COMETS SNUFF SMOKE EATERS

On Coquitlam Comets night, the Express made the alumni in attendance proud by staying undefeated on home ice with a 4-1 win over Trail. Click here for boxscore

This game lacked some marquee names with Massimo Rizzo of the Express and Kent Johnson, Phillipe Lapointe, Owen Ozar and Powell Connor of Trail with Team Canada West at the World Junior A Challenge.

Chase Dafoe for Trail was among the Smoke Eaters with additional opportunity. He opened the scoring by converting a set up in the slot for a powerplay goal.

The Express used their own powerplay to pull on even terms. Connor Gregga returned to the lineup after attending selection camp for Canada West. He teed up a Will Margel one timer for a 1-1 tie after one period.

Gregga on a a second period powerplay quickly sent a Steven Bellini pass on to the tape of Ethan O'Rourke in front of the net for a tap in and a 2-1 Express lead.

Christian MacDougall was feeling pretty confident heading into the game when I chatted with him in the hall prior to the game. He backed his words up with a strong game personally.

Shortly after O'Rourke's goal MacDougall sped in from the right wing and with one hand on his stick he slid home his second of the season past Logan Terness just under three minutes later.

The Express did a great job Friday really tightening their game up defensively the longer it went along not giving the Smoke Eaters a sniff and sparking hope of a comeback in the third period.

Tyler Schleppe entered the game goalless in his previous 8 games. When the offence isn't there you have to find other ways to contribute. One way to do that is on the penalty kill. In the third period he did a great job to pin the puck deep in the Trial zone to help knock off about 20 seconds of a Christian MacDougall penalty.

Schleppe was then rewarded by teaming up with Brad Ong to dig the puck out of the corner and lifting a backhand past Terness to seal the 4-1 win.

The Express held Trail to just 4 shots in the third period and 11 over the course of the final two periods.

Clay Stevenson made 17 saves for his 20th win of the season. And he extended his personal winning streak to 12 in a row.

The Express extended their winning streak to a season high of 8 games. and they've won 15 of their last 16. The home record improves to 19-0. The overall record now stands at 27-5. They need just one win to match last years total in 58 games.

Wenatchee visits Coquitlam Sunday night to conclude the season high 8 game home stand. 

COMETS VS. KINGS HIGHLIGHTS

Highlights from Saturday's 2-1 OT win for the Comets (Express) over the Powell River Kings.

Highlights produced by Eddie Gregory.

CAPITALS @ COMETS HIGHLIGHTS

Highlights of the Coments 6-3 win over Cowichan Valley Friday.

Highlights courtesy of Jorge Parra & Underdog Productions.

COMETS SHINE IN 3RD PERIOD TO PULL AWAY FROM CAPS

Captain Luca Leone had 1G, 1A - Photo courtesy of Damon James

On Coquitlam Comets night the Express really began to shine as the game was hitting it's twilight in the third period in a 6-3 win over Cowichan Valley. Click here for boxscore

The win for the Express was their second in a row and third in their last six games. This mini two game winning streak is fairly impressive considering the Express schedule the last week that saw them play 6 games in 8 nights and their third game in the last three nights.

The Express did something to start that hasn't been a common occurrence this year and that's get off to a fast start. They opened up an early 5-0 lead in shots.

It wasn't long after that point that the Express opened the scoring. Luca Leone at the side of the Capitals night had his first shot blocked then chipped in the rebound for is 13th of the season.

Less than two minutes later Leone set up the 2-0 Express goal by Will Lawrence who snapped home his 5th of the season. Lawrence has goals in back to back games and three goals in his last six games.

Express mistakes in the second period allowed Cowichan Valley to claw back into the game in the second period.

Lawson Fenton made 28 saves - Photo courtesy of Damon James

Lawson Fenton trying to catch the Capitals on a change tried to quickly move the puck up the ice but fanned on his pass handing it right to Haydn Hopkins who scored a shorthanded goal at 2:41.

Then midway through the period a pass up the middle was picked off by Ayden MacDonald who ripped a wrist shot up over the blocker of Fenton from the slot.

Christian Bosa briefly restored the Express lead finding a loose puck at the side of the Caps net and scoring just his second of the season.

38 seconds later the game was tied again on Max Newton's 21st of the season.

After scoring three goals in the second period, the Caps could have taken control of the game with the Express getting themselves into penalty trouble. But the penalty killing for the Express continues to shine keeping the game tied. The Express had another perfect night on the penalty kill. They've been perfect on the PK in four of their last five games.

Midway through the second period it was the power play then making a difference for the Express.

Brandon Kennedy's point shot was tipped home by Mitch Newsome from the slot for a 4-3 Express lead. Newsome has goals in back to back games.

Will Lawrence finished with two goals - Photo courtesy of Damon James

With the lead in hand the Express settled into shutting down the Caps bids for the equalizer. Alex Ambrosio stole the puck at the Caps line and scored with just over 4 minutes to play for a 5-3 Express lead.

Then Will Lawrence iced the game for good on a late power play taking advantage of a puck handling gaffe by Adam Marcoux and he poked home his second of the game.The power play finished 2 for 4.


At the other end Lawson Fenton finished with 28 saves in the Express crease.

