EXPRESS MIXLR BROADCAST

Monday, February 21, 2011

EXPRESS HIT DOUBLE DIGITS VS. SILVERBACKS

The Express ended the season with a bang Sunday putting 10 on the board vs. their expansion cousins the Salmon Arm Silverbacks with a 10-5 win.

Massimo Lamacchia led the way with his second hat-trick of the season and an assist. He had 5 goals and 4 assists for 9 points in three games this week. BCHL Player of the week nod? Destry Straight and Mitchell Deacon in just his second game back from injury each scored twice, and Jason Grecica had 4 helpers.

Austin Carroll continued his strong play to finish the season with a career high 1 goal and 3 assist performance. He had 3 goals and 4 assists for 7 points in his final 4 games of the season. He and his linemates Jake Charles and Malcom Mckinney have given the Express some good third line minutes down the stretch. Their strong play would be a welcome help to the Express if it resumes when the playoffs begin Friday in Surrey.

The Express chased Silverbacks goaltender Kris Moore after Lamacchia completed his hat-trick just 11 seconds into the third period. Moore surrendered 7 goals on 24 shots.

Moore's replacement Kurt Williams didn't fare much better as he allowed Cody Castro to snap home his first Express goal just 39 seconds after Lamacchia's third tally. Williams went on to let in two more Express goals in the third period.

Billy McGladrey gave Khaleed Devji a much needed game off and stopped 41 shots for his first BCHL win. Devji had appeared in 31 straight games, starting 29 of them for the Express dating back to November 27th vs. Penticton.

Mike Hammond added to his BCHL scoring championship totals with 1 goal and 2 assists. He finished the season with 93 points splitting the season with Cowichan Valley and Salmon Arm.

The game marked the first game that Brad Reid, Paul De Jersey and Justin Elliott played against their former team after being sent to Salmon Arm in two separate deals earlier this season. Brad Reid had one assist on a late third period powerplay goal for Morgan Zulinick.

The loss for Salmon Arm prevented them from securing second place in the Interior conference. They finished third and will play Merritt in the first round of the playoffs.

The Express finished the season scoring 17 goals in their last two games. The 10 goals was the first time the Express hit double digits since setting a franchise record with 12 goals vs. Powell River on October 21, 2006. That game also saw the Express set what is likely a franchise record 8 first period goals.

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