Daniel Davidson made 22 saves for his first career BCHL shutout and Nick Fea scored a pair of goals as the Eagles blanked the Express 4-0. Click here for boxscore
It was the second straight game the Express have been held off the scoresheet.
Luca Leone came as close as anyone for the Express to find the back of the net Thursday night by ringing a shot off the post on a first period power play.
Reid Cooper had a busy night facing 37 Surrey shots. Some of his best saves came in the first period. Most notably coming to his left and kicking out his left pad to rob Tyler Cooper off the rush.
Fea broke through for his first of the night taking a lead pass and splitting the Express defense then deking past Cooper to open the scoring a minute into the second period.
Surrey thought they added to their lead when Paul McAvoy buried the rebound off a Darius Davidson shot off the end boards and snapping it to the net as Reid Cooper recovered to get back in position.
Callum Cusinatio - Photo courtesy of Damon James
The red light was turned on and the Eagles celebrated as they had scored but neither referee called goal. Upon discussion it was deemed the puck entered the net after the net was knocked off it's supports.
But just over a minute later Surrey did add to their lead on Fea's second of the night snapping a one timer from the left circle following a won face-off in the Express zone. Logan Mostat and Desi Burgart each assisted on both of Fea's second period goals.
Jeffery Stewart put the Eagles up three in the third cutting in from the right wing and sliding shot under the pad of Cooper. That was followed up by Andrew Kemp having the rebound of a Jacob Dupont shot bounce off him and in to round out the scoring.
Neither team was able to convert on the powreplay with the Express going 0 for 5 while Surrey went 0 for 2.
The Express return home to continue their three game in three night weekend Friday vs. Powell River.
The Express and Rivermen each held court at home in their weekend home and home set. Friday night the Express used a third period rally en route to a 5-4 OT win in Coquitlam.
Saturday the Rivermen posted a 5-0 shutout win at the George Preston Rec Centre.
Langley's power play put the Express in a first period hole with Max Kaufman and Brendan Budy each striking with a man up just 1:25 apart. Kaufman snapped home a one timer from the slot. And Budy finishing off the rush beating Reid Cooper with a shot over his glove.
Bo Didur wasn't overly busy in the Langley crease having to only make 19 saves for his 4th career BCHL shutout.
Satchel Clendenin added to the Langley lead in the second period on a breakaway cutting in off the right wing and sliding home a backhand between the pads of Cooper.
Harris Pearce and Nik Ponak rounded out the scoring in the third period for the Rivermen.
Jake Brien served the first of a four game suspension for a 5 minute major for a blow to the head assessed for a hit on Friday. John Schuldt for the Rivermen did likewise.
The Express are back in action Thursday night in Surrey.
Reid Cooper made 42 saves - Photo courtesy of Damon James
The fans in attendance for the Express' 2016 home opener won't forget this one any time soon.
They rallied from deficits of 3-0 and 4-3 in the third period and defeated the Langley Rivermen 5-4 in overtime. Click here for boxscore
The Express were the last team in the BCHL to play their home opener one month into the season due to the 55+ senior games.
Well it was worth the wait by the end of the night.
The teams were scoreless after the first period. Some of the highlights include Bo Didur stopping Hayden Knight on a shorthanded breakaway. And the Express killing off a Langley two man advantage for 1:41.
Max Kaufman broke the deadlock five minutes into the second period burying his own rebound and jamming it past Reid Cooper.
Trevor Ayre doubled Langley lead when he pounced on a loose puck and poked it home from the goal crease after fighting off an Express defender in front of the net.
The penalty killing kept the Express within striking distance in the final five and half minutes of the second period killing off infractions assessed to Domenic Masellis and Cam Bertsch.
Cal Walker - Photo courtesy of Damon James
Friday's game had it's moments throughout the night with some questionable hits dished out by both sides to players in vulnerable positions.
Jake Brien was handed a 5 minute major and a game misconduct in the opening minute of the third period for a blow to the head penalty to Ryan Barrow in the opening minute of the 3rd period. Barrow left the game and didn't return.
Nick Ponak struck on the power play for a 3-0 Rivermen lead early in the man advantage and at that point it appeared it was going to be the Rivermen walking away with the two points.
There was still plenty of time remaining on the Rivermen power play following the Ponak goal when this game turned three minutes later with Blake Hayward rushing the puck from the Express end all the way down to the Rivermen end and scoring a shorthanded goal to get the Express on the board.
Two minutes later the Express struck again as Luca Leone blasted a slap shot from the right wing and Cam Bertsch buried the rebound driving hard to the net. The first come back was complete midway through the period when Mitch Newsome zipped a cross ice pass to Hayden Knight who snapped a one timer past Bo Didur.
