Tyger Howat was 1st star - Photo courtesy of Damon James
Tyger Howat made 41 saves allowing the Express to hold of Trail eventually winning 4-1 for their 3rd straight win on home ice. Click here for boxscore
The Express needed their goaltender especially in the first half of the game until the offense finally woke up.
Trail's speed caused havoc in the first period and that eventually led to Smoke Eaters scoring chances. Nick Halloran finally was able to beat Howat with a screen shot over the shoulder of Howat with just under two minutes remaining in the first period. Trail outshot the Express 16-4 in the first period.
It was more of the same for Trail in the opening minutes of the second period. Howat's best save of the night came when he came to his right and stacked the pads to deny Blaine Caton.
Owen Stout was named 2nd star
The game finally began to turn for the Express in the second period after killing off a tripping penalty to Owen Stout. Seconds after the penalty expired Stout set up Blake Hayward at the side of the Trail net to get the Express on the board.
Two minutes later Trail was called for too many men. On the ensuing power play, Charlie Barrow set up Owen Stout who beat Bailey MacBurnie up high to give the Express their first lead of the night. It was the second straight game that Owen Stout picked up 1 goal and 1 assist in the second period.
Mat Michie scored the third goal of the second period for the Express by going to the net and banging in a loose puck in the blue paint set up by Jack Surowiec and Cam Bertsch.
It was a rare night for the Express where the line of Jackson Cressey, Colton Kerfoot and Austin McIlMurray didn't have to shoulder the majority of the offensive load for the Express.
Noah Turanski - Photo courtesy of Damon James
Kerfoot did have a goal and an assist for the Express. He capped off the scoring in the 3rd period on the power play by knocking a Jeremy Lucchini clearing attempt out of the air and snapping his 18th of the season past the glove of MacBurnie. The power play finished 2 for 4.
With a three goal lead the Express were able to go into shutdown mode and roll their lines making smart decisions with the puck in the final minutes allowing the clock to tick down to their 18th win of the season. The win put the Express above .500.
The Express return to action Saturday night with Prince George making their second straight Saturday appearance.
It was Canuck alumni night - Photo courtesy of Damon James
Yesterday Hayward was invited to be a part of Team West in the upcoming CJHL Top Prospects game in Surrey on January 26. He will be among 8 BCHLers that will take part in the game.
The CJHL Prospects game was created to showcase top NHL prospects in the CJHL as identified by NHL Central scouting. The game features players from the CJHL's five western leagues BCHL, AJHL, SJHL, MJHL and SIJHL competing against players from the CJHL five eastern leagues the NOJHL, CCHL, OJHL, QJHL and MHL. The winning team is awarded the President's cup.
"We are very proud of Blake and his opportunity to skate once again with the best of the best. He has worked very hard to get where he is today in his game, and to be recognized by NHL Central Scouting, and to be picked to play in the Prospect's game is another feather in his cap." - Coquitlam Express Head Coach and GM Barry Wolff.
This season Hayward has four goals and four assists for eight points in 32 games.
For ticket information to the Prospects game at the South Surrey Arena contact the Surrey Eagles office at 604-531-4625.
Tyger Howat made 41 saves - Photo courtesy of Damon James.
The Express got a measure of revenge over the Merritt Centennials with a 5-3 win in Coquitlam Wednesday. Last week it was Merritt knocking off the Express 5-4 in Merritt. Click here for boxscore.
Tyger Howat made 41 saves to earn the win in the Express crease. He was supported by a balanced attack with goals from their 3 separate forward lines and a defenseman.
Jackson Cressey slides home a 1st period goal - Photo courtesy of Damon James.
Jackson Cressey started the scoring for the Express. He buried the rebound of a Colton Kerfoot shot that was stopped by Cole Kehler. Austin McIlMurray started the play by stealing the puck at the Merritt blueline.
Like last week in Merritt, the story for the Express in the first period was the last line of defense. Tyger Howatt faced a barrage of 22 Merritt shots in the first period. The only puck to get past him came late in the first period on a 5 on 3 power play goal by Brett Jewell. That was the only downside on what was an otherwise rock solid first period for Howat. The Express don't come out of the 1st period tied without Howat's play.
