EXPRESS WIN 4TH STRAIGHT

First and foremost on behalf of everyone in the Express organization we all hope Ty Westgard is ok and wish his family the best after a scary incident to Ty's leg in the opening five minutes of the second period. I would prefer not to speculate on what the exact nature of his injury is. And thank you to the personnel in the building who attended to him before paramedics arrived to take him to the hospital.

Now on to the game which clearly is secondary.

Photo courtesy of Damon James.

The Express extended their winning streak to 4 straight games with a 6-3 win over the Surrey Eagles. Click here for boxscore 

Corey Mackin added to his BCHL lead in the goal scoring race with his third hat-trick of the season to pace the attack. Mackin now has 21 goals on the season. His three points also puts him in a tie with West Kelowna's Liam Blackburn for the lead in the BCHL scoring race with 35 points.

It was a back and forth game in the first two periods. Darius Davidson for Surrey and Corey Mackin traded goals in the first period.

Then in the second period it was John Wesley giving Surrey their second lead of the game at 2-1 shortly after the resumption of play following Ty Westgard's injury. Mackin then added his second of the game beating Daniel Davidson with a wrist shot from the left wing.

Brendan Lamont gave the Express their first lead of the night 19 seconds into the third period as he was hooked on a partial break then was able to poke the puck home for his 5th of the season.

Friday's game was the Express debut for Brendan Gulka who was acquired earlier in the day from the Cowichan Valley Capitals. He left his mark on the contest shortly after Lamont's goal by scoring his first Express marker banging home the rebound of a Joey Santucci shot from the boards.

AP Jordan Funk made things interesting scoring with 3:07 remaining.

But the Express were able to put the game to bed on empty net goals by Corey Mackin to complete the hat-trick and Cody Boyd to round out the scoring.

The two teams will meet again Saturday night at the South Surrey Arena.

EXPRESS ACQUIRE GULKA

Forward Brendan Gulka acquired by the Express Friday from Cowichan Valley. 

The Coquitlam Express have acquired 20 year old forward Brendan Gulka (94) from the Cowichan Valley Capitals in exchange for future considerations.

The 6'1, 210lb Langley native gives the Express a little more of a sand paper element to the forward group with some scoring touch. He has 46 games of BCHL experience mostly with the Langley Rivermen scoring 6 goals and 12 points and 55 PIM's. This season he has 4 goals and 6 points in 11 games. Langley did trade Brendan to Cowichan Valley earlier this season but he never reported.

Gulka is one of those players that you want to have on your team and is not fun to play against as an opponent. He should be more than a little familiar with his new teammates in his battles with the Express in recent meetings in the last 12 months.

Head Coach and GM Barry Wolff expects Brendan to make his Express debut Friday when the Express open a home and home with Surrey in Coquitlam.

CHRIS SPEC 'TAI' CULAR IN EXPRESS WIN

The Coquitlam Express extended their winning streak to three games thanks to a fantastic performance by Chris Tai and a pair of goals from both Corey Mackin and Joey Santucci in a 5-4 win over Salmon Arm. Click here for box score

Tai made 41 saves in the Express crease including 21 in the second period alone to post his third win with the Express. Things didn't start well for Tai and his teammates however.

Salmon Arm jumped on the Express in the opening 10 minutes and were rewarded for it. Karl El-Mir and Josh Blanchard scored 1:02 apart to open up a 2-0 Silverbacks lead midway through the first period. At one point the shots were 9-1 in favor of Salmon Arm.

Brendan Lamont got one back for the Express late in the opening frame after he buried the rebound of a Corey Mackin shot at 16:10 of the first period.

Joey Santucci evened things up for the Express with a power play goal for his fourth of the season with a slap shot that got past the glove of Zach Dyment.

Then the BCHL's goal scoring leader went to work. Corey Mackin scored his first of two on the night on a shorthanded breakaway to give the Express their first lead. It was also the first shorthanded goal for the Express this season.

Mackin then added a goal that will be shown on highlights everywhere. He took the puck in the neutral zone and with time to process what he was going to do, he went to his patented spin-a-rama move from the right wing cutting to the net and roofing a water bottle popping backhand past Dyment for a 4-2 Express lead.



Mackin now leads the BCHL with 18 goals. He also had an assist for a three point night.

Late in the second period came a key sequence in determining the outcome tonight.

The Express ran into penalty trouble with Cody Boyd heading off for unsportsmanlike conduct, Brendan Lamont being sent off for a minor for high sticking which was quickly followed by a double minor high sticking penalty to captain Joey Santucci.

The result was an extended 5 on 3 advantage and a double minor Salmon Arm powerplay that carried over into the third period.

But this is when Chris Tai cemented his first star honors in this game. He was spectacular in the second period. Most notably on the Silverback power play which helped preserve the two goal lead through 40 minutes.

Then in the third the Express were able to kill off the remaining 2:44 of the Santucci penalty to open the frame and hold on to their two goal lead.

This game was destined to have drama going right to the end. Logan Mick cut the Express lead to 4-3 midway through the third period.