Zac Masson restored Langley's lead with just over 4 minutes remaining in the third period banging home the rebound of a Max Kaufman shot.
Troy Robillard - Photo courtesy of Damon James
That goal wouldn't deter the Express. They weren't able to pull even on a power play opportunity with three minutes to play, but in the final minute and Reid Cooper on the bench Luca Leone jammed in a loose puck with 20 seconds left for the fourth Express goal of the third period to send the game to overtime.
Early in overtime John Schuldt delivered a hit from behind on Cam Bertsch sending him face first into the boards. Schuldt was given a 5 minute major for a blow to the head of his own.
Mitch Newsome capped off the memorable come back win blasting home a one timer from the left circle for the 5-4 Express victory. The Express were 1 for 5 on the power play. Their penalty killing shut down 6 of 7 Langley opportunites.
Reid Cooper had another busy but strong night finishing with 42 saves on 46 shots for his 4th win of the season.
The teams will meet again Saturday night in Langley.
The Alberni Valley Bulldogs slipped past the Express in the second game for both teams at the 2016 Bauer BCHL showcase. Click here for boxscore
The Express went 0-2 at the event after dropping their first game 5-3 to West Kelowna Thursday.
Alex MacDonald scored the lone goal of the first period on a power play by skating off the left boards and snapping a shot past Reid Cooper.
The middle period saw the Express fire 17 shots towards the Alberni Valley goal but Carson Schamerhorn stood tall turning aside every Express shot sent his way.
Special teams turned out to be a key difference maker in the game. The Express went 0 for 4 on the power play while the Bulldogs went 1 for 2.
The third period saw the Express press for the equalizer. Alex Ambrosio was denied on a wrist shot from the slot, Owen Stout also had a chance off the wing. And the best chance for the Express to tie it was on the stick of Will Lawrence. He had a centering pass come through to him in the lip of the crease and somehow wasn't able to tap it in to the half open net.
That miss would prove costly as moments later the Bulldogs would go down the ice and add to their lead on a goal from Jake Witkowski with less than seven minutes to play for a 2-0 Alberni Valley lead.
Witkowski's goal wouldn't deter the Express. They finally broke through seconds after a power play expired on a goal by Alex Ambrosio potting home a loose puck at the side of the net with less than four minutes to play.
In the final minute Schamerhorn made the save of the net to rob Owen Stout kicking out his right pad with just 17 seconds left to preserve the win for the Bulldogs.
Schamerhorn finished with 36 saves. Reid Cooper was no slouch either in the Express crease with 32 saves.
Next weekend the Express will make their way through the Island division with stops in Victoria, Nanaimo and Alberni Valley.
The West Kelowna Warriors used a four goal second period to pull away from the Express en route to a 5-3 win at the Bauer BCHL showcase. Click here for boxscore
The Express found themselves trailing in the first period when the puck got poked past an Express defender and setting up a 2 on 1 for the Warriors and Quin Foreman finished it off snapping a shot up over the glove of Reid Cooper.
Hayden Knight's first BCHL goal leveled the game at one for the Express after taking a heads up stretch pass from Domenic Masellis then snapping a shot past the glove of Shane Farkas.
West Kelowna caught a break midway through the period when David Guinta's point shot on the power play beat a screened Farkas. The red light came on and but the referee never consulted the goal judge to discuss the play. I personally had an opportunity to see a video replay of the shot between periods and it was clear the puck entered the net and quickly bounced out.
One of the other highlights for the Express in the first period was a big hit delivered by defenseman Cal Walker who lined up Connor Sodergren and leveled him at the glass right in front of the Express bench. Thankfully for Sodergren he hit the padding and bounced up from the hit right away.
The defending national champions then took control of the game in the second period.
Foreman opened the second period by snapping home his second of the game just 11 seconds into the middle frame. Foreman scored 5 goals in two games at the showcase with a 3 goal performance the night before vs. Chilliwack.
Midway through the second period Mitchell Barker found a loose puck in the crease and scored for a 3-1 Warriors lead.
That was followed 27 seconds later by a goal by Reed Gunville for 4-1 Warriors lead just 5 seconds into a power play.
Mitchell Martan scored the Warriors fourth goal of the period taking advantage of a puck handling gaffe by Reid Cooper and he poked it out of the goaltender's feet for a 5-1 lead.
Cam Bertsch ended the Warriors run by cutting the deficit to 5-2 jamming in a loose puck with less than two minutes to go.
But the second period belonged to West Kelowna who outshot the Express 22-9.
Captain Luca Leone scored the lone goal in the third period. He gained entry into the Warriors zone and showed good patience to turn back to give himself time, then hold off another check to get himself more time than blast a shot to cut the deficit down to 5-3.
The Express penalty killers rose to the occasion killing off nearly two full minutes of a Warriors two man advantage.