Early in the 2nd period the Express jumped on the Cents. Cam Bertsch lead the rush into the Merritt zone and dropped it for Jack Surowiec who snapped a shot off the post and in to give the Express the 2-1 lead.
Keegan Jones had one assist - Photo courtesy of Damon James.
That was followed less than a minute later by Owen Stout who scored on a loose puck in the crease following a Keegan Jones wrap around after he dug the puck out of a scrum behind the Merritt net.
In each of the two games between the Express and Merritt this season, the Centennials had forward cheating behind the Express defense in the centre ice area with the puck in the Cents zone and the defense trying to hit them with a pass. Wednesday the Cents finally made one count by flipping the puck up to Gavin Gould who scored on a breakaway to cut the deficit to 3-2. The goal coming just 35 seconds after the Stout goal.
Tyger Howat didn't have to be overly spectacular despite being busy turning aside 41 shots. His most important save came seconds after the 3-2 goal to deny Colin Grannary who was looking to pull Merritt even.
Austin McIlMurray re-stored the Express lead before the 2nd period ended. He took a pass out from behind the net and beat Kehler with a shot upstairs seconds after an Express power play ended.
Charlie Barrow capped off the balanced offensive attack for the Express keeping the puck on an odd man rush and snapping his 7th of the season for a 5-3 Express lead.
Merritt rounded out the scoring late in the 3rd period on a penalty shot goal by Nick Jermain who beat Howat with a nifty deke to the backhand. It was the first penalty shot for or against the Express this season.
This was a solid team effort for the Express. Noah Turanski was named the third star and it was some nice recognition for the Express second year player. He played on defense tonight. He was physical and using his size very effectively. And he kept his game simple when he had the puck on his stick.
Up next the Express will play host to the Trail Smoke Eaters on Canuck alumni night Friday.
If you missed it earlier today, Express forward Blake Hayward was named to Team West to take part in the CJHL Top Prospects game in Surrey on January 26th. Click here to view the Team West Roster
Jackson Cressey and company celebrate - Photo courtesy of Damon James.
Taylor Green's goal with 24.9 seconds remaining in the third period a 4-3 win over the Prince George Spruce Kings. Click here for boxscore
The goal capped off a back and forth game that saw the Express play with the lead on four separate occasions.
Austin McIlMurray got the Express off on the right foot by snapping his 19th of the season with a quick shot coming in off the right wing. It was the first of two goals on the night for McIlMurray. That goal set the tone for the line of McIlMurray, Jackson Cressey and Colton Kerfoot. They were dominant at times Saturday night controlling the puck in the Spruce Kings zone.
Prince George evened the game 7 minutes into the first period after a won face-off in the Express end, a point shot was stopped by Lawson Fenton but the rebound was buried by Nik Ponak for his third of the season.
Jackson Cressey gave the Express their second lead of the night on the power play after converting a nifty pass out from behind the net from Colton Kerfoot to give the Express their second lead of the night. The goal for Cressey was his third in his last two games.
Owen Stout - Photo courtesy of Damon James.
One trend that has emerged in the first two games for the Express following the Christmas break has been their inability to hold lead. They lead on three separate occasions Thursday's loss in Merritt.
It was more of the same Saturday night. Jarod Hovde beat Lawson Fenton from the slot in the final minute of the first period for a 2-2 tie.
The Express had all three power plays in the first period converting once. It was the exact opposite in the second period. As it turned it out, it proved to be a key turning point in this game. The Express killed off all three Prince George power plays in the first ten minutes of the second period to keep the game tied.
Ryan Coghlan made his Express home debut - Photo courtesy of Damon James.
Minutes later with a delayed penalty in effect, Austin McIlMurray scored his second of the game for a 3-2 Express lead. The goal was set up by Luca Leone who was the extra attacker after Lawson Fenton hustled to the bench. For McIlMurray he joined Jackson Cressey in the 20 goal club. Colton Kerfoot isn't too far behind from joining his line mates in the 20 goal club sitting at 17 this season.
Prince George erased an Express lead for a third time Saturday midway through the third period after they failed on an odd man rush. Then from behind the net Matthew Stief bounced the puck in off Fenton to tie the game at three.