Joey Santucci then added his second of the game less than two minutes later when his shot handcuffed Angus Redmond who swatted the rebound of the shot out of the air with his stick and just across the goal line before the net was knocked off. Referee Brett Iverson deserves credit for being in good position to make the call.

Salmon Arm again made it a one goal game as Ross Hedit scored deflecting Phill Middleton's point shot making the finish a nerve racking one.

Santucci is credited with the game winning goal tonight. But he also had to sit and watch his teammates cap off a great night on the penalty kill when he was called for goaltender interference with just under three minutes remaining.

The Express held off Salmon Arm's final push to preserve the victory tonight. The Silverbacks did go 1 for 8 on the power play. But the Express penalty killers deserves plenty of kudos for their efforts to kill off the final 7 Silverback man advantages Wednesday night.

Coquitlam will take their three game win streak and look to build on it with a home and home with Surrey starting Friday night in Coquitlam.

BOYD TO CANISIUS

Photo courtesy of Garrett James Photography.

Coquitlam Express forward Cody Boyd has committed to Canisius University for the 2015-16 season. 

The Johnstown Pennsylvania native is in his second season with the Express. 

During his first season with the Express Boyd committed to Army for this season but had a change of heart and returned to the Express for his 20 year old season. 

In his first season with the Express he 4 goals and 18 points in 54 games. Then in the playoffs he raised his game another level using his tools at 6'3 195lbs to be a physical force during the Express run to their 2nd BCHL championship while chipping in with 3 goals and 9 points in 16 BCHL playoff games. He also added 1 goal in 5 games at the Crescent Point Energy Western Canada Cup in Dauphin Manitoba.

Boyd would like to thank Coach Barry Wolff, the whole Express organization and his family for all their help in giving him a chance to play Division One College Hockey in the NCAA.

Coach Wolff on Boyd’s commitment: "We are extremely proud of Cody on his commitment and his achievement, his passion and determination for the game are second to none.
He will be a great addition for the Golden Griffins and wish both success!!" 

Canisius Golden Griffins play in Atlantic Hockey Conference and is located in Buffalo New York 

This season he has 1 goal 4 assists in 18 games. Boyd's value can't truly be measured in goals and points. It's the physical element he brings to the rink each night. It's that element of the game he feels is the true measuring stick of how he helps his teammates each night. 

Congratulations Cody. 

BEST OF OCTOBER FOR EXPRESS

Here's the best of from the Express home games in October courtesy of Jorge Parra and Underdog Productions.

EXPRESS SWEEP HOME AND HOME WITH RIVERMEN

The Coquitlam Express have their first winning streak of the season after taking both games of a home and home with the Langley Rivermen. The Express followed up their 7-5 win Friday with a great road performance winning 4-2 at the Langley Events Centre Saturday. Click here for boxscore

The visitors had to weather a bit of an early storm as Langley opened up a 5-0 advantage in shots but couldn't beat Chris Tai who earned his second Express win.

Saturday the Express did something they haven't done a lot of this season and that is score first. Jivan Sidhu on the power play scored his second of the season as he pinched in from the point and snapped home Cody Boyd's backdoor pass for a 1-0 Express lead.

That was followed up 2:30 later on Corey Mackin's now BCHL leading 16th goal of the season for a 2-0 Express lead. Those goals gave the Express plenty of jump that carried them through the majority of the game.

Bo Didur took the loss for Langley, but he was a big reason why this game wasn't more lopsided in the Express favor all night long. His best save came off Corey Mackin as he was set up by Brendan Lamont but Didur came to his left for a fantastic save.

In the second the Express added to their lead early as Brett Supinski showed some pretty slick mitts to dangle to the Langley net and slide home his 15th goal of the season at 1:43. Didur's fine work showed up again in the second period with a number of big stops of Jackson Cressey on two occasions in the second period and a Corey Mackin shorthanded breakaway.

Gage Torrell got Langley on the board with some slick hands of his own as he knocked down Jacob Kearley's point shot and was able to slide the puck into an open net past Chris Tai.

Matthew Graham suddenly cut the Express lead down to one midway through the third period as his wrist shot from the right wing handcuffed Chris Tai and the shot went off Tai's glove and in for a 3-2 game. But that would be the lone blemish for Tai Saturday. He didn't have to be a story in this game as his team played so well in front of him. Tai only needed to turn aside 22 of 24 shots for his second Express win. In a season with so many games where goaltending has been an issue. It's certainly nice for the Express where their play in front of their goaltender puts the work between the pipes on the back burner.

Jackson Cressey may have played his best game in the BCHL Saturday. He had two grade A scoring chances in the game but couldn't convert. He also had a hand in a few others. He was finally rewarded for his play in the final minute of the game as Joey Santucci set him up for an empty net goal to ice the win for the Express.

The Express will look to extend their winning streak to 3 games when they host their expansion cousins the Salmon Arm Siverbacks Wednesday night.

RIVERMEN @ EXPRESS HIGHLIGHTS

Here's the highlights of the Express 7-5 win over Langley Friday night.

Highlights courtesy of Jorge Parra and Underdog Productions.