West Kelowna finished the game outshooting the Express 42-25. In each of the first 5 games this season the Express have allowed 40+ shots.
The Express will play their second game of the showcase Saturday afternoon 3pm vs. the Alberni Valley Bulldogs.
Coming off a season opening game that saw both teams fill the net between the Express and Eagles, the next night out it would only be one team filling the net as the Langley Rivermen handed the Express a 8-1 loss.
Nick Ponak got the offense rolling for Langley converting a pass out from behind the net from Zac Masson who stole the puck from Express goaltender Lawson Fenton.
The Express had their chances in the opening period to pull even with three powerplays but they couldn't convert on any of them.
Late in the first period just seconds after a Langley power play expired Max Kaufman buried a cross crease pass from Ryan Barrow for a 2-0 Langley lead after 20 minutes.
Langley's onslaught really got going in the opening half of the second period. Kaufman added his second of the night one minute into the period coming off the boards and snapping a shot past Fenton.
That was followed by goals from Brendan Budy and Gavin Payne and by the 5 minute mark of the period it was 5-0 Rivermen. And Lawson Fenton's night was done after 5 goals on 19 shots.
Rookie Reid Cooper was then thrown to the wolves and was welcomed to the game by goals from Cooper Leitch and Satchel Clendenin for a 7-0 Rivermen lead by the 8:33 mark of the second period.
Rookie Sam Kozlowski showed some nice hands scoring the lone goal of the night for the Express beating Bo Didur with a wrist shot from the slot on the power play.
To the Express' credit they didn't just go through the motions entering the third period down by 6.
They created numerous chances throughout the period. Most notably Kozlowski was robbed at the side of the net by Bo Didur as he made a bid for his second of the night. The Express fired 16 third period shots.
After the initial shock of being beaten twice, Express goaltender Reid Cooper really settled down and shut the door until he was finally beat late in the third period on a deflection by Trevor Ayre with less than 90 seconds left to round out the scoring.
Next week the Express will stay on the road with a visit to Vernon and Salmon Arm.
Keegan Jones opened the scoring - Photo courtesy of Damon James
If you were looking for tight checking, structured defensive hockey, the season opener between the Express and Eagles wasn't the game for you.
It was a game that resembled the lack of structure of a season opener for both the Express and Eagles. The end result was a 8-7 goal fest in favour of the Express. Click here for boxscore
Both teams had their runs offensively throughout the night and it was the fans who entertained.
Keegan Jones got the Express off on the right foot opening the scoring 41 seconds into the game snapping a shot from the right wing.
Newly minted Express captain Luca Leone on a breakaway gave the Express a 2-0 lead just over seven minutes in.
Sam Kozlowski - Photo courtesy of Damon James
Then the pendulum swung in the Eagles direction. Logan Mostat scored his first of two on the night tipping a Andrew Cordssen-David point on the power play to get the Eagles on the board midway through the 1st period.
To cap off the first period Surrey scored three times in a span of 2:24 on goals from Jeffery Stewart, Andrew Kemp and Mitchell Williams for a 4-2 Eagles lead after 1 period.
The pendulum swung back in the Express direction in the second period. Cam Bertsch scored his first of the season just over a minute into the second period with a deflection in the high slot of a Troy Robillard point shot.
Then Jake Toor had a moment he won't forget picking off a cross ice D to D pass and snapped home his first BCHL goal 12 minutes into the second to tie the game at 4.
Like the first period the goals came fast and furious to end the period.
Blake Hayward scored his first of the season for a 5-4 Express lead. 1:05 later it was 5-5 when Darius Davidson beat Lawson Fenton on a quick pass out from behind the Express net.
The Eagles fans haven't had a chance to savor the goal when the Express struck on a goal by Alex Ambrosio just 11 seconds after the Davidson goal to re-store the Express lead at 6-5.
Cal Walker - Photo courtesy of Damon James
1:44 later Owen Stout found a loose puck in the Eagles crease and poked it home for a 7-5 Express lead through two periods.
The second period ended with four goals in exactly four minutes.
At this point entering the third period it was clear no lead was safe.
The Eagles battled back to tie the game at 7 in the third period on power play goals by Tyler Cooper and Logan Mostat. Surrey finished 3 for 6 on the power play.
Owen Stout scored what would turn out to the the game winning goal coming off the boards and snapping home his second of the night with just 4:19 left in the third period. Stout finished with 2 goals and 2 assists and was named first star. Blake Hayward had 1 goal and 2 assists.
Goaltenders Lawson Fenton for the Express picked up the win with 38 saves on 45 shots and Marc Audet for Surrey took the loss with 8 goals on 27 Express shots.
The Express will be back in action Saturday night when they take on the Langley Rivermen from the George Preston Recreation centre.