The Express return to action Monday night when they're in Wenatchee for a meeting on Martin Luther King day in the U.S.

SILVERBACKS VICTORIOUS ON COMETS NIGHT

Lawson Fenton faced 38 shots - Photo courtesy of Damon James

For a second time the Express honored the history of junior hockey in Coquitlam with a Coquitlam Comets night.

The visiting Salmon Arm Silverbacks didn't play along by defeating the Comets 6-2. Click here for boxscore

The Express wore their vintage red Comets jerseys to pay tribute to the junior team that played in Coquitlam from the late 60's to the early 80's. Original owner Sandy Michie was in attendance on his 84th birthday.





Salmon Arm started fast right from the opening face-off, and getting plenty of pucks sent towards Comets goaltender Lawson Fenton.

Kodi Schwarz opened the scoring beating Fenton with a screen shot from the right point just over two minutes into the game.

Two minutes later Mitch Skapski scored for a 2-0 Silverbacks lead.

Colton Kerfoot scored in second period - Photo courtesy of Damon James

Salmon Arm kept the pedal to the floor peppering Lawson Fenton. Marcus Mitchell scored his first of the night on a one timer midway through the first period.

At one point the Silverbacks had a 16-2 advantage in shots. And it was looking like it might be a repeat performance of the first meeting between the two teams in September when Salmon Arm fired 62 shots in a 6-0 Silverbacks win.

The Comets did their best to try and battle back in the game, but when you're missing six regulars it makes it difficult.

Owen Stout got the Comets on the board beating Angus Redmond up high with a quick shot from the boards.

Then late in the first the Comets had a chance to cut into the Silverbacks lead even more with a two man advantage for nearly two minutes. The Comets peppered Angus Redmond with shots but it was a 3-1 Silverbacks lead after the first period. The first period struggles on the power play would be a sign of things to come for the Comets.

In the second period the Comets began to turn the game in their favour. They were getting more pucks on the net. But they had to face a new goaltender in Brandon Kegler who came out to start the second period.

Colton Kerfoot pulled the Comets within one taking a pass out from behind the net and blasting it past Kegler.

Taylor Green - Photo courtesy of Damon James

The Comets had numerous chances to pull even with three second period powerplays but Salmon Arm shut them down at every turn. Coquitlam finished zero for five on the power play.

Seven minutes into the third Marcus Mitchell added his second of the night taking pass down low and beating Fenton with a sharp angle shot. Just over two minutes later Salmon Arm had re-stored their three goal lead on a goal by Taro Hirose who was set up at the side of the Comets net.

Zach Erhardt rounded out the scoring in the final minute with his first BCHL goal in his first game on the power play.

Following the 16-2 start in shots for Salmon Arm, the Comets battled back the rest of the way outshooting Salmon Arm the rest of the way 36-22 to finish the night even with Salmon Arm at 38 apiece.

The loss for the Comets was their 7th in their last 8 games. They continue their 5 game home stand Sunday afternoon vs. Prince George.

COQUITLAM COMETS INTERVIEWS

During the first and second intermissions last night I had a chance to speak with two former Coqutilam Comets who were in attendance.

In the first I spoke with the original owner of the Comets and guest of honor last night Sandy Michie.

In the second intermission I spoke with former Comets player Don Taylor.

COMETS SHINE IN WIN OVER THE VEES

It was a night to remember with the honoring of the original junior hockey team in Coquitlam the Comets. They were a Junior B team from the 60's through the 70's. Then played one season in the BCHL in 1980-81.

On this night it was made even more memorable after the best performance of the season in a 3-1 win over the Penticton Vees.

Wearing the same beautiful red jerseys the Comets wore 30 plus years ago, the home team knew they needed to play a strong game for the full 60 minutes in order to come away victorious.

That's exactly what they did on this night.

Penticton opened the scoring when Brendan Lamont from the corner put a pass on the tape of Cody DePourcq who re-directed the pass between the pads of Gordie Defiel.

6 minutes into the second period the Comets tied it. Adam Rockwood won the face-off in the Vees zone, Marc Biega teed up a one timer for Zach Hodder whose shot went wide but the rebound off the end boards bounced to Adam Rockwood who scored his 5th goal of the season and 1st on home ice this season.

Through 40 minutes the Comets were playing a strong team game and put themselves in a position to win it in the third.

They opened the final frame killing off a penalty to defenceman Matthew Berry-Lamontagna.

Then moments later on the power play the Comets took their first lead when captain Ryan Rosenthal scored from a shot from the left circle that got past Oliveir Mantha. That goal would be the catalyst for a strong final period for the captain. He had a number of other quality scoring chances to put the game away. He finally did in the final minute of the third period scoring into an empty net.

The Comets needed a strong defensive game all night in order to come away with the win. That's exactly what they did. They were ready to play right from the start. They allowed very few quality scoring chances for the Vees. Gordie Defiel was very steady in the Express crease turning aside 24 of 25 Vees shots for the win. This is a win that could help this team going forward. They did plenty of good things all night they could learn from that could help this team going forward when it comes to finding a way to win on a consistent basis like it did early in the season.

The re-match goes Saturday night in Penticton at the South Okanagan Events Centre.

There were plenty of Comets alumni in attendance. And it was great to see the players of today make the players of yesteryear feel proud with such a strong game.