Blake Hayward - Photo courtesy of Damon James.
In the final minutes of the third period now in a 3-3 tie, Barry Wolff played it safe playing Taylor Green with Jake Brien on a regular basis as a defense pair.
That pair had a hand in the game winning goal. Jake Brien got the puck at the blue line following a pair of prolonged scrums for the puck in the Prince George zone, Brien slid the puck across to Green who had room to walk in and unload a slap shot which beat McCloskey to give the Express a 4-3 lead with 24.9 seconds left.
Jake Brien - Photo courtesy of Damon James.
Lawson Fenton turned aside 20 of 23 Prince George shots for his 8th win of the season. It was encouraging to see the Express not force their goaltender to face nearly 40 shots to pick up a victory.
The top line for the Express gets plenty of headlines for being on the ice for all four Express goals. But as a whole the Express used their speed very effectively through the night creating chances.
It was the third win in five games for the Express vs. Prince George this season as they opened up a 7 game home stand. Up next the Express play host to the Merritt Centennials for the second meeting in less than a week between the two teams.
The Express saw 2015 come to an end with a 5-4 loss in Merritt on New Years Eve Thursday. Click here for boxscore
Coquitlam held the lead on three separate occasions but it still wasn't enough on this night.
Newly minted World Jr. A Challenge gold medalist Blake Hayward opened the scoring for the Express just over four minutes in to the game beating Cole Kehler with a wrist shot over the stick coming down the left wing side.
From there Merritt took over the game for the next 10 minutes or so. AP Carter Shannon found a loose puck at the side of the Express net and was able to jam his first BCHL goal past Lawson Fenton to tie the game at one.
Then Lawson Fenton stood on his head just to keep the game even. On two separate two on one breaks Fenton came across to his left to make miraculous saves. One with his glove and another with his left pad.
Merritt finally was able to fire another puck past Fenton the power play. A pass out from the corner by Colin Grannary found Gavin Gould alone in the slot in front of Fenton and Gould snapped home a shot past the glove of Fenton for a 2-1 Cents lead. The goal came with just under six minutes remaining in the first period and by that point Merritt already had a 20-6 advantage in shots.
In the final 5 minutes the Express were able to turn the tables somewhat. Jackson Cressey pulled the Express even 1:14 later burying his own rebound for his 21st goal of the season. 42 seconds later Austin McIlMurray gave the Express their second lead of the night when he knocked down a clearing attempt then cut to the slot and beat Cole Kehler with a backhand for a 3-2 Express lead.
The Express were able to take that lead to the room after the first period. But that's only due to the play of Lawson Fenton who made 18 first period saves.
Colin Grannary had a great finish to 2015, he evened things up for Merritt in the second period by taking a drop pass from Mitch Lipon and beat Fenton with a shot up over the glove after a clean look from the slot to tie the game at three.
Just as Grannary was having a great finish to 2015 for the Cents, the same could be said for Express captain Jackson Cressey. He found a loose puck in front of the Merritt net and buried it for his second of the game to give the Express the lead for the third time on the night assisted by Owen Stout and Taylor Green.
The story of this game was the Express' inability to protect a lead and shut down the Cents top line of Granary, Mitch Lipon and Tyler Ward. Merritt tied the game off a goal from Ward just over two minutes into the third period when he was able to bury the rebound of a Granary shot from the right wing.
Five minutes later after the Express failed to clear the puck out of their zone, the Cents top line dazzled the fans in attendance with a beautiful passing play and Mitch Lipon was on the business end of the three way passing play snapping it past Fenton who had no chance on the one timer for a 5-4 Centennials lead. Merritt's top line combined for three goals and six assists for nine points.
In the final minutes the Express had their chances to equalize but were unable to get another puck past Kehler. The best chance for the Express came off the stick of newly acquired former Centennial Ryan Coghlan who had a clean look from the left wing side but couldn't beat his former teammate and create a memorable story line for Coghlan in his Express debut.
Merritt finished with 49 shots while the Express had 41 shots in this back and forth affair. The Centennials extended their winning streak to three straight games. For the Express they now return home to begin a 7 game home stand starting Saturday night vs. Prince George.
