high slot and it eluded Jack Watson to cut the Express lead to 5-4 with 7:22 to play.

That would be as close as the Rivermen would come. Jack Watson shut the door the rest of the way to finish with 27 saves to post his fourth win of the series.

The Express advance to the second round of the playoffs for the first time since their championship season in 2014. It's the third all time sweep of a series for the Express. They swept the Langley Hornets in the first round in 2006. Then in 2014 they swept the Vernon Vipers in the Fred Page Cup Final.

Now the Express will get some rest before they will open the second round against either the Chilliwack Chiefs or Surrey Eagles. That series is tied at two games apiece. 

PEARSON OT HERO AS EXPRESS PUT RIVERMEN ON THE BRINK

Danny Pearson's overtime winner gave the Express a 5-4 come from behind win over the Langley Rivermen opening up a 3-0 Express lead in the Mainland division semi final. Click here for boxscore

The dramatic finish capped off a gutsy come back effort that saw the Express tie the game three times in the third period alone to force overtime.

Langley looking for a change in fortunes went with Bredeon Fleming in goal for his first start of the series. The Express meanwhile got Connor Gregga back after he missed the first two games.

Gregga paid immediate dividends with his return with a toe drag to change the angle of his shot that found the back of the net to open the scoring at 8:45.

Brendan Budy was pointless in the first two games of the series. He put an end to that shortly after Gregga's goal by taking a Jonathan Stein drop pass and ripping a rocket over the glove of Jack Watson to pull Langley even.

Game 3 had some similarities from game two with the teams being very patient which didn't result in a lot of shots on goal or scoring chances for either side early on. After 20 minutes the shots were just 6 apiece.

Matthew Hubbarde gave Langley their first lead of the series with a shot from the left wing where he used Wyatt Head as a screen and snapped it past Jack Watson on the short side.

Early in the third period just after an Express powerplay expired, Josh Wildauer swatted a loose puck in front of the net home to pull the Express even at two.

That goal set the stage for a wild back and forth third period.

1:07 later Hubbarde potted his second of the night burying the rebound of a Brian Scoville point shot for a 3-2 Langley lead.

Wldauer pulled the Express even for a second time in the third period. This time his backhand had barely enough steam to slide between the post and Fleming's stick and cross the goal line to tie the game at 3.

Langley's response came on the powerplay 34 seconds later after winning the face-off to start the powerplay and Ryan Helliwell fired a seeing eye shot to the net that gave Langley a 4-3 lead.

Now with their third lead of the period the Rivermen played it very conservatively hoping to hold on long enough to get the win. Dumping the puck deep any chance they could. Even at the expense of passing up chances to expand the lead.

As the third period ticked down the Express kept up the pressure looking for the equalizer. Off a face-off with 26 seconds left Greg Lapointe's quick shot was blockered away by Fleming. Seconds later Lapointe had the puck behind the net and made a great pass to Will Margel in the high slot who used his time wisely to find his spot and beat Fleming low to the glove side with 9.8 seconds left in the third period to tie the game at 4. It was the third goal for the Express in the final frame that pulled them on even terms and sent the game to overtime.

Jack Watson did his part early in overtime turning aside all 3 Langley shots. As the OT progressed the Express started spending more time in the Rivermen zone. Just past the 7 minute mark Massimo Rizzo found Danny Pearson in the slot and he wasted no time bringing this game to an end beating Fleming high over the glove to give the Express the 5-4 win and commanding 3-0 lead in the series.

The Express will be in search of the sweep as the series continues on Wednesday night with game 4 in Langley.

RIVERMEN AT EXPRESS GAME 2 HIGHLIGHTS

Highlights of the Express 3-0 win over Langley in game 2 of the Mainland division semi final for a 2-0 Express lead in the series.

Highlights produced by Eddie Gregory.